“Wawa has disgusting pizza.”
That was the assessment in a video of convenience-store chain Wawa’s pizza by social media personality and businessman David Portnoy, who reviews pizza on his YouTube channel One Bite Pizza Reviews, which has 1.4 million subscribers.
In 2023 and 2024, Portnoy hosted the One Bite Pizza Fest in New York City, and a 2025 fest is planned. The 2024 fest featured more than 35 pizzerias.
Portnoy in 2003 founded Barstool Sports as a free newspaper in Boston. In 2007 it relaunched as an online blog and has since grown into a multimedia company featuring social media podcasts and videos. It produces sports, lifestyle and pop culture content.
In the YouTube video, Portnoy had other comments as well, none of which were positive for a convenience-store chain known for years for its hoagies. While Wawa began its foray into pizza in June 2023, it started selling hoagies in a pre-made version in the 1970s, according to its website. The c-store chain, which won the top spot in last year’s inaugural American Customer Satisfaction Index Convenience Store Study, started its Built-to-Order hoagies program in 1982. Also, just recently, a Wawa convenience store in Charlottesville, Virginia, won an award for best gas station hoagie in the country.
CSP asked three experts for their advice on what to do in a situation like this. Would they respond? If so, how? Below are their takes. Wawa did not respond to several requests for comment from CSP.
Stafford Shurden, Stafford’s Market
Brands need to be prepared to accept that they can do everything right and still get a bad review, said Stafford Shurden, owner of Stafford’s Market in Drew, Mississippi.
A response should be brand specific, Shurden said, and the right brand “might even lean into it while being respectful.”
Shurden said he doesn’t think the review will hurt Wawa's brand.
“They have a very loyal following,” he said. “The work comes before a bad review, not after it.”
In the comments section of the Portnoy review, several agreed with him while some Wawa fans came to the pizza’s defense:
“’Wawa has disgusting pizza, Wawa has disgusting pizza...,’ he repeats over and over again as he keeps taking bites out of the allegedly disgusting pizza,” wrote @BryonLetterman.
Another comment, from @sk8terfresh, was mixed: “There’s one Wawa that makes the best pizza out of the other two locations I visit. This older lady is god send the way she prepares the pizza and the presentation how well the bottom is cooked idk what she does but she’s the pizza guru. You know when she’s not there cause u get sloppy undercooked pizza.”
A third comment offered this perspective: “I feel like it’s decent in a fast food/frozen type situation not to be put up against actual pizza. I wouldn’t say it’s disgusting,” wrote @HeartlessNJ.
Being both a reviewer and a restaurant owner, Shurden told CSP, “I have a unique perspective on handling bad reviews, especially from influencers.”
The first thing Shurden does when he receives a negative review, whether from a well-known personality or an everyday customer, is ask: “Is there any truth to the complaint?” he said. “If there is, I take it as an opportunity to improve. Some of the best changes I’ve made to my food have come directly from customer feedback.”
Shurden added that if the brand being criticized has done a great job building customer loyalty, which he said he believes Wawa has, “Then the old saying ‘There’s no such thing as bad press’ might apply.’ A negative review, especially from someone with influence, can actually create a sense of curiosity among consumers. In many cases, loyal customers will come to the brand’s defense.”
The best approach is to have fun with the criticism while remaining respectful, Shurden said.
“Most of us in the food industry don’t take review culture that seriously,” he said. “I don’t take myself that seriously. If I were Wawa, I might even repost the review and invite customers to come by and give their own opinions. At the end of the day, it’s just one person’s perspective, not a death sentence for the business.”
Since COVID, Shurden said, he has made a conscious decision not to publish negative reviews.
“It just didn’t feel right for my personal brand,” he said. “But as a restaurant owner, I’m always prepared for criticism. The key is to listen, learn when necessary, and not overreact.”
Nick Triantafellou, Weigel’s
Negative reviews can be turned into a win for a c-store if approached the right way, said Nick Triantafellou, director of marketing and merchandising at Powell, Tennessee-based Weigel’s Stores.
In fact, Triantafellou took Shurden’s advice to invite customer comment one step further, suggesting the c-store chain invite Portnoy to develop a Wawa pizza.
“Rather than getting defensive, the best move is to lean into it with some humor and engagement,” he said. “If someone with a following 10,000 times the size of ours critiques our food, why not invite them in to make it better? For example, if Dave Portnoy reviewed our pizza, we’d invite him to our kitchen to create a custom pizza that carries his name and is his personal creation.”
This move not only keeps things playful “but also turns criticism into an opportunity for collaboration and brand engagement,” Triantafellou said. “It also gives us a sign of strength in the moment where the offender would look worse than us if they didn’t take us up on our offer.”
Weigel’s believes in having fun with its brand and customers, he said.
“So, when these situations arise, we see them as a chance to build a bigger conversation—on our terms,” Triantafellou said.
Eric Rush, Tri Star Energy
A differing opinion came from Eric Rush, director of marketing at Nashville-based Tri Star Energy, owner of Twice Daily, White Bison, Sudden Service, Little General and Southern Traders.
Rush said Wawa should stay quiet in this case.
“Dave Portnoy goes around the country eating the best pizza from local pizza shops that only focus on pizza and Italian food,” Rush said. “There is no way Wawa could say this without sounding like they are looking for an excuse and admitting their pizza, and potentially all of their food, is not ‘the best.’
“Barstool and Dave have such a huge following that starting a potential ‘argument’ about the rating could balloon into a ton of negative arguments and comments,” Rush added. “I am sure that Wawa would get a ton of support from their fans, but the ultimate outcome would be just short of admitting that their pizza could never match up to those traditional spots.”
Rush this scenario is different than a typical negative comment a c-store would receive on a daily basis from a regular customer.
“At Tri Star, we tend to respond to all negative comments without deleting them unless there are a few ‘magic’ [swear] words or any employee name / image specifically,” Rush said.
Don’t delete negative comments, Rush said. “It makes it look like you are hiding and will for sure create more online conversations when those in the comment section realize it was deleted—they will make a bigger deal about it,” he said.
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