Upon seeing an opportunity to expand business to Tomball, Alban Bulliqi and Ekrem Hyseni opened a second location of Adriatic Cafe & Italian Grill in April 2017 in the Northpointe area. The duo opened their first restaurant in Jersey Village in 2012.

“We had a lot of customers and guests that had been coming [to Jersey Village] from Tomball, so we were looking in the area, and we saw the opportunity. There’s no Italian restaurant, so we decided to open [one],” Bulliqi said.

Bulliqi and Hyseni—brothers-in-law—came to the U.S. as Albanian refugees in 1999 and 2001, respectively, settling in Houston. Bulliqi said he later worked in pizza shops around Houston while Hyseni had worked in Italy, learning the art of the saute.

Combining that experience, the two started Adriatic Cafe, where they work as chefs, offering a mix of pastas, pizzas and calzones as well as veal, chicken, steak and seafood entrees. Gluten-free dishes are available.

“It’s like a dream come true because coming as [a] refugee [and] having nothing and having the opportunity to have everything in this country—to have the dream,” said Bulliqi, who moved to the U.S. at age 10. “Always I wanted to have my own restaurant.”

The restaurant serves family recipes and features a full bar in addition to outdoor seating and a large dining room, he said.

“Before we came [to Tomball], we trained the staff [for] three months,” Bulliqi said. “We just want to make sure the quality of food comes out from the kitchen, 100 percent fresh. Our dough is made fresh every day. Most of everything is made from scratch.”

Adriatic Cafe also offers catering services, lunch specials, happy hour and kids-eat-free Mondays.

Hyseni said the first family-owned expansion under different ownership will launch later this year with a third cafe near I-45 and Cypresswood Drive in Spring.

“This was like the American Dream for us. We came with nothing in this country,” Hyseni said. “We started the business, and today our business sells like $6 million [in food sales] a year.”