The founder of the controversial website Barstool Sports has an affinity for restaurants—his “One Bite” reviews of pizza restaurants have been popular on YouTube, for instance. Barstool also has a charity arm that has raised funds for various causes, such as victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and for pediatric cancer research.
Last year, Portnoy turned that charitable work toward restaurants after a challenge from Marcus Lemonis, host of the CNBC show “The Profit.” The Barstool Fund has raised more than $36 million to date from contributors and people who buy shirts on the fund’s sites. The fund has supported 295 restaurants.