LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – When a popular internet personality, Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, posted a bad review of a local pizza place, it caused a bit of backlash for the restaurant.
On social media, Portnoy posts reviews of local pizza places in addition to writing sports related articles. He’s been in Lexington and gave a great review to Pies and Pints. That changed when Portnoy visited Goodfellas and says he was given a cold slice.
The situation escalated when an employee asked Portnoy if he had permission to film on the property.
“I’m going to give this a 0.0. Goodfellas, kicked out, national pizza review, 0.0!” Portnoy declared on the video.
Following that, some of the over 2 million fans of Barstool Sports, even those NOT from Kentucky, began giving poor Yelp and Facebook reviews.
Goodfellas owner Alex Coats told LEX 18 that he watched the rating they had worked for years drop in a matter of hours.
The restaurant apologized to Portnoy and even offered to try to make it right. Coats says that he knows Goodfellas will survive the backlash.
“One review doesn’t define Goodfellas. We are a family business built from the ground up. 13 years ago, we started in a 650 square-foot building and have done nothing but eat, sleep, and breathe pizza from that day forward,” reads the post.
Local fans of the restaurant, who dislike the mob mentality caused by Portnoy’s video, have rallied around the restaurant. At lunchtime, the line at the Manchester Street location was out the door.
