Meet Crystal Lyons
OWNER & FOUNDER OF CABANA PANTRY
Crystal Lyons has always imagined a space where food sparks connection. Long before Cabana Pantry opened its doors on North Padre Island, she carried a decade long dream of creating a specialty food store that celebrated global flavors, hands on learning, and the joy of gathering. After calling Corpus Christi home for more than thirty years, she felt the community had finally grown into a place where her vision could take root. Today, Cabana Pantry has become exactly what she hoped for: a specialty shop filled with flavor, creativity, and community.
It has been a decades long dream of mine to have a specialty food store, especially one that has cooking classes. I went to cooking school 40 years ago and fell in love with the concept,” she said.
Spices are the heart of her work. Crystal is deeply trained in global flavors and blends each seasoning herself, often inspired by South Texas, traditional Mexican cooking, or personal stories. Her son’s Jake’s Steak Rub is a crowd favorite, created from his idea and refined by her expertise. Cabana Pantry also offers a full spice bar where guests can create their own simple blends, and her classes reflect that same global mindset. From brunches inspired by Spain and Italy to team building workshops like Chocolate, Cheese and Spice, Crystal designs experiences that help guests explore how spices shape flavor around the world. Her homeschool programs, kids classes, and summer camps carry that same theme, showing young cooks how different cultures express themselves through food.
Our classes use a lot of global flavors because spices make the difference. Once people understand that, they can start exploring the world without leaving the kitchen,” she said.
Cabana Pantry’s shop is stocked with what Crystal lovingly calls fancy pantry items. Many of the ingredients cannot be found anywhere else locally, and the shelves are curated with entertaining in mind. Visitors will find specialty salts, global staples, small batch items, her in house blends, kitchen essentials, grab and go foods, and giftable favorites that Winter Texans often bring home. It is a warm, inviting space designed to equip home cooks and inspire visitors who want to experience Corpus Christi through flavor.
Accessibility is also woven into the foundation of Cabana Pantry. Before opening the shop, Crystal worked as an ADA consultant, and she used that expertise to design a space where everyone can genuinely participate. She ensured the entrance met accessible standards, created clear paths of travel, and installed adjustable height tables so that anyone using a wheelchair can take part in a class. The goal is not just welcoming people into her shop. It is creating ways for them to be fully included.
Her approach extends to guests who are blind or have low vision, guests who are hard of hearing, and individuals on the autism spectrum. Crystal and her staff adapt quietly and intentionally so that no one is singled out. Every participant is supported at their own comfort level, and each class becomes a shared experience shaped by belonging.
Our philosophy is that everyone is included. Not including someone with a disability is never an option. The answer is always yes, and then we figure out how to make it work,” she said.
When the shop is not hosting cooking classes, it becomes a hub for community gatherings. Crystal holds Network Before Work on the first Wednesday of every month and often hosts private events, birthday classes, team building sessions, and customer appreciation gatherings for small businesses. These events allow groups to learn something new, enjoy time together, and experience her signature blend of flavor and hospitality.
Crystal is building more than a culinary destination. She is shaping a community space where learning feels joyful, where global flavors feel approachable, and where inclusion is a lived value. Cabana Pantry stands as a reminder that food is not just something we share. It is something that brings us together.
