Often people coming for breakfast tend to order the same dish they had before. We have a big menu at Tangerine that we have been refining for years. I have only changed the Tangerine menu three times in eight years. How often do you make menu changes at Tangerine? We work together to keep an eye on finances.Ĥ. At Arugula, I changed the menu every three months. At Tangerine, staff can modify dishes to suit customer tastes.Īt Arugula, my high-end restaurant that I closed in 2018, it was difficult to keep the crew on the same page. I have to get a little loose when I have more than 100 employees.ĭelegating responsibilities is manageable in Tangerine. I have a total of 105 employees working for me. Each of the three Tangerine locations employs about 33 or 35 people. If it goes up, it starts eating into your profits. It’s also important to keep the raw materials cost below 30%. To me consistent quality is part of good food.
If one of the elements is out of whack the tripod falls. I see success as a nicely balanced tripod. Good food, good service and nice ambience are essential for a restaurant’s success. What’s critical to running a successful restaurant business? Tacos seems to be the current trend in Boulder, along with pizzas and beer. It’s becoming increasingly expensive to start and operate a restaurant throughout the county. Nothing seems to be available at a price once can afford. For example, there were few good restaurants in Lafayette about six years ago, but now it’s hard to find a good location to open a new restaurant. Downtown Boulder is especially tough.Ī similar trend has begun to play out in other Boulder County areas such as Lyons, Louisville, Lafayette and Longmont. It’s also very difficult to recruit and retain crew, particularly in the kitchen. A lot of them seem to have investor support behind them, given the high operational costs of running a restaurant in Boulder. There are many independent, creative and good people who are opening new restaurants. How do you look at the restaurant scene in Boulder and Boulder County?īoulder is a very competitive restaurant space.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.ġ. A broker friend saw a sign and informed him of the availability of the space, he said. Luck helped him again to find a great spot for a third Tangerine location, which he opened in June in a historic building at 379 Main St. He saw a sign in the window of a former pizza place and got in touch with the broker to seal the deal. He would ride his bike around to see potential locations in Lafayette. Public Road in Lafayette in February 2018. Schuler opened his second Tangerine restaurant at 300 S. Regulars often tell him they like Tangerine because it’s fresh, bright and happy. They are willing to stand in line on the weekend for that,” he said. He shut down Arugula in early 2018 after a nine-year run to focus on Tangerine. Alec Schuler’s culinary passion, a yen for design, and a desire to have a more manageable lifestyle led him to develop Tangerine, a breakfast concept that debuted in Boulder in 2011 on Iris Avenue and 28th Street, adjacent to his Arugula Bar e Ristorante.
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