{"id":133692,"date":"2023-02-09T10:10:29","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T15:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//?p=133692"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:26:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:26:43","slug":"ucf-alum-entrepreneur-fires-up-a-pizza-food-truck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//ucf-alum-entrepreneur-fires-up-a-pizza-food-truck/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692//","title":{"rendered":"UCF Alum, Entrepreneur Fires up a Pizza Food Truck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three billion. That/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u2019s about how many pizzas are sold in the United States every year. This year, UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management alumnus Dylan Pittman /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201922 plans to serve hundreds of pies through Pizza Pitt Stop, a food truck he recently launched./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

Pizza Pitt Stop currently serves customers across Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida. Among its signature offerings is the Talladega, Pittman/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u2019s personal favorite, which has a green flag sauce, combining the flavors of Alfredo and pesto with chicken and bacon./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cEver since I was a kid, I have always wanted to have my own restaurant,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d says 21-year-old Pittman. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cIt wasn’t until a few years ago that my mind moved from a traditional brick-and-mortar to a food truck. I just saw a lot of fun opportunities for a situation where every day at work was unique and would never get stale./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

To turn his dream into a reality, Pittman earned his bachelor/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u2019s in restaurant and foodservice management from UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management in May 2022. While at the college, he quickly completed his general education classes to concentrate on his primary goal: learning about the food and beverage industry. He completed his degree in three years./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cMy favorite class was Foodservice Operations, where we were in charge of our own pop-up food event on campus for our peers and professors to participate in,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d he says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cMy group developed a pop-up event entirely based around dumplings, where we would use dumplings as a fun and unique vessel for other foods like chicken parmesan./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cIt was great to be able to talk to someone in the industry that could provide a professional yet personal discussion about the idea of putting together a food truck./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u2014 Dylan Pittman /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201922, UCF alum/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

It was during that class that Pittman connected with chef Jay Judy, a senior instructor in the Department of Foodservice and Lodging Management. Judy turned out to be a great mentor for Pittman and his pizza food truck business./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cChef Jay Judy did a great job supporting our ideas and is just a good leader. I was always able to come to him with questions and ideas,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d Pittman says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201cI took this class in the last semester of my senior year, so I was really starting to make moves with the truck./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n

Pittman considered a few different cuisines to build a food truck around, but realized pizza just made sense./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/133692/n