Starwood Cafe Owners Violeta Rushiti (left) and Andy Rushiti (middle) stand with Chef and General Manager Juan Ayala.[/caption]

Andy Rushiti and his brother, Lou, came to Texas for the business opportunity and found success with Starwood Cafe, which serves breakfast and lunch.


Andy said he learned about the importance of working hard from his parents, who immigrated to America from Albania in 1962 and began working in the restaurant business in northern Illinois.


“I was 12 years old running a dish machine, standing on a milk crate,” Andy said. “I’ve known since I was 20 that I wanted to own my own restaurant.”


Andy said the poor state of the northern Illinois economy led him and his brother to look elsewhere to open a restaurant.


“So we came [to the Dallas-Fort Worth area] a dozen times to decide where to live and set up the business,” he said. “We gave DFW a hard look, but McKinney felt like the best place to raise a family. It was the best decision we ever made.”


Although the brothers have opened five Starwood Cafe locations in Texas since 2012—including two in McKinney and one in Frisco—they sold four of the restaurants and now only own the location in McKinney’s Adriatica development, which opened in April 2016.




Starwood Cafe The Very Berry Waffle ($9.95) comes with fresh strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.[/caption]

Starwood Cafe has an extensive breakfast menu ranging from omelets and skillets to pancakes and waffles.


Andy said he recommends the Classic French Toast ($7.50) and Avocado Toast ($9.95). The avocado toast comes with fresh avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon, sea salt and cilantro piled on a slice of whole-wheat toast served with egg whites and fresh fruit.




Starwood Cafe Server Jordan Bower takes the Avocado Toast ($9.95) and Classic French Toast ($7.50) to one of her tables.[/caption]

When it comes to lunch, Andy said a popular menu item is the Chicken Pomodoro Panini ($10.95), which is roasted chicken breast and red peppers, fresh spinach, provolone cheese with a pesto mayo spread on a panini.


Andy said the Rushiti family plans to open more Starwood locations in Collin County. His son and daughter, who are both recent college graduates, will join Andy in these ventures.


“I really didn’t expect them to join us in the family business,” Andy said. “But it will be exciting for the whole family to be together.”