Back in April 2023, Rob Guercio made a big impression on Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy with the pies—and some personalized swag—at his family-owned Garden City, New York restaurant, Pizzeria G. Can he repeat the feat at Slice Shop, which opened in late August in Naples, Florida?
Leaving nothing to chance, Rob and his wife/partner Nicole have a plan to once again lure Portnoy to their new pizzeria: They’ve named one of their pizzas in his honor.
After all, that ploy has worked before. It’s what brought Portnoy to Pizzeria G in the first place.
Portnoy popped into Pizzeria G in Long Island more than two years ago after hearing that the eatery was plating a pizza called The Portnoy. In what Portnoy described as “one of the great coincidences in the history of human civilization,” he already happened to be in Garden City at the time.
“Some random kid DMed me,” Portnoy explained in the One Bite video (below) that dropped on May 1, 2023. “He was, like, ‘Hey, check this place out, Pizzeria G, it’s awesome,’ with a screenshot of a pizza named after me.”
Portnoy couldn’t resist. He strode into the pizza shop and asked for The Portnoy. Guercio said he had no idea that Portnoy was even in town—the pizza had been on the menu for two years by that point, waiting to be discovered. Not only that, Guercio had printed a Pizzeria G-branded T-shirt and hat—hot pink, no less—with Portnoy’s name on it. Talk about planning ahead.
As for The Portnoy pizza itself, Guercio told Portnoy, “I can’t believe how popular it has become. I hear your name a hundred times a day.”
The Portnoy is a back-to-basics pie, exactly what the One Bite reviewer likes best. Featuring an ultra-thin crust, it’s made with mozzarella, basil and EVOO—and that’s it.
As Portnoy started his Pizzeria G review, he admitted that Guercio had “juiced him up” by naming the pie in his honor and showering him with gifts. In the end, Portnoy tried both Pizzeria G’s regular cheese pizza and The Portnoy. Ironically, he said he liked the regular slice better. “I prefer the traditional cheese over The Portnoy, even though it hurts me to say it. I’d like everyone to order The Portnoy because that’s my name—it makes me feel good.”
Portnoy rated the traditional cheese pizza a 7.9. He liked The Portnoy, too, but he preferred the cheese on the other pie.
Now that Guercio has opened Slice Shop in Naples, he hopes Portnoy will give him another review. “I know a couple of people who know him, and I heard that he already found out about us, so I think it’s a matter of time before he comes in,” Guercio recently told Gulfshore Business. “He has a place in Miami.”
Slice Shop, inspired by classic New York pizzerias, offers more than 25 different slices, including a Margherita, a Sicilian, a grandma, and a New York-style slice, along with various artisanal selections. The Booch, for example, boasts cupped pepperoni, stracciatella, vodka sauce, mozzarella and hot honey.
“They’ve all been selling, so it’s not like one is going to come off the shelf anytime soon,” Guercio told Gulfshore Business. “We’re going to have the same pies, definitely, until the end of season, and then we’ll kind of reevaluate if something’s selling or not selling and maybe add something that customers might be asking for.”
Slice Shop has a water filtration system to replicate the New York pizza flavor experience, and the dough is made with “a really, really good Italian flour—no GMOs, no bromates, no bleach,” Guercio said.
The Guercios still own Pizzeria G in Long Island, but they chose a different name for their Naples restaurant. “I just felt like [Pizzeria G] didn’t fit the space,” Guercio said. “The New York store is the New York store. I felt like I wanted to start this brand here in Naples. As we were building it, we wanted to make this a different name.”
He and his wife also have bigger ambitions for Slice Shop: They’re planning to open additional locations in Naples, Guercio said. “We’re going to start looking now.”
