Meet Chris England

When Chris England looks back on his career, it always seems to circle back to Lynchburg. 

Born and raised in Lynchburg, graduated from Brookville High School, his first job was at McDonald’s right across the street from The Clubhouse, an establishment he opened in 2011.

"So, I’ve been in the food and beverage industry for 30 years," he said.

That first job across from what would later become his flagship business, which foreshadowed the future. After high school, England went on to Liberty University for a year on a baseball scholarship, then transferred to Averett University where he played four more years before graduating with degrees in criminal justice, sociology, and business management. He didn’t enter restaurants right away. Instead, he jumped into real estate, working in commercial property from 2004 until 2011.

But in 2010, as the real estate market slowed to a crawl, England decided to gamble on himself. 

“I wanted to do something on my own,” he said. “Real estate was not doing a whole lot for me, and I did not want to be a bartender all my life. There was really a hole in the market here. Every place we played pool at was smoky and didn’t have a full kitchen or bar. So, I decided to start the Clubhouse.”

He opened Clubhouse Sports Bar Restaurant & Grill in June 2011, transforming a building once known as Don’s Car Stereo into a non-smoking billiards hall with a restaurant and bar. 

“When we did the first remodel, we pulled out enough speaker wire and phone lines to rope the moon,” he said. 

Within a year of opening, live music became part of the Clubhouse identity. 

“We always did a lot of music, it was just the music was kind of right on top of you,” England said. 

The original space was just 4,000 square feet of a 15,000-square-foot building. But in 2018, he began an expansion, shifting pool tables to the back and dedicating the front to a proper stage and concert space.

"By the end of 2019, we opened that stage up and that's when we started doing bigger bands and bigger acts," he said.

Then COVID-19 hit. 

“There was no playbook, no script, no game plan for that,” he said. “Each day it was just, okay, what can we do? You try takeout, you try this, you try that. Thankfully, there were programs that helped us keep some employees, but for a long stretch we were doing no revenue.”

Still, he emphasizes that the pandemic was not the hardest challenge. 

“It was definitely the most unique,” he said. “But the most challenging is just simply the day-to-day. You never know what the day is going to bring.”

England credits adaptability for keeping his businesses alive. 

“That’s the kind of stuff they don’t teach you in business school,” he said. “When I started the Clubhouse in 2011, Facebook wasn’t really a thing. I was advertising in the Yellow Pages, the newspaper, even making flyers and sticking them under people’s windshield wipers. Now, everything is on your phone. You must keep up with the digital Joneses to stay relevant.”

That attitude helped him grow beyond the Clubhouse into owning multiple Lynchburg dining institutions. Today, he oversees four brands: the Clubhouse, The Dahlia, The Crown's Ember, and Driftwood Seafood Company & Raw Bar, which just opened this month.

For England, not every opportunity is worth pursuing. 

“I’ve turned down a lot of deals,” he said. “I am very picky about which ones I take. At the end of the day, I want to own real estate. Restaurants themselves don’t retain a whole lot of value. Equipment depreciates faster than an ATV.”

That philosophy guided his acquisitions of The Dahlia in 2022 and the Crown Sterling building shortly after. 

“Both were institutions in the Lynchburg area,” he said. “The idea that you can do something you love and actually have it be impactful on the community, it just feels good.”

The Dahlia was familiar territory thanks to his longtime executive chef, Nick Wieler, who had worked there for years. The Crown, though, carried personal significance. 

“Growing up, I went there for birthdays, homecoming, prom, all the special occasions,” England said. “The Crown Sterling was that place. Jerry Falwell always came there. Servers Russell and Culpepper were icons. To bring the Crown back to life, it means a lot.”

Rebranded as The Crown's Ember, the restaurant keeps symbolic touches from its past, including the signature charcoal grill in the center of the dining room.

 “The name itself is symbolic,” England said. “An ember is a charcoal still glowing from the original Crown.”

This year, England added Driftwood Seafood Company & Raw Bar, located within the Clubhouse building but designed as a separate experience. 

“I really wanted it to stand on its own,” he said. “You can’t get the Driftwood menu in the pool room, and you can’t get the Clubhouse menu in Driftwood. It’s its own thing.”

Driftwood brings fresh catches, oysters, crab legs, and crowd favorites like grouper bites and crawfish bread to Lynchburg, a city not known for abundant seafood options. 

“We’ve piggybacked off the culinary experience we have on our team, especially the seafood knowledge coming out of the Dahlia,” England said. “If you like seafood, you need to try it.”

Despite juggling multiple restaurants, England insists he keeps life grounded. 

“I hang out with my wife, Carrie, spend time with my stepdaughter, Caleigh, play a little golf, hang out by the pool,” he said. 

He also coaches baseball at Brookville High alongside lifelong friends. 

“We graduated together, played college ball together, and now coach together. It has come full circle.”

At the end of the day, England says of running a restaurant, “If people think it’s easy, that means you’re doing a good job.”