Barstool Sports Founder Reviews A Mega-Pie At Bucks County Pizzeria

NEW HOPE BOROUGH, PA — After reviewing two Bucks County pizzerias in Doylestown and Chalfont earlier this month, David Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports and self-described pizza lover, was back for more.

This time, the "One Bite" internet pizza critic made his way to Russo's on North Main Street in New Hope Borough, where he barely got out of the front door with a mega-sized pizza, a cannoli and a side of meatballs in hand.

"It's a beautiful town. It's like every little kid is coming down Main Street. You got the stores. It feels like Thanksgiving," he said as he stood on the sidewalk outside of Russo's. "Very picturesque. Very New England-like. Cool vibes," he said.

A few moments earlier, he was inside the pizzeria talking with owner Steve Calozzi, who opened the shop in 2019 with his wife, Jennifer.

"You've brought notoriety back to small business mom and pops," Calozzi told Portnoy.

"What's up with the size of these things," El Presidente asked Calozzi about the pizza.

"It's family," said Calozzi. "You know like a big bowl of pasta? When you go out and eat with two or three kids, you go to McDonald's now and it's $60. So you come here. You get a $30 pie, a $5 tip and some sodas. It's $40 or $50 bucks. It's affordable."

Back outside, Portnoy flips open the lid to reveal a large 24-inch tomato pie.

"It's gigantic," he says. "The only thing about doing a pizza this big is how do you keep that crunch on that big of a slice?"

With that, he took a bite of the pizza and then he took another bite of the crust.

"I do like it," he says between bites. "But my only thing would be, I think if you went a little smaller you'd have a tighter, crispier pizza. It's really hard with this mega pizza to keep it from doing that flop. But it's good. The sauce is good. The bread is good. The crust is good. And the town is phenomenal," he says.

"I'm going to go 7.5. Again, I think it's just so hard to do a slice this big that keeps the crunch."

As he was trying a cannoli, he whipped out a Russo's t-shirt which features the shop's slogan, "Russo's - the Michael Jordan of Pizza."

Portnoy smiled and said, "That's a 10.9 t-shirt."

Portnoy’s reviews, which are sent out to 2.9 million Twitter followers and another four million on Instagram, have been know to make or break local pizzerias.

After the videos were posted on the "One Bite" app, all three Bucks County pizzerias reported a surge in business.

Patch will be waiting for Portnoy's next pizza review in Bucks County. Until then, enjoy the pie!