By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
North Attleborough was in the national pizza spotlight after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy released a positive “One Bite Pizza Review” video from Towne Tavern & Tap.
The review was filmed during a stop in town before attending the June 19 FIFA World Cup match between Scotland and Morocco at Gillette Stadium.
Portnoy posted a video Tuesday, July 7, featuring the restaurant located on Robert Toner Boulevard. The review quickly drew thousands of views and shares, introducing the local spot to his audience of more than 5.6 million Instagram followers.
“I mean, I love bar pie,” Portnoy said in the video. “This is a very traditional South Shore bar pie-type situation. It’s still good. I’m gonna go 7.6 on it.”
He also complimented the restaurant’s popularity.
“Very cool spot, big, so busy they have a little warning that it’s a 90-minute wait on the patio because so many people come in,” he said.
While a 7.6 might not sound exceptional, longtime followers of Portnoy’s reviews know it is a solid score. Of the more than 1,000 pizza shops he has reviewed across the country, Portnoy has awarded only one perfect 10, and just over 20 scores in the 9-point range.
For Towne Tavern owner David Barry, the visit came as a complete surprise, although the two share a history dating back more than two decades.
“I used to work in the Boston restaurant and nightlife scene, and when Dave started his company, we worked together on a lot of different events,” Barry said. “This was when he was working out of his parents’ basement in Milton starting the newspaper (Barstool). We’d cross paths all the time.”
The two eventually lost touch as Portnoy’s business grew, and Barry had no advance warning of the visit. Barry said Portnoy’s comments about the pizza’s South Shore style were a highlight.
“I wasn’t there, but one of my bartenders called me and put Dave on the phone,” Barry said. “We reminisced a little bit because he was heading to the game at Gillette. It was nice catching up.”
Restaurant staff said Portnoy placed his takeout order under a different name, keeping his visit under the radar until the last moment.
“We didn’t get a call. He just randomly showed up,” said manager Dani Galstian, who has worked at Towne Tavern for about five years. “Somebody realized it was him, and we all ran outside to see him.”
Within minutes, a crowd had gathered near the entrance to watch Portnoy film the review.
“It was pretty quick,” Galstian said. “He got his pizza, did his review and was on his way. There was a good group of people standing in the doorway watching everything. It was cool.”
Galstian admitted her first reaction to the score was uncertainty.
“At first I thought 7.6 seemed kind of low,” she said. “But everyone told me that’s actually a really good score.”
Towne Tavern in North Attleborough was the first of Barry’s three locations to serve the bar-style pizza, which has since expanded to his other restaurants in Pembroke and East Bridgewater. Although North Attleborough is outside the South Shore area, Barry, who grew up in Weymouth, said the restaurant intentionally brought that style to the area.
“When people think South Shore bar pizza, they don’t usually think of North Attleborough,” Barry said. “They think of places like my Pembroke location. We brought that tradition here first, and then to our other locations.”
Now, the restaurant is preparing for what many pizzerias experience after a Portnoy review: an increase in customers eager to judge the pizza for themselves.
“We’ve been consistently busy, and we’ve been blessed,” Barry said. “I told my chef to make sure we have plenty of pizza dough prepped and ready because a lot of times after Dave does these reviews, you see pizza sales pick up. We just want to be ready.”
Galstian hopes the exposure brings even more first-time customers through the doors.
“We’re pretty busy all the time,” she said. “But I’m hoping this makes us even busier. I was reading the comments, and everyone was saying really positive things about us. It was nice to see.”