Mama Mia!

Mama Mia!

Seven hundred to one thousand people walk in and out of Bloomsburg's most well known pizza shops, Tri Pi, a night. If you're wandering around Bloomsburg on a weekend night  looking for a slice of pizza, almost everyone will recommend them. Tri Pi serves everything from pizzas to strombolis all the way to their infamous pretzellinis. 

The pretzellini originated from the owner of Tri Pi, Joe, "I wanted a sandwich on a soft pretzel, but the ingredients kept slipping through the holes," he explained. This got him thinking, and that's when the magic happened. Pretzellinis come in various forms ranging from the classic, to the buffallini, all the way to their numerous dessert pretzellinis. The melt in your mouth pretzel buns come stuffed with all sorts of concoctions. Each comes individually wrapped in hot tin foil thrown in a brown paper bag. The best seller, the buffanllini, also comes with a small plastic container of ranch dressing for dip. Peeling open the tin foil unleashes a cloud of steam unveiling the salted pretzel bun while the smell of the ingredients circulates through the air. Massive cubes of chicken marinated in spicy hot buffalo sauce, topped off with mozzarella cheese swells from the buns. 

Hip-hop music blasts from two humungous speakers planted in the walls. It can be heard from a block away anytime the open sign is blinking red and blue. Red bricks cover each wall, and shiny wooden bars with black trim features line them. Customers sit on black and silver barstools, laughing with friends, eagerly listening for their name to be called while others dinning in sit and devour their meals. Three wooden rectangular tables line the middle of the shop on weekdays, but with the huge amounts of people coming in and out on the weekends they are moved to the back. Seven televisions hang from the walls, all playing the same channel; which is usually ESPN. A big black chalk board on the back wall reads, "Welcome to Tri Pi Pizzeria" scribbled in green, white, and red chalk to represent the Italian culture. A claw machine labeled "TREASURE HUNT" in big red letters rests in front a glass display container for children to occupy themselves. A silver stainless steal shelf sits in the glass container showing off the many different pizza options that are premade. 

On a weekend night kids find themselves winding their way through a sea of dozens of hungry college kids waiting restlessly to order a cheap yet delicious late night snack. "Students from Bloomsburg University make up about seventy percent of our customers," Joe said. Over one hundred pizza pies, including slices, and two hundred to three hundred pretzellinis are sold a night. These all range from pick up, eat in and delivery orders they receive. None of this will break the bank either, pretzellinis start at just four dollars and go up to six fifty. Pizzas vary more because of toppings, and because you can walk out with just one slice.  They're also willing to serve the night owls of Bloomsburg, especially Thursday through Saturday when they stay open until four am! 

Joe came from New York wanting to bring their pizzeria style to Bloomsburg. He loves making food in general but he loves Tri Pi for reasons you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else. He loves the atmosphere of all the college kids and seeing all the crazy things they do from dancing along to the music or just seeing how they get more and more rambunctious as the night progresses. He loves rushing around the kitchen trying to make everyones food as the order slips pile up on top of each other. 

Although Tri Pi is mostly famous for their delicious pizza and original pretzellinis they do serve a variety of other things. The starter portion of their menu consists of munchies, it has everything: garlic knots, mozzarella sticks, boneless wings.  They even have a special spot on their menu for just nachos: buffalo, loaded, pierogi, pulled pork. Yum! Salads also hold their own spot on the menu, which most people find strange considering if you're eating at a pizzeria you usually aren't trying to watch your weight. These salads are no ordinary salads though, they come loaded with lots of unique toppings to match the salads name. The Mexican salad for example consists of mixed greens, sprinkled with salty corn chips, salsa, cheese, olive thrown in and its all topped off with a dollop of sour cream. 

The number one goal of Tri Pi is to make their customers happy, and I have yet to find someone who has ever been disappointed. Yes, the wait may be long, but it is one hundred percent worth it. If you haven't been there yet you better get going! Getting through the whole menu will probably take you a while, but once you have one amazing experience you'll want to try it all.