Restaurants

Dave Portnoy and Ann Michael Maye review pizza in Needham

QB Drake Maye’s wife and internet baker Ann Michael Maye joined One Bite as a guest reviewer.

Dave Portnoy reviewed more pizzerias for his series One Bite. Kayla Bartkowski For The Boston Globe

January 9, 2026

2 minutes to read

The “Queen of Bakemas” joined forces with “El Presidente” to review the pizza out of a Needham deli for the popular series, One Bite.

Posted Jan. 8 ahead of a Patriots playoff game against the Chargers, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy invited Ann Michael Maye, wife of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, as a One Bite guest to review a cheese pizza out of Gianni’s Deli and Pizza.

“I am with the Queen of the North, obviously, Ann Michael Maye — a special guest. I haven’t had one in a while,” Portnoy said about Maye.

Outside of the deli, Portnoy reminded Maye of the “one bite” rule as he proceeded to take several bites of his pizza before giving his score. But Maye followed the rules, taking one bite of the cheese slice before landing on an 8.1 — a high score in Portnoy’s very subjective system of scoring pizzas.

“In my scale, an 8.1 means you drive an hour to eat it,” Portnoy said to Maye, before giving the restaurant’s cheese pie a 7.7. “I like a tight pizza, and this one’s a little bit sloppy and messy. But I think the taste is great.”

The review also heavily featured the delightful owner who didn’t seem to know the two celebrities who walked into her deli with a camera crew. She even asked where she could find the video once it’s posted, and used her phone to film the crew filming her.

She offered Maye and Portnoy free drinks from a soda cooler and made them a toasted chicken parm sub, which they also reviewed as “good.”

“I love that lady,” Portnoy said. “Is it the best chicken parm I’ve had? No, but it’s very good. It’s a great neighborhood sandwich and pizza shop,” Portnoy said. Maye agreed. And in that moment, the owner could once again be seen filming Portnoy and Maye from inside her shop.

The controversial media mogul who’s from Massachusetts seemed to have a homecoming recently, with a slate of new reviews taking place at eastern Massachusetts pizzerias.

He grabbed a slice of cheese at Tony’s House of Pizza in Quincy, giving it a 6.3. Then he traveled within that same Quincy block of Hancock Tavern, a South Shore bar pie spot, calling it “Masshole central.” He gave it a 7.5 “on the bar pie scale.”