The feeling of seeing “the golden arches” is something that Dalhousie students get to experience each and every weekend. Some refer to it as “trips”, but we all have enough respect and loyalty to this fine establishment to refer to it as its full name: Triple A Convenience and Pizzeria. The feeling deep in your loins as you turn the corner and see the little shop is something quite special. This little convenience store is dead centre in our student ghetto, and the slices of pizza that are served probably compare to the size of a small SUV.
I’m not kidding.
Photo by Will Maclachlan
I’ll be honest, I am definitely not proud when I say that I can eat an entire pizza. But for some reason I struggle to eat this one HUGE slice pictured above. But priced at $5 including a soda pop, it’s hard to say no to the challenge. It seems like many people like the challenge when they have a couple of whobbly pops in them. On a typical Friday and Saturday night, the line to get a slice doesn’t really start developing until around 12am, and as a rookie I often fall into the trap of waiting. For the veterans however, getting there at around 1:30-2am seems to get you a slice in optimal time, right before you crash and wake up still feeling full from your late night snack.
Now the pizza is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but the hype surpasses the quality by huge margins. My theory to the “hype level” is the people. Many say that a house is not a home without your family, and that is just the case for this establishment. When you walk in the door, you’re part of the Triple A familia.
Photo Courtesy of The Chronicle Herald
This is Zita and John Amyoony, the owners of Triple A, and some of the most generous people you will ever meet. In an interview, John was asked if he felt he was missing out by working all the time, and he laughed.
“This is my social life, my entertainment; the customers are my friends. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” (The Chronicle Herald).
This is just a short testament to the customer service one feels when they enter this unorthodox convenience store. The couple have worked side by side for over 30 years and have never seemed to slow down. They thrive off of the work they do which is such a refreshment in our culture.
You are bound to have a nice conversation when you head into Triple A, no matter what time, no matter how busy it is. The family structure that this business withholds is what makes it feel different then any other convenience store, which John notes in the same interview.
“Everybody feels welcome here because everybody is. I was gone for four weeks after I had surgery and my wife was amazed how many people would come in and ask about me. We’re like family.” (The Chronicle Herald).
Now if this this incredible story doesn’t make you feel things, here is a pizza GIF that most definitely will.
GIF courtesy of pizzagifs.tumblr.com
All hail Triple A Convenience and Pizzeria
All interview questions and answers are credited to The Chronicle Herald.