Barstool pizza reviewer returned to the scene of his worst review. Here’s what happened.
Two years ago, Goodfellas Pizzeria in Lexington’s Distillery District made Barstool Sports history when Dave Portnoy gave the restaurant his worst pizza review ever: a 0.0.
The review went viral, fans of Barstool Sports trashed Goodfellas online, Goodfellas retrained its staff and locals rallied around the restaurant.
With Portnoy back in Lexington for this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup, Goodfellas got a chance for a do-over, and this time, the results were much better.
The reviewer took a bite and proclaimed it “pretty solid pizza.”
“From a 0.0 to a 7.7,” Portnoy said in a video posted on Twitter Friday. “Goodfellas and me, I think we’re friends now.”
The dust-up two years ago happened when Portnoy was standing outside Goodfellas filming a review.
He said the pizza was “ice cold.”
“You could go ice fishing with an igloo on this slice,” he said.
At that point, an employee walked over and asked if he had gotten “permission to shoot on my patio.” He told Portnoy he needed “to make your way out this way,” as he gestured toward the parking lot.
Portnoy promptly gave the pizzeria a zero rating and stormed away.
“I would only give zero if I got the boot,” he said in the video he shared Friday.
“I root for people,” he said. “I never want to give out zeros.”
Considering how his last review ended, Portnoy was a little unsure of how he’d be received for his second visit.
But, he said, “they were very nice, cordial, friendly.”
He later added: “The crew that sent me packing, sent me into the bushes, that threw me into the river, was not here.”
He said the pizza he got this time was “very hot.”
“It’s also an awesome place,” he said. “Very cool outdoor spot.”
At the end of the video, Portnoy asked a Goodfellas employee about the guy who told him to move off the patio two years ago.
“Does he hate me?”
The employee paused.
“Aaaah, maybe?”
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 4:08 PM.
