While investigating franchise opportunities with his father, Michael Dowell took one bite of cheesy, deep-dish Chicago-style pizza and knew he was hooked. “After graduating UCF, my father and I decided to go into business together,” Dowell said. “My dad has always had businesses, but we had never really found our niche. Then we discovered Rosati's in Chicago.”

The pair opened their first Rosati's Pizza Pub in Apopka in September 2017. Neither had operated a restaurant before and they had to work out some kinks, but Dowell said the pizza pub was soon flourishing. After things started running smoothly in Apopka, he decided to branch out and manage his own restaurant in Mount Dora. “We really lucked out with this place,” he said. “It’s a great location and it already matched our theme.”