Applied for asylum in 2002

From dishwasher to owner of nine restaurants

 Lulzim Fejzullahi beamed at the opening of Boje 18 in Ebensee.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

Twenty-four years ago, Lulzim Fejzullahi fled the war in Kosovo and came to Austria. He found a job as an assistant in a hotel kitchen on Lake Traunsee.  Through tireless dedication, he fulfilled his dream of becoming self-employed. He has now opened his ninth restaurant in Ebensee.

“The name Boje 18 has been set for ten years now, because we actually wanted to open the restaurant right on the shore of Lake Traunsee in 2018. Unfortunately, first the permits took a long time to come through, then the pandemic hit, but now the time has finally come,” Lulzim Fejzullahi told the “Krone” on the day of the opening of his ninth restaurant. Once again, he’s opted for a completely new concept. In Ebensee, he aims to combine culinary delights with lifestyle and the unique atmosphere right on the water. To complement this, the restaurant serves cocktails, summer drinks, and light bites.

Fejzullahi doesn’t have a favorite venue: “All nine are my babies. I love them all,” smiles the entrepreneur, who has named two of his businesses after his daughters. “But my main business is real estate. I started that in 2009. I buy, build, and rent out properties,” explains the successful multi-entrepreneur.

He also speaks openly about what was probably the most difficult time of his life. In 2002, he fled the war in Kosovo and found a job washing dishes at a hotel on Lake Traunsee. After completing his apprenticeship, he quickly rose to become a restaurant manager and worked at the BFI as a hospitality trainer.

In Ebensee, he served as an SP representative on the municipal council from 2015 to 2021. Unsurprisingly, his entrepreneurial success combined with his political activism has also attracted envious people and critics. But this likable jack-of-all-trades knows how to handle that. He even invited them to the opening of Boje 18. And they patted him on the back. Other congratulations came from the heart. Karl Hundstorfer, a former crib maker, presented Fejzullahi with a handmade wooden heart, a large-scale piece displayed on the restaurant’s pier that invites visitors to linger.