Dave Portnoy, the controversial media mogul labeled “the most influential person on the American pizza scene” by The New York Times, has come to size up Baltimore’s pies.

Portnoy was spotted in mid-December at several Maryland eateries, including Pizza John’s in Essex, Angeli’s Pizzeria in Little Italy, Matthew’s Pizzeria near Patterson Park and Frank’s Pizza & Pasta on Bel Air Road in Baltimore.

The Massachusetts native and founder of blog Barstool Sports began filming his pizza reviews in 2013. His “One Bite” pizza reviews channel has more than a million subscribers on YouTube and has since grown to include an app and a festival of the same name. He scores pizzas on a scale of 1 to 10, often using decimals.

Portnoy uploaded his first review of a Baltimore pizzeria on Monday. He rated TinyBrickOven on Light Street in Federal Hill a 7.9 and, after learning the business was planning to close on Christmas Day due to struggles with getting a liquor license, Portnoy committed to gifting them $60,000. In the video, Portnoy said the business should receive the money before Christmas.

“Wow. I’m gonna cry, man, I’m gonna cry,” pizzeria owner Will Fagg told Portnoy, according to a video posted Monday night. “Listen, the whole neighborhood is so crazy wanting us to stay open. Like we do the pay-it-forward program [for the needy]. … We’ve fed the homeless so many times. We’ve done all these things. And, like, our politicians just turn their backs on us, it’s really disappointing.”

Portnoy responded, “Well Karma then, this is good timing for us to come in.”

While Portnoy is popular — he has 4 million followers on TikTok — his approval comes with an asterisk. He has doubled down on racist and misogynistic comments he has made in the past, and lost a 2022 defamation lawsuit against Insider.com, which published two stories quoting women who accused Portnoy of sexual assault and misconduct, according to The Washington Post.

Still, even a middling review from him can be a boost for small businesses. Or it can make owners wish he’d never come in at all.

In 2023, he blasted one New England shop as “The Worst Pizza Place in America,” and posted a video in which he traded expletives and insults with the business’ owner, who later said he received threats and feared for his children’s safety.

Should Baltimoreans expect to see similar behavior on display in Maryland, or will Portnoy find enough to praise in Charm City’s pizza scene to keep things collegial? We’ll be following his reviews, which post daily at 6 p.m., below.

TinyBrickOven, 7.9

“Good undercarriage.”

“Very good. Thin, New York-kind of style. I really like it. … There’s no way this place should be going out of business. None,” Portnoy said in his online review. “None.”