Iconic NJ pizza place lost to fire being helped by Dave Portnoy

Some people don’t like Dave Portnoy, thinking he has a cocky attitude. That’s the least of it. Others say he’s made a fortune with Barstool Sports dressing up misogyny and racism as humor. He’s been called a toxic creep. Women have accused him of dehumanizing sexual encounters.

I don’t know him. I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. I do know the New Jersey pizza industry seems to embrace him and that he’s done a ton of his famous pizza reviews here.

And now I know this. He’s trying to help a guy who lost everything.

Al Santillo Jr. is the owner of Elizabeth, New Jersey’s iconic Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza. That quirky little shop where you had to go down kind of an alley to find the unassuming entrance. It was little in size but huge in history. Around in one form or another for over 100 years it was a veritable institution.

Then the fire came and took it all away. It happened in January and Santillo says the brick oven itself mostly survived and that the fire was in the low, old ceiling overhead, a thing he was leery of for decades that finally happened. Much of the building was destroyed but there were good bones left.

Insurance denied him according to Santillo, saying “Once they hear the building is more than 100 years old, not too many people want to give you fire insurance.”

It will cost a large amount and Santillo has enough to start the reconstruction but not to finish it. That’s where Dave Portnoy came in.

Portnoy has announced he’s donating every penny from his upcoming pizza festival to Santillo.

“Every penny I make is going to Al Santillo,” Portnoy said of his One Bite Pizza Festival. “We need Santillo’s, we need Elizabeth, New Jersey, (we need) this place built, so I’m not making any money. Every cent (from tickets) that goes to me is going right to Al. We’re going to rebuild Santillo’s, get them going. So this is for Al, this is for the pizza community, this is for local business.” 

The One Bite festival will take place Sept. 14 at Randall’s Island Park in New York City. Last year was the inaugural event drew over 5,000 fans. There’s an afternoon session from 12 to 4 p.m. then an evening session running 6 to 10 p.m. Info and tickets here.

Remember Portnoy says every penny he makes off this is going to help bring Santillo's in Elizabeth back to life. When it does, I'd put money on Portnoy showing up to do another review.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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