If you’ve spent any time on the internet in the last few months, you probably already know the wild ride that Artisan Pizza Cafe in Columbus has been on. It has everything a good story needs. A small business chasing a dream. A viral moment. A total disaster. And then a comeback that feels straight out of a sports movie.
And yes… it all started with a pizza review.
“One Bite, Everybody Knows the Rules…”
Back in September, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy came to Columbus for the Texas vs. Ohio State game. And because the man apparently cannot enter a city without eating pizza, he stopped at Artisan Pizza Cafe for one of his famous One Bite reviews.
Now look, these reviews are known for two things:
- Blowing up small businesses overnight (figuratively, of course)
- Making owners stress-sweat like they’re taking the SAT all over again
But Artisan Pizza Cafe? They did more than impress him. They stuck with him. Hard.
Portnoy gave their pizza an 8.1 out of 10, which is not only his highest score in Ohio… it’s basically an Olympic gold medal in Dave Portnoy language.
And then there was Jasmin.
If you’ve met her, you get it. She’s warm, funny, full of energy, and she cooks like she has something to prove. When I visited her shop back in July, the place had only been open a few months, and I remember thinking, “How is this pizza already THIS good?” Our Step Out Columbus video went viral, which Portnoy later saw, and he made a point to visit her while he was here.
And that’s when the rollercoaster truly began.
The Oven Meltdown Heard Around Columbus
Here’s the thing no one tells you when your restaurant suddenly gets insanely popular… your equipment has to survive it.
Jasmin’s oven had already been acting up since she bought it. But after Portnoy’s review, her foot traffic exploded. People were lining up. The orders never stopped. And eventually, the oven just… gave out.
Not like a little fix. Not a “turn it off and on again” situation.
It died. Full-stop. Gone. Kaput.
She had to turn customers away. Then close the shop entirely. And for a moment, it really felt like the story was over. A classic “the brightest star burns quickest” moment for a business that deserved better.
But what many of us didn’t know was that the plot twist was already in motion.
The Unlikely Hero
Throughout all of this, Portnoy kept in touch with Jasmin. He checked in on her. He knew she was the only chef running the whole shop by herself. And when her oven finally died for good, people started calling on him to help.
So what did he do?
He didn’t make a video about it.
He didn’t shout it from the rooftops.
And many people thought his silence was deafening – that he was abandoning the shop that garnered him over a million views across all platforms.
But he didn’t think to turn the situation into some big PR production.
He quietly, behind the scenes, bought her a brand new oven.
Just… helped. No spotlight. No victory lap. Just a guy making sure a small business he believed in didn’t lose everything.
Say what you want about Dave Portnoy. He’s blunt. He’s loud. He’s definitely the most annoying Michigan fan I’ve ever witnessed (and yes, Dave, I hope you enjoyed the beatdown this past weekend). But for all the online chaos he creates, he has also raised millions for struggling small businesses. Thousands of owners all over the country have stories just like this one. Stories that don’t make headlines.
This is one of those stories.
So… Thank You, Dave
From Artisan Pizza Cafe, from Jasmin, and from every small business you’ve helped over the years… thank you.
You didn’t have to care about a tiny pizza shop in Columbus. But you did. You helped keep a dream alive. And you gave our city another reminder of why supporting small businesses matters.
And we can’t wait to eat more of Jasmin’s pizza very, very soon.
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