PEN ARGYL, Pa. — Moonlight Pizza is set to be in the spotlight again.
The restaurant, at 301 S. Robinson Ave., went viral nearly a year ago after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy reviewed its pizza for his "One Bite" series.
Next month, Moonlight Pizza will join Portnoy's One Bite Pizza Festival at Randall's Island Park in New York.
"Congratulations Nicole and Anthony! This comes as no surprise! Not only is your pizza phenomenal, your salads and cannoli are equally as incredible!"Customer Taylor Makatura in a Facebook comment
The pizza festival will take place Saturday, Sept. 14. It's website currently offers tickets for two timeframes: from 12:30 to 4 p.m. and from 6:30 to 10 p.m.
Prices vary from $179.99 at the lowest for Tier 2 general admission all-inclusive tickets to $1,499.99 for tickets to the chef's tasting VIP table.
Moonlight Pizza will be among more than 35 "legendary pizzerias" that Portnoy reviewed and gave a high rating to join the festival.
The restaurant shared the news to its Facebook page June 25, adding "Can't wait!"
More than 80 comments shared congratulations to the couple, Nicole Adams and Anthony Ulecka, who own the restaurant.
"Congratulations Nicole and Anthony!" Taylor Makatura said in a comment.
"This comes as no surprise! Not only is your pizza phenomenal, your salads and cannoli are equally as incredible!"
Claim to fame
Portnoy uploaded his review of Moonlight Pizza to his YouTube channel with 1.32 million subscribers in November 2023.
In it, he described the pizza as "spectacular," "tremendous" and "very good," and gave it an 8.3 on a scale of 0-0 in his "One Bite" review. In the background, a passerby called it "literally the best pizza in the world."
The video gained 401,000 views with comments of support for the local business, some strangers and some regular customers.
The review wasn't anything unusual to Lehigh Valley pizza lovers.
When LehighValleyNews.com asked readers for their favorite pizza joint this year, Moonlight Pizza made the cut.
And Moonlight Pizza is routinely mentioned in the Lehigh Valley Food and Travel Facebook group, with members regularly sharing tales of their ordering attempts and successes.
"I saw everyone talking about Moonlight Pizza so I figured I’d give it a try," Jessica Cyran said in a post to the group in May.
"I saw how everyone says it takes a LONG time, and so after 176 calls the line finally rung for me and I managed to get the last 2 pizzas they had!!!"
'Just keep trying'
When calling the restaurant, the automatic voicemail says Moonlight Pizza does not accept orders left on the answering machine and advises customers to begin calling at 2 p.m.
If customers reach that voicemail during operating hours, the voicemail says that means pizza is sold out for the night.
"It took me 98 times and I don’t regret that for one second."Lehigh Valley Food and Travel's former moderator who goes by Chris Tina, in a Nov. 2023 post
The restaurant is reachable at 610-654-1020 and is only open for dine-in or takeout Wednesday through Friday from 2 to 8 p.m.
Customers who successfully place orders compare it to "winning the lottery" and often share rave reviews — the restaurant currently boasts a 4.8-star rating on Google, with a 100% of customers recommending it on Facebook.
"You will likely get a busy signal, just keep trying," Lehigh Valley Food and Travel's former moderator who goes by Chris Tina said in a November 2023 post.
"It took me 98 times and I don’t regret that for one second."
