Dave Portnoy nemesis Dragon Pizza divides internet after kicking parents out for not supervising their kids: ‘Get a grip!’

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Dave Portnoy nemesis Dragon Pizza divides internet after kicking parents out for not supervising their kids: ‘Get a grip!’​

By
Nicholas McEntyre
Published March 20, 2025, 1:41 a.m. ET
51 Comments
The outspoken pizzeria owner who confronted Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy as he received a poor review kicked a family out for “disrespecting” his store — while the media mogul was conflicted over the “arrogant” businessman’s actions.
Charlie Redd, who owns Dragon Pizza in Somerville, Mass., revealed he had to “demand a group of negligent parents” to leave the store on March 14 because of the behavior of the children in the group.
He claims the kids were disrupting other customers and “disrespecting” the eating area and the staff.
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Dragon Pizza in Somerville, Massachusetts.Google Maps
“Our restaurant, or any restaurant, is not a place for unsupervised children to play. It is here to share dining experiences,” Dragon Pizza wrote in a social media post on March 16.

Redd, who has children, told Boston.com that it was the first time in more than six years that he’s had to ask a family to leave his store.

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Portnoy was conflicted with Redd’s decision to boot the patrons as he expressed his thoughts during an expletive-filled rant to X Wednesday.
“This has created quite the (conundrum) for yours truly because I absolutely despise this dude (Charlie) Redd. He is an arrogant, piece of s–t, c——–r. There’s absolutely no other way to put it,” he told his 3.6 million followers wearing the same Star Wars shirt Redd wore in their viral confrontation.
“Just an absolute dirtbag. Loves the attention of controversy. No one would know he kicked this family out if he didn’t put it on his Facebook page and try to act like a badass then lock all of the comments,” he added.
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Barstool’s Dave Portnoy is confronted by Dragon Pizza owner Charlie Redd outside the restaurant in 2023.Twitter / @stoolpresidente
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Redd works around the store after his viral argument with Portnoy in 2023.David McGlynn for NY Post
During its longwinded recount of the Pi Day events, Dragon Pizza included the store’s policies about its younger clientele.

• 1- We welcome all children dining in our restaurant with open arms.
• 2- We DO NOT welcome parents who do not want to share a dining experience with the children.
• 3- We Love sharing our games with children. Who wouldn’t?!
• 4- We Loath parents who use our games as babysitters while they ignore their children and let them damage and abuse our games.
• 5- We think our pizza is the best, worthy of respect, and cherish children who agree.
• 6- We do not appreciate parents who treat our pizza as a cheap, simple option to feed their children until they can have their own dinner.

Portnoy, who admitted to not being fond of being around children, slammed Redd for amplifying the incident on social media.
“It kind of stinks I agree with this guy. Again, there’s no need to post about it and maybe these kids weren’t doing anything because let’s be honest this guy is acting like his pizza place is a five-star Michelin restaurant,” Portnoy said.
“He probably blew this out of proportion because this guy just likes being an a–hole. This guy is a professional a–hole. There’s no other pizza place that keeps ending up in the news,” he added.
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Portnoy does his “one bite” review of the Dragon Pizza slice.Twitter / @stoolpresidente
Portnoy likened Redd’s gripe with the children to a customer complaining about kids at a Chuck E. Cheese.
Dragon Pizza has a room next door to its restaurant called the Dragon’s Lair, which features a bar and a game room and is advertised as “one of the coolest hangout spots in Davis Square.”
“Buddy, you own a little pizza place with shitty pizza in Davis Square. You know what, I’m against this guy. It’s a pizza place. So the kids were a little loud? Get a grip, fatso!” Portnoy said.
The post from both Redd and Portnoy created debate on who was at fault for the madness.
“Too many parents these days don’t understand that they need to actually parent their children. Good on you for sticking up for your staff and other patrons,” one person commented under the pizzeria’s post.
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Portnoy, who admitted to not being fond of being around children, slammed Redd for amplifying the incident on social media.David McGlynn for NY Post
“Well-handled! Bravo!” someone else added.
“He won’t last long,” one comment read on Portnoy’s post.
“Plus, pizza places are kids’ food heaven. Don’t serve pizza if you don’t want kids in your place,” another argued.
The 47-year-old media mogul first alienated the pizzeria and its owner during a stop at the restaurant back in 2023.
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Portnoy takes to X to talk about Dragon Pizza’s decision to kick out a group of customers because of the children on March 19, 2025.X/stoolpresidente
Portnoy visited the store for an episode of his popular “One Bite” series where he reviews pizzerias by taking one bite out of a slice.
The “super floppy” slice was given a 6.4 out of 10, because of its strong “strong parmigiana” taste, but Portnoy was left with little more to desire after being confronted by an irritated Redd.
The owner called out Portnoy for “judging a business with one bite.”
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What do you think? Post a comment.
The unprovoked confrontation ignited a nearly two-minute heated argument between the two men in front of the business.
“This pizza is trash,” Portnoy exclaimed.
In the subsequent episode shared on YouTube, “One Bite” dubbed the store “The Worst Pizza Place in America.”

 

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Food News

How should guests with kids act at restaurants? Dragon Pizza has some thoughts.​

It isn't the first time an area business has shared its problems about guests with children.​

Dragon Pizza's owner shared his thoughts — and some guidelines — after an incident involving guests with children. Matthew J Lee/Globe Staff
By Katelyn Umholtz
March 18, 2025
3 minutes to read

Dragon Pizza’s owner shared some thoughts in a social media post about guests with children after restaurant staff told a group of families to leave the Somerville pizza parlor on Friday.

The post, which appeared on Instagram and Facebook on Sunday and was first reported by The Boston Globe, said the group of “negligent parents” and “unsupervised children” was “disrespecting our dining room, other guests, and our team.”

“Anyone who has visited our restaurant knows we are a pizza shop that LOVES KIDS,” read the post. “Sadly, we had to demand a group of negligent parents Friday to take their families home because they were disrespecting our dining room, other guests, and our team. Our restaurant, or any restaurant, is not a place for unsupervised children to play. It is here to share dining experiences.”

Screenshot of Dragon Pizza’s Instagram post.
What followed were six thoughts:

1. We welcome all children dining in our restaurant with open arms.
2. We DO NOT welcome parents who do not want to share a dining experience with the children.
3. We love sharing our games with children. Who wouldn’t?!
4. We loathe parents who use our games as babysitters while they ignore their children and let them damage and abuse our games.
5. We think our pizza is the best, worthy of respect, and cherish children who agree.
6. We do not appreciate parents who treat our pizza as a cheap, simple option to feed their children until they can have their own dinner.

The Globe reported that Dragon’s post came after its owner, Charlie Redd, learned that the families shared details of the encounter on a Facebook parenting group. Boston.com tried to locate the post and reached out to people who appeared to know the family in order to get their side of the story, but Boston.com didn’t hear back in time for publication.

Redd, who has children of his own, also wouldn’t share more specific details about the incident than what was said on social media, but he added that he wasn’t placing the blame on the children over the matter.

“This [post] is always in reference to the parents,” Redd told Boston.com.

With a career in hospitality, he said he built the Dragon Pizza space with families in mind. It’s not just a pizzeria, but the business offers an adjacent space, Dragon’s Lair, that includes games like shuffleboard and pinball.

“Since the opening of my first restaurant, Redd’s in Rozzie, I’ve wanted to make guests with children comfortable,” Redd said. “It’s part of my philosophy to hospitality, for restaurants to engage everyone. We’ve been very successful here at Dragon accommodating groups with kids.”

Though Redd said it was the first time in more than six years of being open that they’ve told a family to leave, it’s not the first time an area restaurant has complained about guests with kids. The topic of guests with allegedly unruly children has become an online debate especially surrounding breweries.

Last year Rhode Island brewery Proclamation Ale Company wrote on Facebook a “gentle reminder” for guests who bring children that the staff and their board games are not “babysitters.”

The reactions, including to Dragon’s post, have been mixed. Many cheered on Redd for standing up for his business, while adding their own nightmare run-ins with families at restaurants. Others debated his guidelines or thought it was unreasonable to post such a statement in the first place.

“Anyone who’s waited tables knows this is a huge problem,” wrote one user on Facebook. “Some parents, not all, think their family is the most important family anywhere. It’s his restaurant; sounds like the kids were bothering other customers.”

“I work at a brewery and kids running wild is BY FAR the biggest complaint we get,” a Reddit user said.

“You had me until no. 6,” one Instagram user said. “Why can’t parents give their kids pizza as a cheap easy option?”

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  Dave Portnoy feud brought increased business, Dragon Pizza owner says​

“I like Dragon Pizza and go somewhat regularly, but this response is really really [expletive] weird,” a Reddit user said. “Just bizarre language.”

Some of the negative reactions were less relevant to the debate around guests with children, but referenced another incident that put Dragon Pizza in the headlines: a viral and expletive-laced run-in with the controversial Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy. The social media personality came to Dragon in 2023 to do a filmed One Bite review, but the video quickly turned into a spat between Redd and Portnoy.

The viral dispute resulted in Dragon Pizza getting review-bombed, and Redd said they received death threats. But the aftermath also saw lines out the door from customers showing their support.

We want to know: How do you feel about the behavior of guests and their kids at restaurants? Share with us in the form below or e-mail us at community@boston.com. Your response might be featured in a future article.

 

[phanatic]

I have to agree. Get your fucking kids in control. Not even for the liability reasons, just show that you're raising kids that know how to respect going out.