Is NYC takeout joint Ursula America’s ‘best new restaurant’?

Ursula is not America’s finest new restaurant. Ursula is hardly a cafe at all — only a takeout storefront in Crown Heights with a several out of doors seats.

But this sweet tiny place is, ridiculously, a James Beard Award nominee for Best New Cafe in the total U S of A — a coveted honor formerly gained by the Major Apple’s Momofuku Ko, Le Coucou and Frenchette. (This year’s winners will be declared in June.)

It is not just Beard lavishing praise on this New Mexico-impressed eatery, which serves breakfast burritos and a few lunch sandwiches. Grub Avenue extolled, “Ursula might be America’s best new cafe.” Eater New York and the New Yorker went bananas more than it. It’s a single of the New York Times’ “future fantastic breakfast places.” BonAppetit.com prominently showcased the recipe for Albuquerque-born chef-operator Eric See’s chorizo-and-scrambled eggs burrito.

Sorry to burst the burrito bubble, but irrespective of obtaining the greatest burrito in city, Ursula is not even the ideal cafe in Crown Heights, which has several high-quality sites to take in that in fact enable you sit indoors.

It is easy to fall for this economical neighborhood eatery that didn’t talk to to be thrust into the countrywide highlight. Ursula allows you consume extremely well for peanuts. (Burritos for $11 each are significant enough to feed virtually as several persons.) Smiling staff provide dishes from the tiny kitchen area to al fresco tables with an abundance of cheer.

See’s menu draws overdue attention to the components of New Mexico — in particular pink and green chiles from the state’s Hatch Valley area — which he the right way suggests are under-represented in New York.  

But does that make Ursula a lot more deserving of a national prize nomination than New York’s Le Pavillon, Iris or Carne Mare, marvelous, fully recognized institutions led by good chefs? In fairness, Beard did also nominate thrilling Indian restaurant Dhamaka. But it’s tricky to tell what Beard even signifies by “new” — Ursula opened in 2020.

Truth check out: In the close, even the greatest burrito is just a burrito. Ursula’s oft-Instagrammed model with chorizo, scrambled eggs, hash browns and cheddar stuffed inside of a flour tortilla sent a payload of multiflavored, multitextured pleasure. Skillfully calibrated New Mexican purple chile lent a enjoyable spark to the beautifully cooked substances — with no scorching them.

But for my funds, the vegan range, anchored by pinto beans, had a pasty texture and restricted taste. Green-chile fried rooster and floor beef sopaipillas were being palate-pleasing sandwiches as well massive for usual human palms.

Ursula’s lease is up this yr. See launched a GoFundMe campaign to increase dough for a new house. I guaranteed hope he finds just one. He justifies a right placing with indoor seats and a total-measurement kitchen to exhibit us what he can do past burritos.

Ursula is open from 8 or 9 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. Wednesday by way of Sunday. Burritos and other breakfast products are accessible only till noon, or previously if they run out the relaxation of the menu is available from 11:30 a.m. till closing. No cell phone.