Portnoy, who? All we care about is getting a pizza for $4.90 in Charlotte
A Charlotte restaurateur known for coming out on top of an international pizza competition held in Naples, Italy — the birthplace of pizza — is spinning a less than flattering 4.9 rating from irreverent pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy into a great deal for the rest of us.
King of Fire owner Siler Chapman brushed off the bashing, saying, “Hey — pizza is personal, no hard feelings towards Dave. And actually, being a 49er in Charlotte is a badge of honor!”
To that end, the UNC Charlotte alumnus is shouting out that 4.9 rating at King of Fire with a Saturday, May 3-only deal to sell the first 100 pizzas of the day for just $4.90. UNCC’s mascot, Norm the Niner, even showed up to help him make the announcement on Thursday.
Dave Portnoy was wrong
I’m here to tell you, despite what Portnoy had to say, you should give the pizza a shot.
As a York County resident, I’ve eaten dozens of King of Fire pizzas over the years. When one of the food trucks visits our Fort Mill neighborhood, people line up — without fail. And the same thing happens when the truck rolls up on the regular at the Rock Hill BMX Supercross Track, where one of my twin daughters races.
Many of my neighbors and friends clamber to get one of the spicy and sweet wood-fired Honey Pies, dressed with red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, crushed red pepper flakes and honey. My kids won’t pass an opportunity to chow down on the garlic knots, either. (In all honesty, they slap every time.)
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I’m a longtime fan of Siler’s work. He’s built King of Fire from a booming food truck business into a brick-and-mortar location in uptown Charlotte. And there’s another location on the way across the border in Clover, S.C. You don’t get that kind of success in this area — flooded-with-foodies —without having the goods to back it up — including multiple wins as a World Pizza Champion.
Who is Dave Portnoy?
Let’s pause for a minute and get in some basics. Exactly who is Dave Portnoy?
Portnoy is the president and founder of Barstool Sports — known by his followers as “El Presidente” and/or “Davey Pageviews,” as he refers to himself on his videos.
Think: brash. Think: bro culture.
He’s also known for traveling the country doing “One Bite Pizza” reviews — which is solely where our interest lies here.
In Charlotte, he was traveling around with former NBA point guard Jason Williams, aka White Chocolate, tasting a handful of pizzas from well-known spots in town.
Why were they together? Why here? Unclear. Portnoy remained coy, saying only: “Maybe more will come out in the future, alright? Maybe.”
King of Fire
Portnoy and Williams visited King of Fire’s new uptown Charlotte location based on a recommendation from someone named Austin, who appeared to possibly be behind the camera.
Portnoy complained from the get-go, rating the slick, cheesy pie with an extra fat crust in his hands a 1 on looks alone.
Williams was more generous, saying, “This don’t taste too bad.” He rated it a 6.8, noting it was his first time rating pizza on Portnoy’s scale.
Portnoy bantered back, saying: “I”m going 4.9.
“I’m shocked. We just landed in Charlotte, and this is the first place on the list,” Portnoy added.
Where else did he stop in Charlotte?
King of Fire wasn’t Portnoy’s only stop in on the recent rainy day in Charlotte. Dressed in a green Kentucky Derby ballcap and a Boston Celtics T-shirt, he also visited:
- Gino D’s Pizza at the Market at 7th Street, where he loved the Jersey-native owners and their story — and where they already boasted a “Do your own Dave Portnoy one-bite review” sign up in the food stall. Saying: “This could survive in New York. This could survive in New Jersey,” he rated it a 7.4.
- Sal’s Pizza Factory, where he bantered with Williams about whether Shaquille O’Neal or Dwight Howard is a better pick at center and called the pizza “outrageous,” noting it was like “lava soup in the middle.” Portnoy added that it “tastes better than how sloppy it is,” rating it a 7.3.
- Zio Casual Italian, where he seemed to be having technical difficulties and honed in on the difference between a hot pie and a bar pie. (Zio’s calls its pizza a hot pie; he deemed it a bar pie.) In the end, Portnoy rated Zio’s a 6.8, saying it was “flop city” and “not my style.”
Later, he tacked on:
- Bird Pizzeria, nationally known for putting out a great pie. After complaining Charlotte’s pizza is “not the best,” he did say, “Bang, that looks good,” when opening his Bird Pizzeria box. Rating it a 7.8, he proclaimed it was his “favorite pizza I’ve had in Charlotte.”
King of Fire
Location: 435 S Tryon St STE 140, Charlotte, NC 28202
Location: 117 N Main St Clover, SC 29710 (opening soon)
Cuisine: Pizza, salad
Instagram: @kingoffrepizza, @kingoffirepizzauptown
This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 11:38 AM.
