A pizzeria in Newark, Delaware, saw record-breaking sales in January thanks to a One Bite review from Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports. Now the owner just has to figure out how to make enough dough to meet ongoing demand.
Steve Powell, owner of Argilla Brewing Co. @ Pietro’s Pizza, recently told Delaware Online that Portnoy’s positive rating sent sales climbing by 65% to 75% and that overall sales are up by around 55%.
“Dizzying is the proper word for it,” Powell said in the interview. “In [the] 30 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never made more pizza than this.” He said he has been rushing to work by 7 a.m. each day ever since, scrambling to churn out more dough to accommodate the huge influx of new customers. And the restaurant still ends up running out on some nights.
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Argilla’s general manager, Pete DiSabatino, was visibly elated in a video he posted on Facebook after Portnoy’s review dropped. “Whoo, today was a day!” he exclaimed. “It was a damn day.”
DiSabatino related how Portnoy’s visit, which resulted in a 7.7 score, started off a little bumpy. “My only complaint was that I wish we’d gotten [the pizza] out a little sooner.” He explained that the bartender, who took Portnoy’s order, didn’t recognize the influencer and wrote down “Bartholomew” instead of “Barstool.”

The error meant that the pizza “sat in the box for a little bit, like 20 minutes. I wish he would have had it when it was fresh,” DiSabatino said. “But, that being said, giving us a 7.7? I’m not mad about it. I’m quite thankful….[Portnoy’s video review] was posted at 6 [a.m.] today. By 12:30, we had more pizzas going out than we ever had in the daytime. It did not stop. And we actually ran out of dough around 7:30, I think, or 7:45. All dough was gone except for our Sicilians. Unheard of for us.”
In another minor setback, the shop, taken by surprise when the review hit, only had one oven working as hordes of customers started pouring in.
But DiSabatino couldn’t stop smiling as he told the story. And it’s no wonder: That day saw Argilla’s pizza sales double, according to Delaware Online. Not to mention DiSabatino’s video garnered more than 12,000 views, 545 reactions (all likes and loves) and 111 comments.
Pietro’s Pizza specializes in “tasty grub” that includes traditional round pies and Sicilian squares, plus starters, wings and sandwiches. House pies include the Not a Spicy Meatball (housemade crumbled meatballs, fresh basil, ricotta, Parmesan and red pepper flakes); the Bacon n Apple (apple butter base, mozzarella, bacon, Red Delicious apple slices and an apple butter drizzle); and the Arugula n Prosciutto (olive oil base, mozzarella, prosciutto, arugula and Parmesan).