Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival took New York City by storm and returned for its third year on Saturday.
Referred to as the “world’s greatest gathering of pizzerias” by the event’s official website, this event included over 40 of the city’s most notable pizza restaurants.
The festival transformed Randall’s Island Park into a “pizza heaven,” as it welcomed about 10,000 attendees.
“Pizza is the only food that brings everybody together,” said Dominic Morano, one of the owners and founders of Prince St. Pizza, New York City.
Prince St. Pizza has been in operation since 2012 and was originally Morano’s father’s idea. He said that his family opened with the goal of “feeding the neighborhood” and running a good old-fashioned Italian-American family pizzeria.
“It’s just a beautiful thing to see so many people coming out…from all different races, religions, backgrounds…for a festival like this, it’s just a beautiful thing,” said Morano.
Prince St. Pizza is also unique due to the establishment’s creation of the Sicilian pepperoni pizza.
“We were the inventors of it!” he said as he pointed to the camera. “Once you have a bite of it, you can tell that it’s handled with care, it’s handled with love.”
All of their recipes came from Morano’s grandfather, who also used to own a restaurant.
Kevin Jackson is the general manager at John’s of Bleecker Street– one of the oldest continually operating pizzerias in the United States.
“Just look outside and you’ll see how important this day is,” Kevin said in regard to the festival.
Mark Lacono from Lucali’s Pizza said he wishes he had more time to connect with the community of pizza-lovers at this event, but his time is filled mostly by making the famous pies!
He also said he appreciates getting to take some time to try other slices that he is normally too busy to get to.
Portnoy’s internet famous “One Bite” pizza reviews have led him to have great power in the world of pizza over the past few years. While this online bit started small, these videos are now known by hundreds of thousands of individuals across the country.
“He’s the pied piper of pizza,” said Giovanni Lanzo, founder of Luigi’s Pizza.
Lanzo and his pizzeria have attended the festival since its beginning three years ago.
“You could say the most dedicated pizza makers are here,” said Lanzo. “The most dedicated in the country.”
The festival is a passion project for Portnoy, who works in collaboration with sponsors to create the best environment for festival-goers. Portnoy, however, is the only one responsible for the selection of pizzerias.
This year’s festival included several new concepts, including a Chef’s Tasting VIP Table that offers a continuous buffet with slices from 10 of the best featured pizzerias. Most notably, the buffet featured slices from Ceres Pizza – known to receive Portnoy’s highest pizza rating since 2019.
The event also marks a chance for some of these long-standing businesses to celebrate big milestones with some of their most loyal customers.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria is celebrating 100 years in business at this year’s One Bite Pizzafest.
Kevin Gagliard currently runs the operations for the Frank Pepe family. Now on the third generation of family members, the original location opened in 1925 on Worcester Street in New Haven, Connecticut.
“This is the pizzamaker’s Super Bowl…this is the ultimate place to be,” said Kevin.
Frank Pepe’s grandchildren currently run the business and have for the past 25 years. They now have 17 locations so that everyone can enjoy the family pizza.
Kevin says this pizzeria prides itself on letting the natural ingredients of their products present their flavors to their customers. They also stand firm on charring their pizza. “It’s not burnt. It’s charred, and that’s what we stand firm on,” said Kevin.
Sally’s pizza was one of the other featured restaurants located outside of New York City. This pizzeria originally opened in Connecticut in 1938 and has been making pies the same way ever since, according to Executive Chef Brett Lunsford.
Di Fara Pizza is also celebrating a big milestone – their 60 year anniversary. Maggie Mieles’ father started the business in 1965 after immigrating from Italy. She said her father always loved what he did and worked so hard to support her and her six siblings.
Although her father passed away in 2022, she says people still have the opportunity to get to know him through the business and events like this.
“I love that everybody respects each other,” Mieles said about the One Bite Festival. “It’s one of the greatest days of the year.”
Our very own Dylan Christie had a chance to sample a slice and said, “You can taste all 60 years in that recipe.”
Each of the vendors brings their own unique flavors, background, and story to this event. It is safe to say that Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival unites pizza lovers for the best day of the year.
