This week was to be the last for Will Fagg’s little pizzeria on Federal Hill, TinyBrickOven.

He’d had a good run, five years, but says his inability to get a liquor license made it tough to stay in business. He’d planned to open up the place Tuesday for Christmas caroling and hot cocoa — a way to say a “sweet goodbye” to his pizza family and first brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Instead, customers packed into his Light Street pizza restaurant on Christmas Eve not to shed tears, but to enjoy his food or pick up pizzas to go. And celebrate his 15 minutes of Internet fame. And ask for selfies with him.

“Chris, are you here?” Fagg, sporting a red chef’s cap, called out to a customer waiting for a pizza. “Where’s Chris?”

Fagg has lived to toss pizzas another day, thanks to Dave Portnoy, the controversial founder of the blog Barstool Sports. Portnoy stopped in to review his pizza a few weeks ago, and when he learned Fagg was planning to close up shop on Christmas, he pledged $60,000 to keep the place open.

He liked the pizza — and Fagg, an easygoing guy known for his support of the community.

Portnoy shared a video of his review online Monday night, and well, things have been a little hectic for Fagg ever since. As of late Tuesday, it had been viewed on X, formerly Twitter, 10.7 million times on Portnoy’s account and another 6.4 million times on Barstool Sports’ account, with some 112,000 likes between the two.

Tuesday night, Fagg couldn’t believe his good fortune. And so, he’s not closing his doors — he’s gonna keep trying to make it work.

“I’ve never had anything like that happen to me before in my life, man,” Fagg told a reporter amid a rush of dinner customers.

If this all seems a little like a feel-good holiday movie, Fagg seems to share the sentiment. He thought it would be symbolic to close on Christmas, but instead it feels like a “Christmas miracle,” he said.

Portnoy in Baltimore

Portnoy, a Massachusetts native, 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.

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 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.

Portnoy was spotted in mid-December at several Baltimore-area eateries before uploading his first review of a Baltimore pizzeria on Monday night. He rated TinyBrickOven a 7.9.

The video shows Portnoy walking into the narrow pizzeria and Fagg instantly recognizing him.

“Oh my gosh man, you’re like my hero,” says Fagg, grinning ear to ear.

Fagg offers to cook him a fresh pizza, but Portnoy says he doesn’t have time, so the restaurateur slides one into the oven to reheat it.

He remarks that he didn’t even know Portnoy was in Baltimore, welcomes him to Charm City, and points out that one of his friends had been tagging Portnoy on social media to come try the pizza. He also tells him that he was planning to close later in the month, citing his struggles to get a liquor license.

“It’s been crazy, man, it’s been totally crazy,” Fagg, 52, says.

The video shows Portnoy emerging from the business as fake snow flutters from above. He opens a cardboard box to inspect a large cheese pizza.

“That looks good,” Portnoy proclaims.

He praises Flagg’s cheerful demeanor and support of veterans to the cameraman, then picks up a slice. “Oh, please be good,” he quips.

Portnoy takes two bites from the bottom and one from the crust.

“There’s no way this place should be going out of business. None,” he proclaims.

Portnoy heads back toward the front door and asks Fagg how much money he would need to stay open for a year.

Fagg hesitates for a moment. He isn’t sure. Pressed, he says he thinks he could do so with $60,000 and a liquor license to sell beer and wine.

“Done,” Portnoy says.

The men shake hands, and Fagg and a customer inside the restaurant let out a cheer.

After his visit, Portnoy posted the video on X along with a link to donate to the restaurant.

A Northern Virginia native who served as a Navy corpsman, Fagg said he’s been in the pizza business for about a decade, but only at a brick-and-mortar location since 2019.

“I’m pretty serious about my pizza, I think,” Fagg said. “We get a lot of customers from New York and New Jersey, and we always say, like, ‘Hey, we have the best New York-style pizza in Baltimore.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, I’ll be the judge of that.’”

Fagg has been asking the public for support and help in obtaining a liquor license. He wrote a blog post in 2023 urging customers to reach out to state Senate President Bill Ferguson and state Del. Luke Clippinger, who both represent the city.

“It’s time for Tinybrickoven to take the next step in our journey by obtaining a liquor license,” Fagg wrote. “This will allow us to enhance your dining experience and bring even more vibrancy to our beloved neighborhood.”

Was Portnoy’s visit and donation a stroke of good luck, or the result of Fagg trying to get the pizza blogger’s attention for years?

We may never know.

“He told me it was a coincidence, but I mean, it’s really hard to believe because … we [have] wanted him to come down here for four years,” Fagg said. “I mean, his name has been on my wall for four years.”

Some customers stepped up efforts to get Portnoy’s attention on social media after Fagg announced he was closing, he said, with some urging, “Please come help.”

City Councilman Zac Blanchard said Portnoy’s donation to keep Fagg’s business alive was a great thing to happen to a great person.

“What a wonderful shout-out and opportunity from a very thoroughly followed national platform to highlight a small business which not only makes great pizza, but also has been such a supporter of the community in a lot of ways,” Blanchard said.

He noted that Fagg donates to local causes and is always finding ways to be helpful and involved in the community. Fagg has a Pay-It-Forward Program that turns donations into a hot pizza for someone in need, according to the GoFundMe page for the program.

In six days, 348 people raised $18,868, exceeding the first goal of $5,000, and then beating the goal of $10,000.

“Because of you, those in need have experienced the warmth of a hot, handmade pizza and the kindness of a caring community,” Fagg wrote on GoFundMe. “Your support embodies the true spirit of the season — sharing comfort, love, and joy. As the year comes to a close, we’re reminded of the power of giving and how much stronger we are together.”

Fagg said donations have been flowing in to the charitable effort since Portnoy’s review. He held up a string of printed donation receipts.

Asked about his plans for Christmas Day, he said, “We thought we might be closing, but since I have, you know, maybe a few extra donations to give, I’m hopeful we’ll be able to find some homeless people that would like a hot pie.”

Christina Tkacik contributed to this story.

The story has been updated to provide the total number of page views and likes for posts about the pizzeria on X.