Jul 5, 2009

Off-Beat Business: Potpourri House Serves Up Food, Fun Items For AllBy Brian PearsonTyperPaper.com

Tyler, TX — Everything about Potpourri House in Tyler underscores its name.

Women’s clothing items hang within sight of Pandora jewelry. A 1977 Led Zeppelin concert poster sits on the floor near a candle display. A rack of Tyler-made barbecue sauce lies within sniffing distance of a room filled with sterling silver.

And the music coming out of overhead speakers drifts from Zydeco to country to easy listening.

At the center is the “country French” restaurant, which serves everything from chicken almond crepe to orange roughy Ponchatrain to hamburgers one employee called the town’s best-kept culinary secret.

Even the history is a potpourri of moves, expansions and changes.

Perhaps the biggest theme that defines Potpourri House is one that might go unseen to the typical customer.

The restaurant offers lunch and dinner, while the retail portion of the store sells everything from houseshoes to home decor.

It is a mix of family and Christianity.

When a local church lost its home recently, Potpourri House allowed it to conduct Sunday services there. When an employee needed a place to have a wedding and reception, Potpourri House provided the venue, food and all.

“We do a little bit of everything around here,” said Les Ellsworth III, 45, who took over the business from his parents about five years ago.

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