Fazzi's Restaurant in Collinsville is Celebrating its 20th Anniversary

Luli Dullovi is the first to admit that running a restaurant is a difficult task, but it's nothing compared to what he and his family went through to get where they are now.

Luli and his brother, Fazli Dullovi, are the owners of Fazzi's Restaurant, located at 1813 Vandalia St. in Collinsville. The restaurant, which serves Greek, Italian and American food, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

The Dullovi family appreciates the support they've received from Collinsville over the past two decades, particularly in overcoming the obstacles that led to this milestone.

In 1999, the Dullovi brothers and their late father, who are Albanians, escaped from war-torn Kosovo and eventually started a new life in the United States.

"We left everything and took off. It was either you die or you leave."

The Dullovis crossed the border into Macedonia, where they spent two months in a refugee camp. "That was probably the worst two months of my life," Luli recalled. "You had to register your name, and there were countries where you could choose where you wanted to go."

A New Life in the U.S.

The brothers and their father listed the U.S. and Norway as their preferred destinations. Their names came up first for Norway.

"We have a large family with some St. Louis connections and one of our cousins whose name came up for the United States, and we came after him," Luli said. "Finally, the rest of our family came over, and there are more of us here now than there are left in Kosovo. I now have four daughters, and Fazli has five daughters and one son."

After seven weeks in St. Louis, with no previous knowledge of the city, Luli landed a job as a dishwasher at Michael's Bar and Grill in St. Louis. His father and brother soon joined him.

"If you ever flee from war, you basically have nothing, and we were hungry for work."

Fazli, meanwhile, was attending Soldan High School in St. Louis, where he met a teacher named Harry Compton, who knew that he and his brother were working at Michael's. He told them about a restaurant called Zeppetelli's that had just shut down in Collinsville. It turned out to be the future home of Fazzi's, but the road to get there wasn't easy.

"We were young, and we didn't know anything about Collinsville," Luli said. "My father had just started making money, and he was so scared he would make a mistake and lose everything, so he wasn't sure what we should do. I asked some friends if they wanted to go 50/50 with me to buy the restaurant or if they could buy it and I would cook for them, but nobody wanted to do it."

Building a Business

Luli, Fazli, and their father eventually came to visit the building, but they had little credit to work with.

"We met Susan and Linda, who were sisters and the daughters of the owner of Zeppetelli's, who had owned the place for about 30 years," Luli said. "She passed away and left it to her daughters, and they kept it open for another couple of years. We told them if they were willing to rent for six months with an option to buy after that, we were interested. We had never been to Collinsville, but they told us there was a large Italian population and they even had an Italian Fest."

The Dullovis made a deal to pay $2,500 a month for rent and opened the restaurant with a four-person staff, including the brothers' uncle. "We opened on a Thursday, and the next day was a Friday, and we got busy, and there was no help," Luli said.

By six months, though, business at the restaurant had slowed considerably, and the Dullovis were debating whether they should take ownership or walk away from it. They decided to take a chance, and it paid off.

"We bought the place and did some major remodeling," Luli said. "Even though we had the restaurant, my father was so worried about money that he was still working at his other job, doing cleaning at UMSL."

Tragedy Strikes

Just when the restaurant seemed to be turning the corner, tragedy struck in 2006, as Luli's father and two cousins were struck by a car while crossing the intersection of Lindell and Kingshighway in St. Louis. Luli's father was killed, but both cousins survived.

"My father was killed instantly, while one cousin was in a coma for about six weeks. It was a big upset for us, and everything changed."

"When we fled from war in Kosovo, a lot of our family had fled poverty there 10 or 15 years earlier, before the war started. My father hadn't seen his sister for 15 or 20 years, so we shut down the restaurant for two weeks and took my father's body back to Kosovo, where he was buried."

The remodeling of the restaurant had cost about $70,000, leaving the brothers with $20,000 left in the bank. "We had to use that money to take my father back home," Luli said. "Fazli, my mom, and I went there, so we used all that money for the tickets and everything else. When we came back, we had nothing here to reopen the restaurant."

Still, the brothers were determined to keep the restaurant open. "I called some friends who were business contacts and asked if they could give some food so we could start back up, and as soon as we could get some business at the restaurant, we would pay them back," Luli said.

"We opened the doors, and from that day on, the people of Collinsville were like our family. They supported us, and our restaurant has stayed full for the next 19 years. Now we live in Collinsville, and this is our home."

Greek, Italian and American

The extensive menu at Fazzi's includes Greek dishes such as pastichio, moussaka, dolmades and gyros; Italian dishes such as shrimp linguine, pasta con broccoli, chicken/shrimp piccata and spaghetti and meatballs; and American dishes such as burgers, New York strip steaks, ribeye steaks and fried chicken. Daily specials include lamb shanks, rack of lamb, and lamb chops, among others.

"We make sure that everyone who eats here is a happy customer," Luli said. "We have three cuisines in one spot, and we have three kitchens."

Regardless of whether your choice is Greek, Italian or American, Luli emphasizes that everything at Fazzi's is made fresh. "The lettuce is cut and washed in the morning, we crumble our own Feta, and the mushrooms are cut every day," Luli said. "About 80% of the menu is homemade, other than things like ravioli and chicken tenders. All the pastas are cooked fresh, and all the sauces are made fresh. Our dressings are made daily, and there are no frozen items except for a few non-homemade items."

Just as it was when it opened 20 years ago, Fazzi's remains a family operation. "I've got three sisters, and you'll never come here when you don't see one of them on the floor," Luli said. "You'll find our family here seven days a week."