The Wet Burrito: A Michigan Original
The smothered, fork-and-knife burrito that West Michigan calls its own — almost certainly born at Grand Rapids' Beltline Bar in 1966.
Here’s a fun one to surprise people with: the wet burrito, one of America’s beloved Tex-Mex dishes, was very likely born in a Grand Rapids kitchen. If you grew up in West Michigan, the wet burrito is the burrito. Picture a big flour tortilla stuffed with seasoned beef and beans. Then it’s drowned in red enchilada-style sauce, blanketed with melted cheese, and eaten with a fork.
The Beltline Bar in Grand Rapids gets the credit almost everywhere: it introduced the wet burrito in 1966. (The bar has been open since 1953, and Tex-Mex since around 1958.) How the dish landed on the menu is the disputed — and charming — part. One story says an oversized shipment of tortillas arrived while the owner was on vacation. The manager sauced them all up as a special, and there was a line out the door when the boss got back. Another story credits a cook who doused a burrito in sauce for a trucker who complained his was too dry. Skeptics rightly note that smothered burritos already existed in the Southwest. So Grand Rapids may have given the dish its “wet” name and its Midwest form rather than inventing the whole idea.
Either way, West Michigan has had a vibrant Mexican American community since the 1920s. And the Beltline has now served something like six million wet burritos.
Where to see it
The Beltline Bar, 16 28th St. SE, Grand Rapids — though you'll find wet burritos on Tex-Mex menus all over West Michigan.