Did Dave Portnoy just get tired of eating pizza?
The Boston-based pizza reviewer and Barstool Sports founder has been bouncing between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia promoting his new sports betting app — and sampling as much pizza as he can stomach.
Maybe Portnoy, who calls himself El Presidente, just needed a change of venue, or menu as it were. Maybe all the time he has spent visiting a half-dozen Pittsburgh area pizza joints allowed him to hear about Primanti Brothers’ iconic sandwich made with meat, provolone cheese, french fries, coleslaw and tomatoes stashed between two slices of thick-cut Italian bread.
Whatever the reason, Portnoy decided he just had to have one.
He wasn’t disappointed.
Barstool Burger Review – Primanti Bros (Pittsburgh, PA) pic.twitter.com/i69YolaKHn
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 24, 2020
Referring to the restaurant as “Prim-mawwn-ti’s” in his heavy Boston accent, Portnoy stopped into the chain’s South Side location and ordered the “Pittsburgher,” which features a beef patty as the headliner.
“I said ‘I want your best seller,’ ” said Portnoy, unwrapping the sandwich as the camera rolled. “I feel like this is how you make friends in this city.”
At first, Portnoy appeared confused. “It looks like a steak and cheese with fries right? Oh wait, that’s a burger with onions, tomatoes, and french fries. Super healthy!”
He soon realized there were no onions on the sandwich. “It’s just french fries, cheese, hamburger, tomatoes and lettuce,” said Portnoy.
No Dave, it’s not lettuce, it’s coleslaw.
Then he took a bite. “The bread is warm. You’re gonna gain a thousand pounds living in this city. It’s a really good … sandwich! I feel like my lungs are going to implode eating a lot of this.”
After taking another bite, Portnoy was hassled by a large man coming out of the restaurant behind him.
“That wasn’t a bite,” said the bystander. “You gotta get deeper.”
“Big talker. Here you go big man,” Portnoy replied, handing the man the other half of the sandwich. “Let’s see how it is.”
The man proceeded to take a big bite.
“It’s a great sandwich. I guess this is how you get Pittsburgh big,” Portnoy said before giving Primanti Brothers’ “Pittsburgher” sandwich a 9.1 rating, a higher rating than any of the six Pittsburgh-area pizza places he reviewed so far. The best, Fiori’s Pizzaria, received a 7.8.
“While El Pres is a complete enemy in terms of football fandom” — Portnoy is a Patriots fan — “we have nothing but respect for his palate,” said Primanti Bros. spokesman Ryan Wilkinson. “We’ve been making sandwiches the same way for 87 years — and for him to give us the 9.1, it means we’re still doing the right thing on the grill. Our only issue with his review — it’s coleslaw, man.”
Wilkinson said Primanti Brothers has commissioned a large painting of Portnoy and his review by local mural artist Cody Sabol. He said it should be completed today and will be unveiled on social media tomorrow.
