- May 10, 2024
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Five years after their parents sold Manny’s Pizza, Tony and Johnny Lulgjuraj bought the building, then gutted, remodeled and reopened it as Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill.
Tony and Johnny Lulgjuraj grew up in the restaurant business.
For more than 15 years, their parents owned Manny’s Pizza, in Flagler Beach, where the two helped out from as young as 12 years old. Later, Johnny went on to managerial work, and was the youngest manager ever hired at Ker’s Winghouse, where he had 72 employees under him.
Their parents sold Manny’s in 2006, and when the building was put back on the market four years later, last September, the brothers couldn’t resist.
Almost a year and $250,000 in renovations later, the Lulgjurajs reopened their parents’ old building as Oceanside Beach Bar & Grill. They even have the original Manny’s cook working in the kitchen.
But Oceanside isn’t just an imitation of what came before, they say. It’s the same location, and the same Lulgjuarajs, but 1848 S. Oceanshore Blvd. is definitely under new ownership.
“We’re not an Italian restaurant anymore,” Tony Lulgjuaraj, 31, said, citing a more modern atmosphere and what his brother calls an “ocean of flavor” for a menu. They sell fajitas, next to their signature dishes, such as chicken Johnny, the tour de Italy and a new pizza recipe.
They will also feature daily and nightly specials.
“We wanted to do the stuff that our dad never had the opportunity to do,” Johnny Lulgjuraj, 25, added.
After buying the building, the brothers gutted it. Tony, who formerly owned a construction business, led a team in the renovations. Johnny said the brothers did 90% of the construction work themselves.
Pointing around to the stacked brick-lined bar and the new sand-colored floor tiles, Mike Akalis, Oceanside manager, listed all the work that went into the place.
Aside from the original block walls, now refinished, everything has been replaced, he said. During construction, the ground was dirt. The plumbing and electric was changed. A new roof was installed. They expanded the deck, took out old booths and put in tables — there are now about 65 more seats than there used to be. They moved doors around. Added a full bar. Two big-screen TVs are on the way, and will be hung in the lounge area to the left of the entrance.
Oceanside began serving its full menu on June 27.
“We’ve been doing great,” Akalis said, and with very little advertising. The neighborhood watched Oceanside be built, he added. The place had a following even before Day One.
Although Tony and Johnny each always wanted to own a restaurant, they never planned on taking over the family business so soon.
“I graduated in the worst possible time,” Johnny Lulgjuraj said.
After graduating as the valedictorian from Full Sail’s Entertainment Business program, he pursued a career in music management. He said his dad was always a “follow your dreams” kind of guy, but the economy just wasn’t welcoming to college grads, even in Detroit, where he managed a few singers and disc jockeys, supplementing his income with restaurant work.
That lasted for two years, until his brother called one day from Flagler, with the proposition to buy the old Manny’s building. Johnny jumped at it.
Now, the two intend to incorporate art into food service.
They plan to have an outdoor band perform every Friday and Saturday night. During the week, they’re considering putting together open mic nights, or karaoke, during happy hours.
“I still have a lot of connections in music, so I’m always looking for new prospects I can help out,” Lulgjuraj said.
They also plan to decorate the walls in art from local painters and photographers, which will be up for sale to patrons.
“We really have invested everything into this place, and failure is not an option,” Lulgjuraj said. “We get to cook great food and entertain all our friends and families … as well as all the people that used to pinch our cheeks growing up … We aren’t going anywhere for a while.”
For more, call 439-6345.
Contact Mike Cavaliere at [email protected].
