'Just to bring people together': Pine City Pizza Pub hosting weekly free community pizza night, thanks to local donors

Pine City's Pizza Pub will host a free community pizza night on Tuesdays through March 31, thanks to the generosity of local donors.

In an interview on Monday, Pine City Pizza Pub owner Travis Anglo said "there's not really a big backstory" for the weekly event: A local donor reached out a few weeks ago without "necessarily a real rhyme or reason."

Anglo explained that the goal of the community pizza nights is "just to bring people together."

"I think with everything going on in the world and our state and everything like that, they just wanted to do something nice for their community," he said.

The dine-in-only community pizza nights run from 5 to 7 p.m., with pizza served buffet-style.

The first was held on Feb. 17, and Anglo said the community response was "very overwhelming with the amount of people that came through."

"People were very patient, I'll give them that," he said with a laugh.

Anglo said Pizza Pub is tinkering with event logistics on the fly, since the donation was "super, super surprising" on short notice.

"We're still kind of working through how to make it the most efficient as possible to get people through as we go," he said. "Last week was expected but unexpected at the same time."

Anglo said he saw "a lot of new faces" at Pizza Pub for the first night of the weekly series.

Whether it's standing in line with a neighbor or by virtue of community-style seating, Anglo said the nights will offer plenty of opportunities to build community connections.

He also expressed gratitude for the patience and understanding from patrons on the first community night. Some offered their services to pitch in by cleaning or clearing tables.

"Everybody was super appreciative and thankful," Anglo said. "A lot of thank you's, and all that good stuff."

Anglo said Pizza Pub can't match the donations, but will handle a certain portion of the costs.

"This wouldn't be possible without them," Anglo said. "It's crazy what they're doing by doing this for the community. Very generous and selfless to do something nice for the people in the community they live in."