UCF Alums Bring a Fresh Brew to Familiar Grounds

Highlights

• Weekday Coffee & Matcha opened Aug. 24 in the former Starbucks location on UCF's Memory Mall, serving handcrafted drinks, baked goods and house-made syrups.

• Founders David Benjamin '21, an integrated business graduate, and Ricky Bravo '17, a sport and exercise science graduate, combined their backgrounds in specialty coffee and business to turn a campus kiosk proposal into a full-service shop.

• The pair are bringing a taste of Orlando - No. 1 on WalletHub's 2026 list of America's best coffee cities - to UCF. The city also ranks among the best for affordable coffee shops rated 4.5 stars or higher.

Inside Weekday Coffee & Matcha, students settle into couches near a cozy fireplace and gather around tables over handcrafted drinks. Behind the counter, two longtime friends and UCF alumni are finding their footing in a place that already feels like home.

For Ricky Bravo '17 and David Benjamin '21, opening the shop meant bringing years of experience and an ambitious idea back to campus. Steps from where they made some of their favorite college memories, they're building a place for the next generation of Knights to make their own.

"I've walked up and down Memory Mall for years," Benjamin says. "I would hammock there all the time and play spike ball with my friends. So every part of this just feels like home in a sense."

The shop opened Aug. 24, the first day of fall classes. But the idea began with a much smaller space - and a dream Benjamin thought might take years to reach.

Back on Familiar Grounds

Long before they shared a business, Bravo and Benjamin shared a home - and a growing list of favorite Orlando coffee shops.

Introduced through a mutual friend, they became roommates during college in Summer 2016. Bravo, a couple of years older, brought Benjamin along to explore the city's coffee scene.

"We went everywhere together and had a ton of fun," Benjamin says. "We grew a pretty close friendship."

Their careers took different turns, but each gained experience that would eventually lead them to Weekdays.

Benjamin's parents, both first-generation immigrants and entrepreneurs, inspired his ambition to build something of his own. At UCF, he studied integrated business and interned with the Knight Vision program, helping the university transition to Workday. After graduating, he worked at financial services company Robinhood before returning to UCF as an IT project manager for four years.

Bravo, a first-generation American and college student, initially planned to pursue physical therapy. After earning a degree in sport and exercise science at 20, he took time to explore another interest.

At nonprofit cafe DUO58, he started as a volunteer dishwasher and eventually became director of training. Training with the Specialty Coffee Association in California deepened his appreciation for coffee's journey from seed to cup. Work at Lineage Coffee Roasting strengthened his connections within Orlando's coffee community.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a shift into finance at Robinhood, where he and Benjamin became coworkers. But the pull toward coffee and community remained.

A Small Pitch with Grande Possibilities

Benjamin spotted a possibility in an empty kiosk near UCF's Reflecting Pond.

The former Topper's ice cream spot looked like an ideal grab-and-go cafe. The surrounding city offered plenty of inspiration: Orlando ranks No. 1 on WalletHub's 2026 list of America's best coffee cities.

For Benjamin and Bravo, that thriving coffee culture deserved a home on campus. In February, Benjamin contacted UCF's vice president of real estate with a proposal to create one.

" … my dream one day … [was] to take over the Starbucks on Memory Mall." - David Benjamin '21, UCF alum and Weekday co-founder

Then he called Bravo, who was planning his own coffee cart.

Before their pitch meeting, Benjamin shared a bigger ambition:

"I still get goosebumps thinking about it. But I tell Ricky, 'I know we're pitching for this little kiosk, but my dream one day … is to take over the Starbucks on Memory Mall," Benjamin says.

The kiosk proved unavailable. But in March, the university offered them the Starbucks space instead.

"I just lit up. I called Ricky, freaking out," Benjamin says. "I'm like, dude, it's happening. Then we got right to work."

With UCF Dining's approval, the founders had just a few months to prepare. They turned to Lineage Coffee Roasting, just five minutes from campus, for guidance on products and design. Bravo and his wife drew on their rental-property design experience to create a bright interior with couches and a mix of intimate seating and communal tables for both quiet study sessions and conversation.

Even the name reflected their vision.

"[We want Weekday]" to be part of people's daily rhythm and routine … where you get something really crafted." - Ricky Bravo '17, UCF alum and Weekday co-founder

"It spoke to wanting this to be part of people's daily rhythm and routine, a quick break, … where you get something really crafted," Bravo says.

On opening day, that vision met a line of customers.

"We were running out of items," Bravo says. "I remember making an order, and I just paused, like, this is real."

The Daily Grind, Handcrafted

That realization now comes with early prep shifts, dishes to wash and recipes to refine.

Both founders live nearby and work daily alongside their mostly student staff. Their attention extends from the ingredients they source to the experience of the person waiting at the counter.

Their signature Weekday Blend, roasted by Lineage, includes coffee grown by the Sánchez family - a UCF student's family - in Honduras. A light-medium roast preserves its distinctive flavors, while an Ethiopian coffee adds berry-like, syrupy sweetness. The result is something a coffee enthusiast will love, and an easy first sip for anyone new to specialty coffee.

Their matcha comes from a Japanese tea house. Every syrup is made in the shop's prep kitchen, including caramelized Madagascar vanilla bean, mocha finished with sea salt and brown sugar shoyu with warm spices - the base of the popular, cookie-like Golden Shoyu drink.

"There's a lot of intentionality into everything we do," Bravo says. "We're not bulk ordering syrups from a warehouse. Our staff comes in at six in the morning and makes gallons and gallons of syrup."

For Homecoming Week, that creativity includes The Citronaut, an orange blossom honey drink honoring UCF's original mascot.

A Place to Call Home

As regulars return and student organizations gather, Weekday is becoming the place its founders envisioned.

French and Spanish clubs have held meetings in the shop. Students make up most of the staff, bringing a sense of ownership the founders value. Next summer, Benjamin and Bravo hope to make the outdoor seating area more inviting with lush plants and a shaded awning.

"Rooted in community, built by alumni, handcrafted for campus … that's what we want to do." - Ricky Bravo '17

"We want this to feel like a 15-minute vacation in the midst of people's high-pressure moments, and for them to remember the faces behind the bar," Bravo says.

For Benjamin, being one of those faces adds another chapter to a relationship with UCF that has grown from student to graduate, employee and business owner. For both founders, it's a chance to give the campus they remember a gathering place they can call their own.

"Rooted in community, built by alumni, handcrafted for campus aren't just things that we say," Bravo says. "We wake up every morning, and that's what we want to do."

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