Bought the Oven, Got Ghosted, Built a Pizza Brand Anyway

What do you do when you buy all the pizza equipment, start your buildout… and the guy who promised to train you ghosts you? If you're Brian Nittayo, you hit the Pizza Expo, meet Tony Gemignani, hustle your way to a crash course in New York—and never look back.

In this episode, Brian from Rose City Pizza joins me to share how he turned a rocky start into a viral pizza brand, known for creative pies like birria, elote, and al pastor. We talk about how going viral doesn’t always mean staying in business, why systems saved his shop, and the real cost (and payoff) of doing what you love.

Brian also takes us on a virtual tour of his shop, drops gems about owning his own building, running with fewer staff thanks to automation and AI, and shares what’s hitting on the menu right now (spoiler: it’s the classics).

If you're dreaming of your own pizzeria—or just want to hear how one operator stayed in the game when things got hard—this one’s for you.

Connect with Rose City Pizza:
📍 Covina, California
📸 Instagram: @rosecitypizza

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