Owners focus on fresh-made tastes

Frank and Nezira Zulcic are not Italian but take their commitment to fresh-made Italian and Mediterranean cuisine seriously.

The couple, who opened Tony & Luigi's Restaurante in Georgetown in 2008, are Bosnian refugees and first moved to California from Germany in 1997.

In Germany and Los Angeles, Frank took odd jobs such as plumbing work, washing dishes and making deliveries for a pizza restaurant. When one of his daughters was accepted to Southwestern University in 2006, the family moved to Georgetown to stay close to her.

"There are friendly people here, and it takes less money to stay alive," Frank said. "It's expensive in California especially Los Angeles."

Frank said Bosnia and Italy, which are only a few hours' drive from one another, have similar cuisines. He said he cooked at home and picked up additional cooking skills while doing other jobs, and it became a passion for him.

"I dreamed to have my own restaurant," he said. "I'm not a chef. I just like cooking."

The first few years of business were difficult, partly because of some staffing mistakes, Nezira said, though maintaining the restaurant has gotten easier with time.

"It's good to be the owner of a restaurant," Nezira said. "You don't have to work by someone else's rules when you're the owner."

Frank said he and his wife are dedicated to making all of the restaurant's food—pastas, sauces, sides and desserts—from scratch.

"You like to be proud of what you're doing. The best food is really fresh," he said. "There are no cans [and] no buckets of sauces in my kitchen."

Nezira said she has received good reviews of the restaurant's Bolognese sauce, and the pizza is also rising in popularity. Frank added that his veal marsala and almost all of the pasta dishes are also popular items with customers.

While the restaurant has always had a liquor license, Nezira said, it mostly offered beer and wine to customers until recently.

In September, the Zulcics brought in a bartender to expand the restaurant's alcoholic drink selection because Frank said he would hear customers talk about stopping for cocktails before coming in for dinner.

The couple hired Earl South, who moved to Georgetown from Atlanta, to take the job.

"I love taking [classic cocktails] and playing with them," South said, adding he plans to offer five featured cocktails on the Tony & Luigi's menu, many of which are twists on classic cocktails and tailored for local tastes.

He said he plans to use all fresh, homemade and locally bought ingredients, such as grenadine and simple syrups, instead of store-bought items to stay in line with Tony & Luigi's "everything-from-scratch" concept.

"I didn't want to come in behind the bar and have premade mixes," South said. "Everything is spectacular and made fresh."

Signature drinks

Tony & Luigi's Restaurante's new bartender, Eric South, plans to offer the following five signature cocktails to the restaurant's menu.

The restaurant also offers 50 percent off bottles of wine on Tuesday and happy hour all week from 2–5 p.m.

The F5—An over-proof spiced rum, ginger liqueur and ginger beer ($9)

Red Poppy—Gin, prosecco, house-made pomegranate grenadine and lemon juice ($9)

Jalisco Old Fashioned—Top-shelf tequila, agave nectar, bitters and orange peel ($9)

Tony & Luigi's Martini—South describes this gin drink as simply "a well-made martini" ($8)

Seasonal sours—Fruit-based sour drinks featuring seasonal fruits, house-made simple syrup, vodka and fresh lemon juice ($9)

Tony & Luigi's Restaurante, 1201 S. Church St., 512-864-2687, www.tonyandluigistx.com, Hours: Sun.–Thu. 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Fri.–Sat. 11 a.m.–10 p.m.