Dave Portnoy touts Nico's Pies in Copiague

Dave Portnoy has a well-known bias against Long Island pizza, but his head was recently turned by Nico’s Charred Pies in Copiague.

Portnoy, founder of the bro-culture blog Barstool Sports, has been posting "One Bite Pizza Reviews" since 2017. He focuses on the Northeast and has often characterized Long Island as a purveyor of "football pies," overloaded, floppy pies with no snap. But the visit to Nico’s, posted online Tuesday, elicited raves from "El Presidente." "This is great," he declared, "I’m stunned I haven’t heard of this place." He gave the round pie an 8.2 rating.

Nico’s owner, Anthony Sorice, said that Portnoy came about three weeks ago." "We had no clue he was coming, and the team didn’t realize what was happening."

The post went up on Tuesday night (it has already garnered more than 170,000 views on YouTube and almost 10,000 on Instagram). Nico’s is only open from Thursday to Sunday but, on Wednesday, "people showed up anyway, and the phone started ringing at noon and didn’t stop."

Nico’s pies are squarely in the Neo-Neapolitan tradition, thin-crusted and crisp like a New York pie, but using better ingredients, such as Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes and sausage from Dominick's S & D in the Bronx. They are made in a non-mobile truck parked behind Sorice's excellent Root + Branch brewery in Copiague. In 2023, the brewery was seeking a food option that would encourage people to stay longer and order more beer. After a few hired trucks failed to show, Sorice turned to his father, Frank, a former pizzaiolo, to deliver the goods.

Portnoy has enjoyed a few other local pies: Dario’s in West Hempstead and Umberto’s in New Hyde Park both scored an 8.6; King Umberto’s in Elmont, an 8.1.

Portnoy’s beef against Long Island pizza is a legitimate one: There are indeed far too many pizzaioli who prioritize quantity of toppings over quality, and pay little attention to the integrity of the crust. But he should consider working his way through our Newsday's Best Pizza list, a collection of really extraordinary pies.