When Elizabeth Enger was approached about co-owning a building space in May of 2020, she immediately thought of her daughter Taylor Enger-Alle.
“[She] knew that I’ve always wanted to own my own little cafe or bakery, so this seemed like a great opportunity,” Taylor says.
So with that in mind, the mother-daughter duo signed a lease and got to work.
“There were a lot of things that happened very quickly,” Elizabeth says. “After we signed the lease, we began renovating the space, as well as forming our LLC, getting our DBA and menu planning.”
In August, Elizabeth and Taylor officially opened The Garden Party Tearoom in North Richland Hills. Located within Golightly’s Antiques, the tearoom serves fresh tea and food and is available as an event space.
“She is the calm in the middle of the storm that is constantly happening in my brain,” Taylor says about working with her mom. “She is organized when I am not and is great at planning and executing. Plus, we get to spend a lot of time together, and that is always fun.”
With more of a behind-the-scenes presence, Elizabeth helps organize and clean the kitchens, cooks the soups on their menu and takes care of payroll.
“Taylor also does some of these things, but also splits her time between that, interfacing with customers and networking with other businesses,” Elizabeth says. “More of the ‘public eye’ type stuff.”
Like every mother and daughter, they do have some arguments while working together.
“I am more of a creative spirit, while she is more logistically inclined, so that can sometimes create a clash in processes,” Taylor says. “But it’s also a great balance.”
And even though The Garden Party Tearoom began as a mother-daughter project, it slowly became more.
“While we are a mother-daughter team, it really is a family affair,” Elizabeth says. “My husband, Keith, is the accountant, my son, Hudson, is the waitstaff manager and my daughter, Madison, fills in when we are short staffed. Plus, we have a lot of other amazing friends and family that work regularly, we couldn’t do it without them.”