Columbus’ Artisan Pizza Cafe is preparing to reopen after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy stepped in to replace the shop’s broken oven.
The cafe originally went viral in September when Portnoy visited for his One Bite series and gave it an 8.1 out of 10, a score that brought an immediate rush of customers and briefly shut the shop down when it ran out of food.
In the review, Portnoy noted concerns about whether the shop would be able to keep up with demand once his rating went live.
Owner Jasmin Ahmed later announced a second closure on November 6 after the cafe’s oven failed completely. Part of the appliance had broken during her first month of operations, and she had been fundraising for a replacement.
Dave Portnoy buys Pizza shop a new oven after massive review score
Ahmed said Portnoy purchased a new top-of-the-line oven for the shop, allowing her to reopen as soon as installation is complete.
Portnoy’s original review took place on September 8, 2025, when Ahmed and her husband were still figuring out how to take orders. She told him she had spent time in Italy, which inspired the cafe, but the shop could not yet afford a phone ordering system.
After losing her oven, Ahmed apologized to customers and said some people drive hours to try the pizza.
This isn’t the first time Portnoy has helped out a pizza shop that he reviewed for the channel, either. Back in December 2024, he gave Tiny Brick Oven $60,000 to stay open after finding out they were set to close on Christmas.
