One of Sarasota’s best pizzerias recently received a visit by the most famous pizza reviewer on the planet.
Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, launched the internet show “One Bite Pizza Reviews” about seven years ago. It typically features Portnoy ordering a cheese pizza to go, standing with the pizza box outside the restaurant, then taking a bite and giving the place a 0–10 rating.
In 2023, The New York Times called Portnoy “almost certainly the most influential person on the American pizza scene” and “perhaps one of the most influential people in the world of food social media.” The Times wrote that “a score higher than 8.9 can vault a shop to fame, filling it with customers for months.”
On Tuesday, March 5, “One Bite Pizza Reviews” aired an episode featuring Portnoy at a popular downtown Sarasota pizzeria, currently competing in our March Madness-style Best Pizza Challenge (Sweet 16 voting ends at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 7).
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Il Panificio Pizzeria in Sarasota featured on ‘One Bite Pizza Reviews’ show with Dave Portnoy
A two-minute episode of “One Bite Pizza Reviews” featuring Il Panificio Pizzeria, located at 1703 Main St. in downtown Sarasota, shows Portnoy wearing a Florida-esque Hawaiian shirt decorated with oranges.
Portnoy emerges from the restaurant clutching the pizza box and says, “Never know where I’m going to show up.”
He informs the audience that he’s in Sarasota for a meeting and that he decided to visit this “family owned and operated” business because he was “out of pizzas.”
Portnoy opens the pizza box and says, “looks pretty good.” He holds up a slice, inspects the bottom. “Decent undercarriage.”
Dave Portnoy says ‘this is good’ while reviewing Il Panificio Pizzeria in Sarasota
Before giving the highly anticipated 0-10 rating, though, he lets the audience know that he might be a bit distracted because this is the first time he has been away from his beloved new rescue dog Peaches.
“It’s only gonna be 24, 48 hours, but I miss her, I miss her like the dickens,” Portnoy says, before uttering his famous phrase, “One bite, everybody knows the rules.”
He takes a bite from the front corner of the pizza and says, “Not bad at all.”
A total of three more bites, and a lick of the finger, follow, before he gives Il Panificio a very respectable 7.4.
“I don’t know what people expect from different regions,” Portnoy says. “This is good, decent pizza. I have no complaints with this.”
Il Panificio Pizzeria in Sarasota ‘way better’ than Portnoy expected
Earlier in the episode, Portnoy mentioned that he had low expectations for Il Panificio.
“Somebody took the wind out of of my sails,” Portnoy says. “They’re like, ‘This place is pretty good. Actually, it’s a–. Actually, it just failed a health inspection a couple of months ago.’
“Way to build it up.”
For the record, our digital database of restaurant health inspections, which is updated regularly, shows Il Panificio passed its last inspection, on Jan. 29. However, it was temporary closed on Nov. 28, 2023, due to health violations, which we reported Dec. 5.
After tasting Il Panificio’s pizza, Portnoy says, “This is way better than a–” before giving the 7.4 rating.
Vote now for Il Panificio, a Sarasota tradition since 1991
Nick and Tracy Melone are the owners of Il Panificio, which was founded in 1991. They operate the flagship pizzeria in downtown Sarasota, as well as a location in Siesta Key Village. I placed Il Panificio on my list of best pizza restaurants in Sarasota-Manatee published in February. Currently, Il Panificio is competing against RomanSQ of Gulf Gate in our March Madness-style Best Pizza Challenge, with Sweet 16 voting ending at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 7.
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.