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Potpourri House 'More Than a Tea Room'

Potpourri House

Potpourri House serves up fine food and great gifts in a stylish setting.

Step inside the Potpourri House‚ and you might forget where you are.

The interior of the longtime Tyler restaurant and gift shop is decorated to resemble a French courtyard‚ with a lush garden scene‚ waterfalls and 10-foot arched windows. Half the facility is an eatery‚ and the other half is devoted to antiques‚ accessories and gifts.

“We do a huge Christmas business during the last quarter of the year‚ with 12 Christmas themes throughout the store‚” says Les Ellsworth‚ who co-owns the Potpourri House with his mother‚ Carol.

Carol Ellsworth started the Potpourri House in 1980 with her husband‚ Les Sr.‚ in a yellow Victorian house in Tyler.

“Mom was retired and wanted to start a little tea room‚” Ellsworth recalls. “Things got a little crazy‚ so I joined the business.”

The Potpourri House was so popular it outgrew the house and moved to a new location on Broadway‚ which it also outgrew. The current 16‚000-square-foot location on Troup Highway is the establishment’s third location.

“We have a dance floor‚ and a band plays show tunes Thursday‚ Friday and Saturday nights‚” Ellsworth says. “And we have live modeling during lunch.”

The restaurant features a 28-foot-long salad bar‚ homemade soups‚ steaks‚ seafood and sandwiches on fresh-baked bread. The adjoining gift shop has everything from jewelry to baby clothes to sportswear.

“We have three private dining rooms‚ so we have a lot of anniversaries‚ weddings and rehearsal dinners here. It’s neat to be part of family events‚” Ellsworth says.

“We’ve watched young ladies come to their 6-year-old tea parties here‚ and now they’re bringing their own children. We have lots of second-generation customers.”

Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Antony Boshier

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