Family-Owned Essex Pizzeria Gets Portnoy Review Treatment

ROSELAND, NJ — A family-owned pizzeria in Roseland is the latest New Jersey spot to get a visit from Dave Portnoy, the Barstool Sports founder who runs a popular pizza review series online.

Portnoy stopped by La Pizza (178 Eagle Rock Ave.), which has been owned by the Cataldi family since 1989, for the latest "One Bite" review. The Massachusetts native typically orders a thin-style cheese pizza at every place he reviews, and rates each pie out of 10 based on taste and style.

There's also an app where users can rate and review local spots, and tell Portnoy which ones he's missed in his quest to find the perfect pizza.

He has given out some pretty high scores to New Jersey pizzerias in the past, including a 9.4 for DeLucia's Brick Oven Pizza in Raritan and an 8.9 for Brooklyn Square in Jackson — but was not over the moon about any of his recent experiences.

While chatting with his cameraman Austin about their latest North Jersey tour, he sampled the "footbally-looking" New York-style pie at La Pizza (aka the kind of pizza you order while watching the game).

During a recent stop through Passaic County, Portnoy handed out scores of 7.6, 8.0, and 6.8 to the pizzerias he reviewed there.

"We flew in from Miami to the great state of New Jersey," he commented, seeming a bit underwhelmed on his first bite. "But these last two..."

Portnoy also reminisced about a pizza he'd eaten elsewhere with a Roseland name, which turned out to be in Connecticut.

"There's a very famous Roseland pizza, which is excellent," he said.

Without much further ado, Portnoy deemed this Roseland's slice "not excellent" and scored it a 7 out of 10.