Welcome to Tangerine, the home of the best breakfast and brunch in Boulder, Lafayette, and Longmont, Colorado. Founded by Chef Alec Schuler, we are passionate about delivering health-conscious, innovative dishes inspired by the flavors of American and Mediterranean cuisines.
ABOUT
About Us
Our Story
Since 2011, Tangerine has been a beloved destination for those seeking gluten-free breakfast in Longmont, healthy brunch options in Lafayette, and unique culinary experiences in Boulder. We pride ourselves on using fresh, natural ingredients to craft meals from scratch. Catering to diverse dietary preferences, our menu offers a variety of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, ensuring everyone can enjoy a delightful meal.
HOURS:
Mon thru Fri 7:30am to 1:30pm
Sat & Sun 7:30am to 2:00pm
We DO NOT accept reservations
Meet Chef Alec Schuler
Originally opened in 2011 by Chef Alec Schuler as the younger sister restaurant to Arugula Restaurant, Tangerine has always been in the conversation for Boulder’s best breakfast and brunch restaurant. In February 2018, one month after closing his fine dining Italian/Mediterranean restaurant Arugula, the second Tangerine was born in Old Town Lafayette. And the third location in downtown Longmont opened in June of 2019. Tangerine was created by melding “Americana Brunch” with Alec’s “Euro Mediterranean food mindset” and health conscious ingredients, always using only the best ingredients and cooked to ordered. The extensive and varied breakfast/brunch/lunch menu, is served all-day/everyday, also features several sandwiches and large salads. Using the fine locally mountain roasted beans from Salto Coffee Works in Nederland we proudly offer a world class espresso drinks experience.
What Sets Us Apart
At Tangerine, we’re committed to:
- Quality Ingredients: Using extra virgin olive oil, non-GMO products, and organic flours in our recipes.
- Sustainability: Partnering with local farmers and producers to bring the freshest, eco-friendly ingredients to your plate.
- Community Engagement: Supporting local initiatives and fostering a welcoming atmosphere for everyone.
Whether you’re enjoying the best breakfast in Boulder or savoring a relaxing brunch in Lafayette or Longmont, you’ll taste the difference our commitment makes.
Join Us
Experience the vibrant flavors and warm hospitality that make Tangerine a favorite for breakfast and brunch in Colorado. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, we promise a morning worth waking up for.
ALEC SCHULER
Chef/Proprietor Alec Schuler was born and raised in the suburbs of New York by immigrant European parents. As a teenager, Alec began bussing tables and washing dishes and became captivated by hustle and bustle of restaurants, the restaurant industry in general, and the creativity and passion that goes into preparing and serving great food. After graduating from University of Colorado, Boulder, while skiing, traveling and mountain bumming he landed back in the restaurant scene and that spark was immediately rekindled.
In his late 20s, wanting to take a step further in the business, Alec enrolled in the Chef Training Program at Manhattan’s nutrition-oriented Natural Gourmet Institute and fell even more in love with inventing innovative dishes and putting flavors together. His extensive world travels have strongly influenced his outlook on world cuisines. After eating his way around the world for a few years, he found his culinary interests resonating most with European Mediterranean – specifically Italy, France and Spain. After spending time in the kitchens of Boulder’s famed L’Atelier and Niwot’s Treppeda’s Italian Ristorante, chef Alec Schuler opened Arugula Restaurant in Boulder in 2009 (now closed), Tangerine in Boulder in 2011, Tangerine in Lafayette in 2018 and Tangerine in Longmont in 2019.
Gabriella and Alec are proud, busy parents of four sons. Alec is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder and Manhattan’s Natural Gourmet Institute. As an avid biker (and bike commuter), skier/boarder/tele, mountain man, nature lover and 8EXMerdian Qigong practitioner, he is mindful of the importance of a wholesome and healthy diet. His nutrition-oriented culinary training, culinary passions and lifestyle all come through on the innovative menus he created for his award-winning Tangerine restaurants.
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ABOUT THE QUOTE
“Looking at a tangerine, a person who practices awareness can see all the wonders of the universe and how all things interact with one another.” ~ The name Tangerine came first, then while Alec was searching for words to place as a banner over the bar, this came to him. It is a quote from The historical Buddha, told to a group of children on the morning after he became enlightened.”
Taken from the book “Old Path White Clouds”
~ by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1987
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INGREDIENTS INFORMATION
Below are some of the many practices that Tangerine instills on a daily basis in order to maintain the highest quality foods for your health:
• Oils: we use extra virgin olive oil as our primary oil. It’s in nearly everything savory we serve. For our no taste and high temperature oil (fryer oil) we use non-GMO rice bran oil. We also use whole full fat butter in small quantities in some dishes.
• All flours are unbleached and organic.
• All items are made from scratch except for cheeses, high quality meats and breads.
• We do not knowingly buy any GMO products.
• We have ample and diverse vegetarian selections and a few meat centric dishes are also offered with a vegetarian option. A diverse and varied vegan platter happily satisfies almost anyone.
• We are very gluten conscious, and except for breads, waffles and pancakes, all dishes are already gluten free. However, we do not and are unable to guarantee anything is 100% gluten free.
• All of our salt used everywhere is solar evaporated Pacific Sea salt from northern California or the Mediterranean Sea.
• All menus are clearly labeled with GLUTEN FREE and/or VEGGIE.
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COMMUNITY SUPPORT INFORMATION
Each year Tangerine supports various organizations in Boulder and beyond, as a way to help give back to the community we are part of, and which is integral to our existence.
One of largest and most important forms of support we give is to Boulder’s own KGNU Community Radio station. KGNU has been very close to Chef Owner Alec Schuler’s heart since he moved to Boulder in 1991. KGNU provides the community intelligent and diverse news – plus a massive variety of non-main stream music. To help bolster and feed them, for about 9 years and running, we donate 80+ seats to a 4 or 5-course paired wine and/or beer dinner. These are a great opportunity for the KGNU community to “break bread”. Donate to KGNU and get a seat at the table.
Below is partial list of other organizations that we helped with in-kind support recently:
• Aging Services Foundation of Boulder County
• Attention Homes
• BCSIS school
• Bixby School
• BoldeReach
• Boulder Chamber Orchestra
• Boulder Community Health Foundation
• Boulder High School Sports
• Boulder International Film Festival
• Boulder JCC
• Boulder Opera
• Voices for Children (VFC)/CASA
• BETC
• Catholic Charities Denver
• Clean Energy Action
• Coal Creek Elementary
• Colorado Combined Campaign
• Colorado Conservatory of Dance
• Colorado Horse Rescue
• Colorado Symphony
• Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center
• Community Food Share
• Community Montessori School
• Conservation Colorado
• Dance Dimensions
• Dawson School
• Eldora Mountain Ski & Snowboard Club / SMBA
• Emergency Family Assistance Association
• Energy Outreach Colorado
• FC Boulder
• Friends’ School
• Future Arts Foundation
• Ghana Ocean Racing
• Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
• Growe Foundation
• High Peaks Elementary
• Horizons K-8 School
• Imagine Foundation
• Impact on Education
• Intercambio
• KGNU Radio
• Longmont Museum
• Louisville Preschool
• Meadowlark School PTA
• Mother House
• Mt. View Pre School
• National Jewish Health
• Pearl
• Projects V.E.T.S.
• Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence – SPAN
• St. Benedict Health & Healing Ministry
• St. John the Baptist School
• St. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church
• Susan G Komen Foundation
• T2 Dance Project
• The ALS Foundation
• The Caritas Center
• The Inn Between
• The YMCA
• There with Care
• Thunder Vista PTO
• University of Colorado
• Women’s Health
• WOW! Children’s Museum
• Zonta Foothills Foundation
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THE ARTWORK
All three locations have commissioned artwork by Longmont Artist Javan M. Stackley. Chef, renaissance man and great friend of Tangerine owner Alec Schuler, their work together on these pieces started in 2008, just before Alec opened his first restaurant. While eating and drinking around Europe, in the early 2000s, Alec visited corkscrew museums in Menerbes, FR and Barolo, IT and became instantly enamoured with old corkscrews. And a collection started, with the idea to display them in his imaginary restaurant to be. Along the way Alec also collected other cool, old and interesting food and wine implements. During the concepting and design of Alec’s first restaurant Arugula, it was time to create, but how to “display” this hodgepodge of items tastefully? That’s when Alec got Javan involved. During that process they stumbled upon mid-20th Century Artist Louise Nevelson. Instantly they had a plan to create homages to Lousie by creating sculptures with these objects and painting them monochrome, just as Lousie had done with “found objects”. And as the number of pieces of art grew as Alec opened more restaurants, they even started using old family heirlooms, old sports gear, wine crates and thrift store/garage sale purchases. Respect to Louise!
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WORK WITH US!
Join a great team and work environment with our family of dedicated workers and crank out some of the best breakfast/brunch/lunch anywhere.
Please answer the following questions and email them to [email protected] And sorry, but we don’t always respond.
- At which location would you like to work?
- What position(s) are you applying for?
- Do you want to work part time or full time?
- Are you available all 7 days of the week?
- Do you have relevant restaurant experience? Please briefly describe your experience.
- Do you live in the Boulder area?
- Please include a resume (optional).
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