It doesn’t happen often, but every time I stumble across a New Mexican restaurant outside the Southwest, I feel like I’ve found people who speak my secret language.

New Mexico has a great affinity for its regional cuisine. Here, restaurants specializing in other cuisines are all heavily outnumbered by outposts for local flavors: smoky red and spicy green chile, silky braised pork, fluffy sopapillas, calabacitas, blue corn, beans, and biscochitos. Even if you’ve opted for Vietnamese or Caribbean, the first thing you’ll smell when you step out of the restaurant and into the parking lot is green chile roasting nearby, and all of a sudden, enchiladas sound like they would make a pretty good second lunch. 

As expected as it is to walk down any street in any New Mexican town and come across a New Mexican restaurant, it is unexpected to be anywhere else in the world and see a sign for a restaurant emblazoned with the Zia. But it’s not impossible.

To find out what happens when New Mexican cuisine crosses state lines, I chatted with three restaurants doing it elsewhere. 

Ursula

Brooklyn, New York
Est. 2020

Albuquerque-born Chef Eric See’s maternal grandmother is the muse and namesake for Ursula, his critically acclaimed New Mexican–inspired café and bakery in Bed-Stuy. The day after we spoke, Eric flew to New Mexico, and then drove back with 1,200 pounds of freshly harvested green chile from Deming for Ursula’s annual chile roast.

NK: Tell me about the early days of Ursula.

Eric See: I never set out to open a restaurant. I came to Brooklyn to learn pastry and at first opened a café called the Awkward Scone, where New Mexico was peppered into the menu but wasn’t our main thing. We had a green chile apple pastelito and a blue corn scone, and New Mexicans would come in and be like, “Oh my god, I’m from New Mexico!” I thought my baristas were going to lose their minds from so many people announcing that they were from New Mexico and asking us to make burritos. So my mom was going to Bueno [in Albuquerque], picking up Grandma’s Tortillas and chile and shipping it to Brooklyn. When the pandemic hit I had to close the Awkward Scone. Brooklyn was changed, but it was alive, and I knew I could sell breakfast burritos. At the time people were really reaching into their own cultures and communities, so that’s what I did with New Mexican food. I opened in a new little space, and the day we opened, we had a line around the block. 

NK: Why Ursula?

ES: Well, the restaurant is named after my grandma, Ursula, because when we were opening, I had gone through a lot of stuff here in New York, and it brought me back to my grandma’s journey of resilience in New Mexico. She’s in the same house she’s been in for sixty years that she built with her kids. She loves to come [to New York] to meet her fans. She comes out here and dresses in all of her turquoise and loves to talk to everyone at the restaurant. 

NK: What is it like dining at Ursula?

ES: For daytime, it’s like you are in New Mexico. If you walk in, you feel like you’re home. Almost all of the artwork is from Albuquerque artists and the restaurant was built out to feel like you were in an abuela’s home. There’s turquoise embedded into the tables and countertops and vigas running across the ceiling. Dinner is where we get more explorative, I’d say, put the New York eye on the food.

NK: Has New York influenced your menu? 

ES: We’ve done all of these burrito collabs with other ethnic restaurants here, which has been a fun and exciting journey. We’ve partnered with an Indian chef, Palestinian chef, Cambodian, Cantonese, Filipino, Iranian, Caribbean, Ethiopian . . . we’ve done all of these different iterations of a breakfast burrito. They all have to use eggs, potatoes, and New Mexico chile, but we ask them to envision it through the lens of their own culture, and that’s what New York is. Food isn’t static, food changes every time it reaches a new destination, and that’s what I also see happening on our dinner menus. 

Flo

Chicago, Illinois
Est. 1999

In the West Town neighborhood of Chicago, Flo is known for their Fruity Pebbles French toast, but I was more interested in their imported New Mexican red and green chile. Originally from Belen, Chef Leonard Sanchez chatted with me about bringing smothered burritos to brunch in the Windy City. 

NK: Tell me about Flo.

Leonard Sanchez: Flo opened in 1999 and is located in the heart of Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. Our cuisine is rooted in New Mexican flavors, while also reflecting the diverse culinary influences of Chicago. We’re open for lunch and dinner during the week, and we’ve proudly become a beloved brunch staple on the weekends—a local favorite for years.

NK: What parts of New Mexican cuisine and culture do you try to incorporate into Flo’s cuisine and culture?

LS: All our Hatch green chile and New Mexico red chile is shipped directly from New Mexico. We designed our menu to reflect the flavors and dishes you’d find sitting down in a restaurant in Santa Fe or Albuquerque. You’ll find New Mexican staples like sopapillas, Hatch green chile stew and carne adovada, and Christmas smothered burritos.

NK: What about the food culture or community in Chicago has had an influence on Flo?

LS: Chicago has had a huge influence on our restaurant. Both Amy [my friend and business partner] and I spent years working in the Chicago restaurant scene before we purchased Flo. In true Chicago tradition, we focus on using the freshest ingredients in all our cocktails and dishes, while curating a thoughtful wine list that pairs beautifully with our diverse cuisine.

NK: What resonates most with Chicago diners about New Mexican food?

LS: The response over the years has been incredible. Flo has been part of the Chicago dining scene for more than twenty-five years, and we’ve watched generations of guests return for a little taste of New Mexico. There’s a large community in the Chicagoland area who either grew up in New Mexico or attended the University of New Mexico, and we’re proud to offer them a comforting taste of home. Every year, we host the University of New Mexico Alumni Association [Chicago Chapter] party, where we serve our famous Hatch green chile burgers—a celebration of New Mexico spirit right here in Chicago.

Taqueria Acosta

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
Est. 2021

Born in Las Cruces and raised between Wyoming and New Mexico, Chef Chris Acosta had a career as a corporate chef before switching things up and opening Taqueria Acosta in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Sadly, that restaurant closed in November 2025, but they’re aiming to reopen in a new location in 2026.

Nina Katz: How did you decide to open up a New Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh?

Chris Acosta: I like to say we were born in the desert and forged by steel. When things got really dark in 2020, I thought, What does the world need most right now? The answer was love. But how do you market that? I looked back on when I had felt the most comfort. It was in my grandma’s kitchen [in Las Cruces], hearing my grandma making tortillas and smelling beans on the back corner of the stove. There was always meat braising. We ate chorizo con papas y huevos and butter on top of a flour tortilla. I remember being little at the table with my legs swinging. The idea of opening came in September of 2020 and I decided right then that we were going to open a taqueria with a New Mexico base.

NK: What is it like introducing customers to New Mexican cuisine?

CA: We get very excited when we have a first-time customer, and often it’s their first time at a place doing New Mexican. I’m totally a voyeur and try to watch their first bite. It’s amazing watching them feel that love take over their body. It reminds me of getting a forehead kiss from my grandma, and that I can kick ass in this dark world.

NK: What sets your place apart from a typical New Mexican restaurant?

CA: We freshen it up, adding pickled vegetables with the braised meats, and we work with the Allegheny Commons’ community garden, where we harvest produce like golden fennel and goji berries for our carne asada tacos. We have a lot of vegetarian and vegan options. 

NK: You had a long career as a corporate chef cooking anything but New Mexican food. What has it been like getting back to your roots?

CA: Getting back to New Mexico has brought life back to me. Having a restaurant that prioritizes people over profit has shown me how powerful being there for people can be.

We’re gonna be serving up love.