TYLER, Texas — Lance McWhorter owns Culture ETX in downtown Tyler, and he's a remarkable East Texan. He started the restaurant right before COVID-19 disrupted day to day life. "[We were] six months old when COVID hit. so it's like, didn't even have our legs still haven't had a grand opening, really. So it's like, it's been tough," he said.
The pandemic hit, and business dried up fast. Lance had to get creative in order to stay open and keep his employees on the payroll. "There [were] a few weeks there, during the actual shutdown, where [it was] like, man, I don't know what we can do. But we're going to do it all together, McWhorter said.
A big part of his success comes from being open with the team. The team is close-knit and like a family, so McWhorter said the key was being open and honest with the challenges that were coming. As soon as he was able to save up some money, he bought health insurance to help the team stay healthy as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed.
When the winter storm hit, he stepped up in a big way to help his neighbors. "Everything was turned off, everybody was stuck. There was snow everywhere. There were people doing donuts downtown, so we just kind of came to work and started cooking."
The team brought food to people that needed it. Months later, business has returned to some level of normalcy, but the cost of food and supplies are still an issue. "It's like, meat is three times as much. It's just, you know, the operating expenses as a whole have increased, probably 20 to 30 percent across the board for restaurants," he said
Through all of the challenges, Lance says the East Texas community is something he, and Culture ETX, are thankful to be a part of. "I think it's just helping each other and being cool to each other."
His goal for the next few years is helping others succeed. "I think my goal would be to find, you know, that one chef that's really kind of hungry and really wants to learn and doesn't necessarily have the opportunity or the funds to get their own restaurant going," McWhorter said.
Because of her hard work, Jonathan Stark with the Daniel Stark Law Firm presented Jill with a $500 check. Thank you Lance for being so remarkable.