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Ursula, one of Brooklyn’s best breakfast burrito spots, is relocating from Crown Heights to Bed-Stuy at 387 Nostrand Avenue, near Madison Street. It’s set to open in its new home sometime in spring 2023. During the weekdays, Ursula will keep daytime hours — only now with indoor seating and actual plates. But for the first time, Ursula will also offer dinner and drinks.
Ursula opened in fall 2020 as a tiny takeout spot at 724 Sterling Place in Crown Heights. It was an evolution of a bakery owner Eric See had previously run in Bushwick called the Awkward Scone, where the breakfast burrito was the fan favorite. During the pandemic, he decided to close the bakery and relocate a version of it to Crown Heights, where he could put more of the New Mexican food he grew up with at the forefront. It came as no surprise that while Ursula serves several other dishes, like sopaipillas and green chile fried chicken, the breakfast burritos have continued to lure customers, drawing lines down the street almost immediately upon opening.
By 2022, Ursula was a James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant, making a name not only for its take on New Mexican cooking but also as a leader in New York’s queer food scene. Still, See knew Ursula needed to change: The restaurant had always begun as a somewhat temporary agreement, and See had outgrown the space.
When See relocates Ursula to Bed-Stuy this spring, he’s excited to be able to finally have seated service indoors, now with a capacity of roughly 20 (there will also eventually be backyard seating). “We have a creative kitchen theme, and I think we're all chomping at the bit to put food on plates,” he tells Eater, adding that it's something his team has been able to do at pop-ups, but not at Ursula itself.
By day, See is working on making the breakfast burrito side of things a bit more efficient, experimenting with a preordering system, separate from those interested in eating them to stay, to help alleviate the wait. Sit-down brunch will also be a first (think: blue corn pancakes with pine nuts and whipped sage butter, burritos smothered with green chile stew, and carne adovada).
By night, Ursula on Nostrand Avenue will eventually roll out a small cocktail program (created by cocktail expert John deBary) and wine selection (from sommelier Peter Redmond) with an emphasis on LGBTQ+-owned, distilleries and other makers — an extension of the inclusive ethos at the restaurant. Eventually, a casual dinner service will launch.
Overall, See hopes to continue his legacy of opening Ursula’s doors to pop-ups and other events supporting the LGBTQ+ community at the new location.
As for the closing of Ursula in Crown Heights, See says he’s hoping to only have a week or two lapse time in between shutting things down on Sterling and welcoming customers into the Nostrand Avenue space, but the official end date is still TBD. In the meantime, Ursula is raising funds to help with relocating costs via GoFundMe.
