Cucina & Co’s Brisket Burrito is Pretty Good (For a Chain Deli)

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Another day… another entry in the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  The Cucino & Co next to Naples 45 (inside the Met Life Building on 45th btw. Mad+Park) announced last week that their entry would be “brisket of beef, sauteed onions, guacamole, jack cheese wrapped in flour tortilla”.  A brisket burrito sounds pretty amazing in theory, but how would it be in practice?  I stopped by the other day to test it out.

After a bunch of $8 and $9 sandwiches, it’s nice that somebody finally decided to go the cheap route.  Considering that adding guacamole to a burrito at Chipotle costs you $1.75, the fact that this “beef burrito” is only $5.95 is pretty amazing. And it tastes pretty good too. They are all pre-made so depending on what time you get there, you may or may not get one that has been sitting out for awhile- and the flavoring of the grilled onions is a bit overpowering (even for me, and I love grilled onions), but all in all this is a pretty tasty sandwich.

The only real complaint I have is that it’s called “brisket”.  One commenter complained that Cucina’s brisket is too chewy, and they are right… but mainly because it’s not cooked for that long and then they slice the meat thin.  So it ends up being more like rare roast beef, than what you would normally think of as brisket (which usually is cooked for a really long time, and ends up being fall apart tender.)  Unfortunately the meat you use to make good fresh roast beef is probably more expensive than brisket, and they want to make the sandwich cheaper… but cooking it this way, is not the best preparation to get super tender meat.

But with that in mind, if you like beef, and grilled onions, and jack cheese, and think guacamole makes everything taste better… plus you like things rolled up in tortillas and grilled, you will probably like this little $6 sandwich.  (Cucina & Co is a chain, but this sandwich is only located at the one in the Met Life Building.)

Cucina & Co, 200 Park Ave. (on 45th btw. Mad+Park), 212-682-2700

9 Comments

  • Doesn’t look bad, and it is cheap, that’s a plus. Yet, I’m not that into ‘wraps’ and it looks like there’ s lettuce in there? If the meat was diced up with the onions (al la cheesesteak style) and made into a burrito with beans, guac and cheese it would be more my style.

    Either way, it’s at a good price.

  • that looks like a good deal! And it looks big in this photo. Is as hefty as it looks?

  • Pre-made.. so its grilled then cold ?

  • They no longer serve this. I went by today.

  • @ Steve – did you try and order it in the sit down cafe, or from the take out section? They took it off the cafe menu, but it should have still been available in the take out section…?

  • I walked over to the take out section (Where they had the hot food and sandwiches) and tried to order it.

  • I forgot to mention the toughness of the meat in my post about this. Another reason why it didn’t seem fresh was that the meat was a little chewy. It wasn’t leather, but it wasn’t perfect either.

  • Cucina has pretty horrible brisket…tooo chewy…

  • I’m so confused. Is the problem that this is only being offered at the one Cucina franchise? Are other people reporting that it’s not available at other Cucina and Co shops?

    Or is the problem that they’re running out of stock? How hard is it to confirm if it’s on the menu or not?

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