They grew up eating Italian food in Albania. Now they’re bringing their family recipes to our neighborhood at Sorella.

Sisters Gondze Ajro and Vjosa Bajraktari are picky eaters.

In a small town in Albania, picking fresh batches of tomatoes for sauce and rolling fettuccine dough by hand with their grandmother was routine. Their mom, who they refer to as “the best cook,” would make pizza for them. Store bought was never an option.

“We grew up very picky because when you have somebody at home that cooks very good quality food, it’s very hard to compare other food to it,” Bajraktari says.

The sisters dreamed of opening their own restaurant for years. But dreams are often interrupted by more stable career choices.

Ajro ventured off into luxury real estate in Southlake and Dallas, while Bajraktari focused on her art and managing restaurants for 15 years. Even with successful careers that eased their minds off of owning a restaurant, a commute to Lake Highlands would shift their attention back to their dream.

Ajro started driving from her home in Southlake to Dallas six days a week to take her son to rowing practice at Dallas United Crew on White Rock Lake in 2025. The small-town feel and close-knit community intrigued her. She immediately fell in love with our neighborhood.

“(Lake Highlands) reminded us of our home because the community over here is very close,” Ajro says.

Perusing through Lakeridge Village Shopping Center while waiting on her son to finish practice, she noticed the large space next to Pan Asian Kitchen was empty. She immediately called her sister to tell her about it.

Bajraktari and Ajro went to visit the space and with Bajraktari’s approval to lease the space, Ajro’s husband reached out to the landlord to begin the paperwork process.

The sisters signed the contract for the space on Feb. 16, 2026 and began working through the permitting process and renovations. Six months later, that empty storefront became Sorella, a new Italian restaurant that focuses on fresh and clean ingredients that give homage to their Albanian upbringing.

Sorella, Italian for “sister,” highlights the recipes they learned from their grandmother and mother in Albania. The pair attribute the close proximity of Italy and the Mediterranean to Albania as part of their appreciation for Italian cuisine.

The menu features Italian favorites such as lasagna bolognese made with béchamel ($24), shrimp scampi ($26) and the spicy vodka rigatoni with Calabrian chilis ($21), which the sisters said have become popular with customers.

“We source our beef from a local farm here in Texas, and our tomatoes and olive oils are imported from Italy,” Ajro says.

Sorella’s tortellini alla diavola ($22) features a roasted pepper sauce. Ajro, who oversees much of the kitchen work, grills the peppers and adds Calabrian chilies to the sauce.

The pair are working on creating a signature cocktail, called Sorella, which will be citrus-forward and will launch in the next few weeks.

Ajro and Bajraktari are curating the drink menu with a selection of wine, cocktails and spritzes to complement its food.

“I know good wine. I know a $500 bottle of wine, but we want people that live here to come and have food and a glass of wine and not feel like they’ve been robbed,” Ajro says.

The sisters are also planning to expand food offerings with an adjacent cafe.

When the sisters first leased the space, they instantly noticed the large left side with its floor to ceiling windows, second kitchen and additional eating spaces. The right side of the restaurant serves as the main dining room with the main kitchen where the restaurant’s heavier dishes will be prepped, while the other will serve as a breakfast and lunch area where visitors will be able to grab coffees, lattes, sandwiches, salads and pastries. The additional kitchen will act as a prepping area for dinner service.

“We’re going to use the focaccia bread that we have here and make sandwiches (with it),”  Bajraktari says.

Even though the cafe concept is still in the works for the pair, the space will not go left unused in the meantime. Guests who want to enjoy a private dining experience with family and friends can call to make reservations to sit in the left side of the restaurant.

The sisters plan to keep Sorella’s core menu consistent while introducing additional seasonal dishes. Their main priority right now is expanding their staff to support the restaurant and future cafe.

Regardless of the challenge of staff, the sisters hope to continue preserving their childhood memories by cooking Italian dishes that remind them of home.

“Italian food is the kind of comfort that brings families together,” Ajro says. “It just brings us back to the times we grew up in.”

Sorella, 9660 Audelia Road, 214.814.1853