Al Santillo's Pizzeria Is Returning Soon And Dave Portnoy Can't Wait To Get A Slice When He's Back
SOURCE: ELIZABETH, NJ — It was in the chilly, early morning hours of Jan. 6, 2024, when Al Santillo’s world turned upside down. The iconic Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza building on South Broad Street in Elizabeth caught fire and badly burned the back end of both his main floor business and second-floor residence. Despite the rapid arrival and heroic efforts of the Elizabeth Fire Department, the damage had been done and it looked like just another Garden State landmark that was going to be lost forever.
Sometimes in a week of darkness (RIP Hulk Hogan, Ozzy Osbourne, Chuck Mangione, and everyone not mentioned), you love to see a heartwarming story even more. And today's comes by news that Al Santillo who is bringing back Santillo's very soon after a devastating fire in January of 2024 that forced him to shut his doors.
Despite various insurance companies telling him that they can't help and he's shit out of luck, Dave stepped up to the plate and gave proceeds of last year's One Bite festival to help him rebuild, and it can bring a tear to anyone's eye, pizza lover or not. No human can watch the legendary review with Al that has 4 million views and not want to help the guy:
Al said that Dave's become his number 1 supporter and that he's a straight shooter that doesn't tolerate any shit. No disagreement here! Chalk this one up as a win for the good guys, and hopefully Santillo's has a line out of the door for the rest of time because god damn does that pizza look delicious. Looks like September is the slated date of return for the GOAT. Congrats Al!
P.S. Santillo and a bunch of other pizza legends will be in the building including Ceres that got a 9.3 and has a line out of the door in NYC every single day at the One Bite Fest in September:
