Everybody knows the rules.
Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports recently dished on his three favorite NYC slices of pizza — admittedly going to war with the public over his holy trinity.
“I don’t want to cause a fistfight,” the sports guru and famed pizza reviewer turned philanthropist told Bilt Rewards CEO Ankur Jain. “John’s of Bleecker, Lucali and Luigi’s. Those would be three that are all up there.”
Each of the NY locations will be at Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival, coming Sept. 14 to Randall’s Island.
Lucali, the iconic small eatery with lines out the door in Carroll Gardens, is the proud product of chef Mark Iacono, who opened up a nearby slice shop, Baby Luc’s, a few summers ago.
A few neighborhoods over, west of Prospect Park is the stomping ground for Luigi’s and has been since 1973. It’s also the iconic filming location from “Big Daddy” where Adam Sandler’s character Sonny teaches young Julian (Dylan and Cole Sprouse) how to properly fold a New York slice.
As for back in the Village, John’s is in constant conversation as one of NYC’s best and most iconic pizza spots.
While talking to Jain, Portnoy also addressed what kind of slice he really prefers.
“I’m a cheese guy. Gold medal slice, perfect for the Olympics,” Portnoy said.
“That’s what you judge everything else by.”
He also compared his factory default choice to more exotic opinions like the White Clam pie by famed Frank Pepe of New Haven, Connecticut.
Still, sometimes the Boston sports apologist will jazz things up.
“If I’m off the clock, then I’ll do peppers and onions,” he added.
Portnoy spoke to Jain after he played Bilt’s “Rent Free” competition, where the neighborhood loyalty rewards brand — known for sweet perks given to patrons the first of each month — will pay off rent for 10 lucky individuals.
The Barstool boss did so around the same time he placed a $100,000 bet for Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever to win the WNBA championship.
It would pay off a lot of dough — $10M to be exact.
