In this series, TCU Magazine visits with alumni in the food and beverage industry. Send recommendations to tcumagazine@tcu.edu.

Roots Coffeehouse is dedicated to creating bold flavors and a cozy community space. Courtesy of Charlsye Lewis

Charlsye Lewis ’04 (MLA ’07) and Marcus Brunt ’98 (MLA ’00) co-founded Boulevard of Greens in 2018. The vegan eatery in Fort Worth serves organic bowls, cold-pressed juices, smoothies and more. The couple also now own Roots Coffeehouse, a community-centered cafe with locations in Fort Worth and North Richland Hills. When they met in the TCU Horned Frog Marching Band, Lewis and Brunt already shared an interest a healthy lifestyle. Today, they strive through their businesses to make it easy for customers to enjoy nutrient-dense, high-quality food. Their motivation, Brunt said, began as more of a mission than a business: “We believed that something like this should exist in Fort Worth.” 

You started Metro Animals, a doggy daycare, boarding and grooming business, more than 20 years ago. What inspired you to expand to the food business and open Boulevard of Greens?

Lewis: We saw it as something that we felt we really needed to do to protect and prolong our parents’ health. My mom was dealing with some liver issues. She wasn’t a drinker, but she still ended up with some liver problems. Eating very healthy, whole, fresh food is very helpful when you have chronic illnesses. We wanted her to be able to come in any day of the week and just eat whatever she wanted on our menu for free.

What are the challenges that come with creating a plant-based menu with healthful ingredients?

Lewis: I’m in contact with vendors and we have discussions about where things come from and how it’s processed. Our spices — we don’t want them irradiated, we want organic wherever possible. We’re really intentional about what we bring in. 

Brunt: We use a cold-pressed juicer. Most places use something called high-pressure pasteurization, which pasteurizes it and makes it available to stay on the shelf for a really long time, but it also can kill some of the things in it, so not as many micronutrients are left. So we do cold pressing — we don’t heat up anything, we don’t destroy anything in the juice — but that means our shelf life is extremely short. So we just have to keep rotating those in to make sure they’re always fresh.

What are some of the biggest hits on your Boulevard of Greens and Roots menus?

Lewis: We have a grain bowl called the Pomona bowl and people are just stunned with the flavors. We have a house-made red pepper miso dressing that goes on top of the sweet potatoes in that bowl. We have a lot of superfoods like mushrooms and cucumber relish and quinoa. And you can get avocado and tofu — just so many good-for-you ingredients.

Brunt: At Roots, we have our staff come up with the seasonal menus. We have our baby root lavender matcha right now, and our maple sunrise Americano — those are really good. And we have our mood-changer tea that if you squeeze lemon in, it turns from purple to blue. Our big hits are the lavender honey latte or vanilla latte.

What is your personal favorite menu item?

Lewis: The first thing I reach for when I walk in the door at Boulevard of Greens is our immunity shot. It has a really potent blend of apple, cayenne, fresh ginger and a touch of maple syrup. It’s an experience taking that. 

Brunt: For me, it would be the Pomona that we talked about earlier — that’s the go-to. And then our Broadway smoothie, which tastes like a chocolate shake, but it doesn’t have any sugar in it. We add extra cacao, so it’s extra chocolatey. At Roots, it’s any of the pour-overs — tasting black coffee the way it should taste. 

Roots Coffeehouse offers a variety of seasonal beverages. Courtesy of Charlsye Lewis

How does Roots Coffeehouse foster community?

Brunt: Our motto is coffee, comfort, community. We have the community bookshelves and we’ve got community tables that people can reserve, especially at our North Richland Hills location. People reserve it for Bible studies. There are game nights. There are groups of moms that will get together up there. We have a giant felt chessboard on the wall that people can play, and we have games out there as well. You’ll see families, you’ll see students.

Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.