Imagine a bazaar of unique culinary creations, where sumptuous crawfish, savory tamales and delicate empanadas vie to see which can bring your taste buds greater satisfaction — all in the name of a notable cause.

That’s the essence of Wolffest, an annual three-day competition that has taken place at University of Houston each spring since 2002. Before they earn their degrees, rising entrepreneurs from the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship engage in a spirited contest to see who can create the highest-grossing pop-up restaurant.

The participants spend months designing the look, feel and taste of their pop-up experience, pouring everything they’ve learned about business into a friendly head-to-head competition. They plan product offerings, line up vendors and branding partners, create marketing strategies, plan operations and set prices. In addition to the hands-on experience students get in operating a business, proceeds are funneled back into scholarships for students and student activities. In 2023, Wolffest and Wolff Gala raised more than $530,000.

Experiential programs like this are a key reason why The Princeton Review named the Wolff Center the No. 1 undergraduate program of its kind. Wolffest transcends any single industry. From the earliest steps of researching products, negotiating contracts and recruit- ing volunteers, each team decides how to deploy valuable resources and follow business plans.

For instance, Luan Nguyen, a recent graduate, told the Houston Chronicle that Wolffest gave him the confidence he needed to be an entrepreneur. It also equipped him with the skills to create and launch “Downtime,” an app that helps students make friends outside of their classes or extracurriculars.

“You can go a lot of places and study entrepreneurship,” says David Cook, executive director of the Wolff Center, “but if you want to be an entrepreneur, there is no better place than UH.”