Has Barstool Sports founder, rabid Michigan football fan and serial pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy mellowed with age and a four-year winning streak against Ohio State?
A look at his 22 One Bite pizza reviews over nine years of visits to the capital of Buckeye Nation shows he has become a lot more complimentary toward Columbus, toward those of us who live around here, and toward our pizza.
Portnoy’s last visit, during the week of OSU’s season-opening game against Texas on Aug. 30, produced nine reviews of Columbus pizza places, an average rating of 7.4 on his 10-point scale and nice comments such as, “I love the people of Columbus,” “I love Dublin,” and, “The hospitality in Columbus has been through the roof.”
His harshest Columbus reviews — against Adriatico’s in 2017 and the now-closed Catfish Biff’s in 2016 — came in years five and six of an eight-season losing streak by the Wolverines against Ohio State.
Here’s a collection of all of Portnoy’s pizza tastings in central Ohio and his non-pizza observations.
Artisan Pizza Cafe: 8.1
Location visited: 91 E. Fifth Ave., Italian Village. Date posted: Sept. 8, 2025.
Portnoy warned Jasmin Ahmed that when he raves about a pizza place, crowds usually follow. And they did. Ahmed, who is still ramping up from the opening of Artisan Pizza Cafe in June, ran out of food the day her One Bite review was posted and had people waiting afterward.
No one seemed to mind, a Dispatch reporter observed.
“I love the pizza,” Portnoy said. “You can tell the ingredients are all super fresh.”
Non-pizza comments: “The duality of man,” Portnoy said as two cars drove by him on Fifth Avenue and their occupants shouted as he recorded his review. The first offered a typical, profane Columbus cheer for Michigan. The second gushed: “We love you!”
Emelio’s Pizza: 8.1
Location visited: 574 Georgesville Road, Westgate. Date posted: Jan. 21, 2025.
Portnoy is no great fan of Columbus-style pizza. No slam against us, mind you. He doesn’t even know it’s our thing, referring to it repeatedly in Columbus reviews as Chicago-style or tavern-style pizza.
Emelio’s, which also has a catering business, went a long way toward changing his mind. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting this,” he said of its thin-crusted, square-cut pie. “This would be one of the better Chicago tavern-styles I’ve ever had.”
Non-pizza comments: Trash talk that didn’t age well, Part 1: “I know that they’re my rival, but I don’t know what to do,” Portnoy said hours before Ohio State started its College Football Playoff march to the national title. “They’re emasculated, humiliated, demoralized. … I’m weeping for the Bucks.”
Sexton’s Pizza: 8.1
Location visited: 5460 Franklin St., Hilliard. Sexton’s also has restaurants in Gahanna, Harrison West and Lewis Center. Date posted: April 10, 2023.
“If you know what Dave Portnoy likes his pizza to look like, that is it,” he said as he opened his Sexton’s Pizza box outside its Hilliard restaurant. Inside, the pizza had bits of char from the wood oven and a big, crispy bubble in the crust.
“It’s exactly the style of pizza I like.”
Non-pizza comments: Portnoy, who has promoted High Noon hard seltzer on his Barstool Sports platform, got some help from Sexton’s employees in destroying a sign that hung in the bar for rival beverage brand White Claw.
Iacono’s Ristorante: 7.9
Location visited: 9303 Dublin Road, Shawnee Hills. There also is an Iacono’s at 4452 Kenny Road on the Northwest Side of Columbus. Date posted: Sept. 16, 2025.
He liked Iacono’s, though, praising its “good cracker undercrust” as crispy and light.
“As good as you can get for a tavern-style,” Portnoy said. “Excellent, excellent pizza.”
Non-pizza comments: Portnoy expressed his love for Dublin, which he ranked up there with Nantucket in his home state of Massachusetts and Islamorada, Florida. Although Shawnee Hills is a village of its own, it shares a border with its bigger suburban neighbor. “I love Dublin,” he said as his camera panned across the street to Bridge’s End Brewing, where an Ohio State banner was waving in the wind. “Despite the ‘O’ flags.”
Leone’s Pizza: 7.8
Location visited: Leone’s, which closed in 2018, was on the North Side. Date posted: Sept. 8, 2017.
Presented at John Glenn Columbus International Airport with a surprise pizza and a can of Brisk iced tea, Portnoy gave an impromptu review of Leone’s. He called it “solid football pizza” and compared it to Papa Gino’s, a New England pizza chain.
Non-pizza comments: “This guy makes ’em nervous over here,” Portnoy said after the woman handed him the can of tea with a shaking hand.
Bobby Jo’s Pizza: 7.5
Location visited: 5225 N. High St., Clintonville, inside Donerick’s Pub. Date posted: Sept. 2, 2025.
Although he thought Bobby Jo’s needs a better oven, Portnoy offered plenty of praise for the pizza kitchen inside Donerick’s Pub. Bobby Jo’s opened in August after months of selling out through popups and online orders.
He liked the pizza’s sauce, which has said had a good tang. His criticism was reserved for the crust, which he said was “a little flappy even though it looks like it shouldn’t be flappy.”
Non-pizza comments: Portnoy made sports headlines nationwide in late August with claims OSU banned him from entering the Shoe for the Aug. 30 season-opener vs. Texas. OSU said keeping him out was a decision of Fox Sports, which employs him this season. Portnoy said someone inside Donerick’s offered to sneak him in.
Bazemore Pizza Co.: 7.4
Location visited: 1991 Riverside Drive, Upper Arlington, inside Pointe Tavern. Date posted: Jan. 22, 2025.
“We never had a high score on a conveyor-belt oven,” Portnoy said before taking a bite from his first slice of Bazemore’s pizza. That makes his rating a first, then.
“This is as good as you can do with that oven,” he said. “They’re making a masterpiece out of a tough situation.”
Non-pizza comments: Trash talk that didn’t age well, part two: wore a maize-and-blue sweatshirt with the message “Extend Ryan Day.” OSU did just that on Feb. 19, 2025, weeks after Day’s Buckeyes won the national college football title.
GoreMade Pizza: 7.4
Location visited: 936 N. Fourth St., Italian Village. Date posted: Nov. 27, 2018.
Portnoy liked the light and flaky crust of GoreMade’s Neapolitan-style pizza.
Non-pizza comments: “I’m a Harbaugh guy, but Harbaugh may have to be fired,” Portnoy said of then-coach Jim Harbaugh after Michigan lost to OSU, 62-39.
The Pizza House: 7.4
Location visited: 747 E. Lincoln Ave., North Side. Date posted: Aug. 28, 2025.
The runner-up in a 2024 Dispatch reader vote for the best pizza in Columbus earned praise from Portnoy. He gave The Pizza House high marks for its sauce and crust, which he found softer than typical Columbus-style pizzas.
By the way, the winner in our pizza contest, Terita’s Pizza, has never been reviewed by Portnoy.
Non-pizza comments: “Here’s something you don’t know: Different world, bizarro world, football teams aren’t rivals … I love the people of Columbus.”
Hounddog’s Pizza: 7.3
Location visited: 2657 N. High St., Old North Columbus. Date posted: March 27, 2023.
Hounddog’s Pizza was “1,000 times better than I thought it would be,” Portnoy said after taking a bite. Its bready, cheesy, heavy college style isn’t his thing, he said, but he concluded Hounddog’s was “pretty good.”
Non-pizza comments: Hounddog’s looked like a good place to hang out for a few drinks, Portnoy said.
JT’s Pizza & Pub: 7.3
Location visited: 845 Goodale Blvd., Grandview Heights. There’s another JT’s at 2390 W. Dublin Granville Road in Linworth, and a third tentatively set for a winter opening in Dublin. Date posted: Sept. 9, 2025.
After reiterating his “meh” attitude toward tavern-style pizza in general, Portnoy declared JT’s Pizza & Pub “a good quality pizza.” He also thought its newest location in Grandview, which opened in November 2024, would be a great placed to watch a game.
Non-pizza comments: “Lots of Buckeyes fans in there, doing basic math.”
Aracri Pizzeria: 7.2
Location visited: 51 E. Gay St., Downtown. Date posted: Sept. 10, 2025.
He liked the crust and the bake on the pie at Aracri Pizzeria, but he thought it needed more sauce.
“It’s a good football pizza. I could sit down, house this thing, watch Michigan beat Ohio State for the 39th straight time,” Portnoy said in a dig at the defending national champions.
Non-pizza comments: “Yes, I root for the Maize and Blue. Yes, I’m a Michigan man. The hospitality in Columbus has been through the roof.”
East Coast Pizzeria: 7.2
Location visited: 5060 N. High St., Clintonville. Date posted: March 24, 2023.
High praise, indeed, from a guy who was born in Massachusetts and lives in New York: Portnoy said East Coast Pizzeria’s pie “could live on the East Coast.” “I don’t think you’d blink” if you saw it offered in that part of the country, he said.
Non-pizza comments: “If times were different, circumstances different, and I went to Ohio State instead of Michigan, I’d probably love this place.”
Granddad’s Pizza & Pub: 7.1
Location visited: 1490 Bethel Road, Northwest Side. Grandad’s has two other locations: 4093 Trueman Blvd. in Hilliard and 1254 W. Third Ave. in Fifth by Northwest. Date posted: Sept. 3, 2025.
As much as he mentions over and over again how the tavern-style pizza prevalent in Columbus is one of his least favorites, Portnoy shared a basic truth in his review of Granddad’s Pizza & Pub. All pizza is pretty good.
It’s not my favorite style, everyone knows that,” he said of Columbus-style pies in general. “But I do like it. I can always eat it. It’s a good easy eatin’ pizza.”
Non-pizza comments: Referring to the gold pants-shaped lapel pins given to OSU players when the Buckeyes defeat Michigan, Portnoy said: “I have a box of gold pants, because nobody in Ohio has gold pants. They haven’t beat Michigan since before COVID.”
Plank’s Cafe & Pizzeria: 7.1
Location visited: 743 Parsons Ave., South Side. Plank’s Bier Garten at 888 S. High St. in German Village has different owners. Date posted: Sept. 11, 2025.
Portnoy was a much bigger fan of the vibe at Plank’s Cafe — “the vibes are a 9.8,” he said — than he was of the pizza. He called the South Side restaurant “a classic Midwestern tavern bar” and boosted pizza score because of atmosphere.
“I’ve never had pizza like that,” he said of the cafe’s unexpectedly sweet crust (and sauce, which he didn’t mention). “This is an acquired taste, a very unique pizza.”
Non-pizza comments: “They’ve got a picture of Ryan Day,” Portnoy said of a portrait in which the OSU coach sports an exceptionally wide grin. “Looks like an absolute dork in there.”
Sicilia Fine Italian Specialties: 6.9
Location visited: 22 Frambes Ave., University District. Date posted: Sept. 12, 2017.
He had a hard time remembering the name, calling it Sicily’s and Sicila’s more than the correct Sicilia’s. Its “super cheesy” nature didn’t score extra points, either.
Non-pizza comments: Portnoy was in Columbus for an OSU football game against Oklahoma on Sept. 7, 2017.
Harvest Pizzeria: 6.8
Location visited: 45 N. High St., Dublin. Harvest has other restaurants in Bexley, the Brewery District, Clintonville and Granville. Date posted: Sept. 4, 2025.
Harvest Pizzeria was at the leading edge of an artisan pizza wave in Columbus when it opened in 2011. Its emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, wood-fired ovens and creative specialty pies is much more common today.
Portnoy wasn’t a great fan of Harvest’s simple Neapolitan-style. He called it “a little flat.”
Non-pizza comments: “Great date vibes in there,” Portnoy said of Harvest’s Dublin restaurant.
Mikey’s Late Night Slice: 6.5
Locations visited: 200 Georgesville Road in the Hilltop, inside the Hollywood Casino Columbus, and 457 N. High St., Downtown. Mikey’s has other locations Downtown, in the Short North, at Easton Town Center, in the Arena District and Dublin. Date posted: April 3, 2023.
“This has a little of a drunk pizza vibe to it,” Portnoy said of Mikey’s, seemingly unaware of the Columbus pizzeria’s start as exactly that.
After trying Mikey’s at Hollywood Casino, Portnoy hit up another location the next day near North Market Downtown because he wasn’t convinced he got a representative pizza. He liked it better, changed his take on the crust from doughy to decently crispy and raised the score from a 6.1 to 6.5.
Non-pizza comments: Portnoy praised the Hollywood Casino as “beautiful.”
The O Patio & Pub: 6.4
Location visited: 352 W. Lane Ave., University District. Date posted: Sept. 9,. 2017.
In the middle of a pre-game crowd at the The O, the University District bar closest to Ohio Stadium, the best Portnoy could say about its pizza was that “it’s better than Adriatico’s.”
Non-pizza comments: “Ohio … does not have great cuisine.”
OH Pizza & Brew: 5.7
Location visited: 88 E. Broad St., Downtown. Date posted: March 30, 2023.
He insisted he wasn’t affected by OH Pizza & Brew’s scarlet-and-gray logo with an outline of the state. But Portnoy dismissed its pizza as “very thin, very floppy” and called it “hockey rink pizza.”
“It feels like it’s been sitting in one of those heaters that you walk by for maybe two days and a half.”
Non-pizza comments: He noticed The Columbus Dispatch sign down the street from OH Pizza, on top of our old building at 34 S. Third St. Then again, who doesn’t?
Adriatico’s New York Style Pizza: 5.4
Location visited: 1618 Neil Ave., University District. Date posted: Sept. 11, 2017.
Whew, this one was brutal. Portnoy had nothing good to say about Adriatico’s, which is safe to categorize as a Columbus favorite given its 4.2 rating over nearly 400 Yelp reviews. His rant even spilled over into his next two local reviews, at the O Patio & Pub and Sicilia Fine Italian Specialties.
“For shame, for shame,” he said, before showing grease-covered fingertips to the camera.
Non-pizza comments: Dublin, which is where Portnoy usually stays during his trips to central Ohio, apparently had other visitors during his September 2017 stay. “They’ve got skunks running everywhere,” he said. “They’re like, ‘You’ve got to run into the house. Don’t go outside. You’ll get skunked.”
Catfish Biff’s Pizza & Subs: 1.2
Location visited: Catfish Biff’s, which was in the University District, closed in 2020. Date posted: Oct. 10, 2016.
“Gross. Disgusting. Gross.” Portnoy called Catfish Biff’s “some of the worst pizza I’ve ever had.” On the same day, he posted an even lower review, a zero, for Dante’s Inferno, a pizza vendor inside Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Non-pizza comments: “You’re from Michigan. You don’t like anything that’s cool,” someone yelled off-camera when Portnoy expressed his disdain for square-cut pizza.
Dining reporter Bob Vitale can be reached at rvitale@dispatch.com or at @dispatchdining on the Instagram social platform.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dave Portnoy has reviewed nearly 2 dozen Columbus pizza places. See the list
Reporting by Bob Vitale, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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