Pizza-Reviewing Portnoy Stops By 2 More Essex County Restaurants

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Two more Essex County pizzerias are getting their time in the spotlight, as Barstool Sports founder and pizza aficionado Dave Portnoy tried their pies for his popular online review series.

After more than 11 years sampling and rating pizzas, Portnoy has racked up many visits to the Garden State and showcased quite a few local spots. His latest "One Bite" review videos were filmed at Vinnie's Pizzeria and Restaurant in Bloomfield, and Belgiovine's Pizza in Montclair.

Traditionally, the "One Bite" team orders a cheese pizza and Portnoy will review its appearance, taste, and the structure of the crust. Each location is given a rating out of 10.

Belgiovine's, which has an in-house deli and Italian market, was up first.

"Always a good sign when you've got the deli on one side and the pizzeria on the other," Portnoy commented.

Portnoy was excited when he opened the box, as the pizza looked like a tavern- or bar-style pizza — his preferred kind.

He didn't share specific critiques about the slice, before rating it a 7.4 — some of his other recent reviews have also been brief, which Portnoy did acknowledge.

"The last three reviews I haven't said much, and I felt bad about myself when I got in the car, like, 'oh, these haven't been great reviews.' And they haven't."

However, "El Presidente" did spend time ruminating over whether he's lost his celebrity shine after a group of teen boys in the restaurant had a muted response to seeing him walk in.

"They were pretty calm and cool," he said, seeming disappointed.

After the review, however, the boys came up to take a photo and explain they were just "trying to be respectful about it."

"I wanted to get in (the video), but I thought, 'ah, maybe not,'" one of them said to Portnoy. "Nice to meet you!"

At Vinnie's, Portnoy said he had another less-than-warm welcome. He said he wasn't trying to boost his own credibility, but that anyone serious about the pizza game would recognize him.

"If the person serving the pizza isn't the owner, they don't recognize me, they're not married to the game...the pizza is rarely as good."

Portnoy described the pizza as "basic" upon first glance as he opened the box. He did like the texture of the pizza at Vinnie's, but said there was a "weird tang" in the cheese that he couldn't quite place. He ended up rating that pie a 7.1.

The third Essex County spot to make the "One Bite" YouTube channel La Pizza of Roseland, and Portnoy released that somewhat-lukewarm review earlier this week.

In this latest "unofficial tour" of North Jersey, Portnoy also reviewed a trio of Passaic County pizzerias.

He has given out some pretty high scores to New Jersey spots in the past, including a 9.4 for DeLucia's Brick Oven Pizza in Raritan and an 8.9 for Brooklyn Square in Jackson. There is only one perfect 10 on record — back in 2015, at Monte's Restaurant in Portnoy's home state of Massachusetts.