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Here’s the Dish: Nina’s Great Burrito Bar’s Sopa de Tortilla

February 28, 2023 | 11:53 AM
in NEWS
7

By Ava Stryker-Robbins

Nina’s Great Burrito Bar is much more than a restaurant that sells burritos. It is a family-run business that offers a large selection of authentic Mexican dishes, including a scrumptious tomato soup.

The Sopa de Tortilla has a guajillo tomato broth with bits of Jack cheese and avocado. Notably, it contains strips of crunchy tortilla that enhance the texture of the dish. It is tasty, warm, and delightful. Chicken tinga can be added for an additional $3.

Beatriz Flores, daughter of owner Nina Guzman, said in a phone interview that the soup is one of her favorites. “It reminds me of when I was little.”

Nina’s desire to open her restaurant came mainly from her love for food, but it was also a financial necessity.  Born in Guerrero, Mexico, she was the second oldest of seven children, according to the website. She started working at the age of 10 to help her family afford basic necessities. At 15, she moved to Mexico City, where she met her husband, and, years later, they moved to New York City.

Nina started washing dishes and serving as a line cook, eventually working closely alongside Rosa Mexicano’s founder Josefina Howard. In 1994, Nina opened a small, mainly take-out and delivery-oriented restaurant on the Upper West Side called the Great Burrito. After over 25 years of serving the neighborhood, it closed due to the pandemic. The Flores family together with local restaurateur, Jeremy Wladis (Good Enough to Eat, Harvest Kitchen, Fred’s) opened Nina’s Great Burrito Bar in 2022. Nina is thrilled to have a larger space and greater ability to serve more dishes. She also loves that she can cook for a larger audience. “It’s my passion.”

Nina and her children cook for and manage the restaurant. They pride themselves on their mole sauce, a 30-year-old family recipe. It takes many spices and three days to prepare. Beatriz says “Many people say ours is the best…I hear this from clients, from friends, from family.”

Nina’s Great Burrito Bar is not only popular with Upper West Siders, but also with the Flores’s family in Mexico. Beatriz adds, ‘When they visit, some of my family bring our frozen burritos home to Mexico.”

The Sopa de Tortilla costs $9.

The Dish: Sopa de Tortilla
The Restaurant: Nina’s Great Burrito Bar (522 Columbus Ave between 85th and 86th Streets)

Nina Guzman. Photo via Nina’s Great Burrito.

Read our other Here’s the Dish columns here.

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Judy Harris
Judy Harris
2 years ago

Their guac is excellent!

1
Reply
Emma Tames
Emma Tames
2 years ago

This is the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had! I’m so happy to see it featured 🙂

4
Reply
W ELLEN KAYE
W ELLEN KAYE
2 years ago

This soup is truly delicious.

1
Reply
Momsci
Momsci
2 years ago

We’ve been enjoying the Great Burrito/ Nina’s tortilla soup for a decade- it is really delicious and I’m always disappointing at other restaurants if I order it! It’s a top dish on the UWS. We were so thrilled great burrito was incarnated!!

1
Reply
Gena Reisner
Gena Reisner
2 years ago

Nina’s has one of the best mole sauces anywhere – which I found out from a comment on this site long ago.

1
Reply
UWS Resident
UWS Resident
2 years ago

Nina’s bean soup is the hidden secret for us long time customers. While I don’t dispute that their tortilla soup is delicious, try their sopa de frijoles. Been a customer since 1994! 😉

1
Reply
Steven Barall
Steven Barall
2 years ago

This is fantastic news! Restaurants come and go and I usually don’t care but I really missed The Great Burrito. I’m so glad they’re back!

0
Reply

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