Popular Downtown Sarasota Restaurant on “One Bite Pizza Reviews” with Dave Portnoy

One of the country’s most famous pizza critics recently visited one of Sarasota’s best pizzerias.

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, started the Internet show “One Bite Pizza Reviews” about seven years ago. It usually shows Portnoy ordering a takeout cheese pizza, standing with the pizza box outside the restaurant, then taking a bite and giving the place a 0-10 rating.

In 2023, The New York Times called Portnoy “almost certainly the most influential person in the American pizza scene” and “perhaps one of the most influential people in the world of food social media.” The Times wrote that “a score above 8.9 can propel a store to glory, filling it with customers for months.”

On Tuesday, March 5, “One Bite Pizza Reviews” aired an episode featuring Portnoy at a popular downtown Sarasota pizzeria, currently competing in our Best March Madness Style Pizza Challenge (voting for Sweet 16 ends at 2 p.m. on Thursday March 7).

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Il Panificio Pizzeria in Sarasota featured on “One Bite Pizza Reviews” with Dave Portnoy

A two-minute episode of “One Bite Pizza Reviews” featuring Il Panificio Pizzeria, located at 1703 Main St. in downtown Sarasota, shows Portnoy wearing a Florida Hawaiian shirt decorated with oranges.

Portnoy walks out of the restaurant holding the pizza box and says, “I never know where I’m going to show up.”

He informs the audience that he is in Sarasota for a meeting and decided to visit this “family” business because he was “out of pizza.”

Portnoy opens the pizza box and says, “That looks pretty good.” He shows a slice, inspects the bottom. “Decent running gear.”

Dave Portnoy says “it’s good” while reviewing Il Panificio Pizzeria in Sarasota

Before giving the much-anticipated 0-10 rating, he lets the audience know that he might be a little distracted since it’s the first time he’s been away from his beloved new rescue dog, Peaches.

“It will only last 24 or 48 hours, but I miss her, I miss her like motherfuckers,” Portnoy says, before uttering his famous line: “One bite, everyone knows the rules.”

He takes a bite from the front corner of the pizza and says, “Not bad at all.”

A total of three more bites and a finger poke follow, before giving Il Panificio a very respectable 7.4.

“I don’t know what people expect from different regions,” Portnoy says. “It’s a good pizza, decent. I have no complaints about it.”

Il Panificio Pizzeria in Sarasota ‘much better’ than Portnoy expected

Earlier in the episode, Portnoy mentioned that he had low expectations for Il Panificio.

“Someone took my breath away,” Portnoy says. “They say, ‘This place is pretty good.’ In fact, it’s a–. In fact, it failed a health inspection a few months ago.

“A way to build it.”

For the record, our regularly updated digital database of restaurant health inspections shows that Il Panificio passed its last inspection on January 29. However, it was temporarily closed on November 28, 2023, due to health violations, which we reported on December 5.

After tasting Il Panificio’s pizza, Portnoy said, “It’s much better than one…” before giving it a 7.4.

Vote now for Il Panificio, a Sarasota tradition since 1991

Nick and Tracy Melone are the owners of Il Panificio, founded in 1991. They operate the flagship pizzeria in downtown Sarasota, as well as a location in Siesta Key Village. I placed Il Panificio on my list of the best pizzerias in Sarasota-Manatee published in February. Currently, Il Panificio is competing against Gulf Gate’s RomanSQ in our March Madness-style Best Pizza Challenge, with Sweet 16 voting ending at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 7.

Wade Tatangelo is a feature writer for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida regional dining and entertainment editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota IL Panificio Restaurant on One Bite Pizza Reviews