On a rainy Friday night in Bloomsburg, the streets fill with students darting between bars, frat houses, and house parties. The town hums with energy, and at the center of it all, there is always one stop no one skipped, Tri Pi Pizzeria.

Inside, the chalkboard walls carried the names and scribbles of generations of students. The booths squeezed in friend groups still buzzing from their night out, while music and laughter spilled out onto Main Street. For many students, Tri Pi was a must on a night out.

Behind the counter, longtime employee Jim Difebo was the steady presence in the chaos. He spent four years working at Tri Pi, tossing dough, sliding pizzas in and out of the oven, and most importantly, looking after the students who came through the door.

“I tell everyone I have like 400 kids, I’m a dad to a bunch of these students,” Difebo said. “I get to see them grow up, get an education, and graduate. Getting to be a part of that is really special.”

He remembers the women’s lacrosse team bursting through the doors, singing and dancing until the restaurant felt more like a party than a pizzeria. He remembers alumni coming back years later, slipping into booths like nothing had changed. And he remembers making sure students, especially women, felt safe inside.

“One thing Tri Pi is known for is being a safe haven for women,” Difebo said. “We’ve even escorted women out the back door if they were being harassed. We have zero tolerance for that here.”

That mix of food, fun, and family is what turned Tri Pi into more than a pizzeria. It became part of Bloomsburg’s identity as a college town. Its most famous pizza, the Boom Boom, was even created by a student back in 2013.

The restaurant itself has roots stretching back further, once known as Sal’s Pizzeria before Joseph “Jojo” Yannone rebranded it into Tri Pi. His vision was to create a place where students could hang out after the bars — and he got exactly that.

Walk in on any late night and you’d find more than just students: an older couple waiting for their order, a dad playing arcade games with his son, or locals leaving their mark on the chalkboard. Employees like “Tri Pi Ben” became legends in their own right, even making it onto students’ Instagram feeds.

But after years of serving as a cornerstone of Bloomsburg’s late-night culture, Tri Pi has now transitioned into Project Pizza and Deli Company. The new space promises fresh menu items, deli options, and even the possibility of a bar. Former employee Vinnie is stepping up to run the show, keeping the spirit of community alive.

“Vinny is a great guy, Nate is a great guy — nobody left on bad terms,” Difebo said, optimistic about the change. “The pizza is phenomenal.”

For students and alumni, though, Tri Pi will always hold a place in their memories as the post-bar pit stop.

As the name changes and Project Pizza begins its own chapter, the soul of Tri Pi lingers in the laughter that once echoed inside, in the Boom Boom pizza that started as a student’s idea, and in the community it fed long after the bars had closed.

EDITOR NOTE: Last May Tri Pi was taken down and replaced by Project Pizza, This article and interviews were done last semester.