Asian-owned businesses affect the community

TYLER, Texas - Editor’s note: The video above is from 2019.

The Asia-Pacific and Pacific Islands Heritage Month is a month in May to recognize the historical and cultural impact that the Asia-Pacific communities have made in the United States.

As May draws to a close, let’s highlight some local Asian-owned businesses that are affecting the East Texas community.

Ramil Kleofe and Ramon Navarro are the owners of Kabayan’s Asian food store at 6004 S Broadway Ave in Tyler. Both are from the Philippines who came to work in the United States as medical technologists.

As the Asian community grew in East Texas, the need for Asian products became in demand.

“Seeing that the Asian community is growing here in Tyler and East Texas, we decided to open an Asian store,” Navarro said.

Cleopas and Navarro decided to open an Asian store so that people would not have to drive two hours to Dallas.

“Every time we needed something we would ask our friends,‘ who’s going to Dallas ’, just to buy rice or some other item,” Kleofe said. “We didn’t know how to run the business, but all we knew was that we needed it here in Tyler.”

Since their opening in 2013, Kabaian Asian Food Mart has continued to provide a variety of Asian products to its customers in East Texas and Louisiana. They even sell Filipino products that you can’t find in Dallas, so people want to buy exclusive products in their store.

“The idea was to open a store not only to sell most Filipino products, but we want to sell products for all nationalities, so we ask everyone to tell us what products they need so we can get those items for them,” Kleofe said. .

Cleopas and Navarro welcome the community to shop at their store and try out new products so they can experience their culture.

“We want to expose them to our food and our lifestyle. “Asians are simple people and I think one of the ways to get them to experience our culture is through food,” Navarro said.

Kabaian Asian Food Mart has a lasting impact on their customers and the community by providing a customer service that sets them apart from other stores.

A customer who moved to Dallas and returned to visit said: “I miss the customer service that Kabaian Asian Mart provides to their community. I think what sets them apart is that they are very hardworking, persistent, and the service they provide is always from the heart. ”

Cleopas and Navarro hope that their store will continue to serve not only the Asian community but also the East Texas community for many years to come.

“You just don’t start a business just to make a profit, you open a business with the main concern to serve the community,” Kleofe said.

Juna Roberts is the owner of the Lourdes Marie bakery on 119 V Front Street, near the center of Tyler. She moved from the Philippines to work in medicine in the United States and has lived in Tyler for 24 years.

In 2015, she took up the faith and quit her job as a medical technologist to focus on her family and baking.

“I resigned because I am family-oriented and I felt I had to be there for my daughters who were young at the time. “I continued to cook and bake and take orders,” Roberts said. “There was a moment when I realized that I needed help and I wanted to be in line with the Ministry of Health because I baked in my house and have dogs at home. And I think it was the perfect time to open a bakery because my girlfriends went to college. ”

Lourdes Marie Bakery offers a variety of items such as drinks, cookies, pastries, cakes and specialties Filipino desserts that you can not get anywhere else.

“We have bread and cakes that no one else has, such as mango, taro and durian cakes,” Roberts said. “Some dessert ingredients have Filipino products so they taste different. I try to bake as close as possible to authentic Filipino desserts. “

Although it offers authentic Filipino desserts, Roberts says Lourdes Marie is not a 100% Filipino bakery because it sells items that are not considered Filipino, such as cookies and certain cake flavors.

“I have customers who ask me for a German chocolate cake and it is not Asian, but I can bake it. “My principle is that I don’t want to limit myself because I can,” Roberts said.

Roberts believes that her Filipino culture influenced the success of her bakery.

“Through my culture, I have learned to be valuable to my parents. I believe I wouldn’t be here without them. “In Filipino culture, we sacrifice to give to our children,” Roberts said. “My mother was the first person to teach me to bake and cook. She was my mentor and teacher and I felt like the memories came back when I opened this bakery. ”

Robert’s mother taught her many special Filipino recipes that she continues to bake in her bakery and maintains her heritage daily through the name of her bakery.

“Lourdes was my mom’s name, and Marie was my husband’s grandmother’s name, they both loved to cook,” Roberts said. “Those are also the middle names of my daughters. So when I asked for the name, I wanted to dedicate the name of the bakery to them and continue the legacy she taught me. ”

As orders at Lourdes Marie bakery grow, so does the impact it has on the community, not just the Asian community but the East Texas community.

“It’s not what I order, but what she does for the children we teach at the Caldwell Academy of Arts. She witnessed a performance at the academy and was so impressed and believed in school so much that she wanted to donate a snack to our after-school program. She started doing it earlier this week. And by the goodness of her heart, she charges us nothing. We are always indebted and those children absolutely love the desserts she makes because of the love she invests in every piece she bakes, ”said a local customer while taking a special order from the bakery.

For Roberts, she enjoys sharing her Filipino culture through desserts she bakes and believes it is important to learn about different cultures.

“Everywhere you look today, the tide of protectionist sentiment is flowing. It can open your minds to other people’s culture and teach you to respect where they came from, “Roberts said.

Aaron Tang is the owner of Poch’s Rice Cafe located at 1700 S SE Loop 323. He says they provide the best egg rolls in Tyler.

Tang is from Taiwan / China, but moved to Nacogdoches at the age of 14 to help his uncle at a local Chinese restaurant.

“It was a difficult transition because the education system is different. When I came here, it was March, so I had to stay in 9th grade again. “I learned English that year and it became easier for me later,” Tang said.

In 2001, his father moved their family to Tyler, where he opened his own Chinese restaurant. His dad retired and sold the restaurant, but in 2015, Tang opened his own Chinese restaurant.

“The cafe has been open for 6 years. At the beginning, we started slowly, but orally we started to get more and more customers “, said Tang.

From his culture, Tang learned many valuable lessons that he applied in his restaurant.

“My parents taught me to work hard on responsibilities as well,” Tang said. “You have freedom, but you have responsibilities that you must fulfill first.

Tang is proud of the food that Poch’s Rice Cafe serves the community.

“We present our food in a different way, but we continue to show our culture through the decoration of our restaurant in order to appreciate Chinese art,” Tang said. “Our restaurant is a more Americanized Chinese restaurant. We are a small city with few Asians, so we strive to provide what our community loves. ”

In his youth, Tang understood the importance of the family business, because he grew up and worked in his uncle and father’s restaurants for years.

“We are a family-owned restaurant, so we take care that the quality of our food is always good. You order, and we cook it on the spot, “said Tang.

Tang says it is important to lend a hand to your community in difficult times.

“Since prices have risen due to inflammation, we are trying to provide quality food for our customers at a decent price,” Tang said. “If you pay in cash, we give you a small discount to help you in this difficult time. If you help us, we will help you. “

As for his Sino-Taiwanese heritage, Tang said he was proud of it and thought it was important for others to know their heritage.

“It’s important to know about your heritage because it’s important to know who you are,” Tang said. “I also think that today we should not focus too much on where we are from, but that we should all unite together, regardless of your origin. We should all be together. ”

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