GRDine

By the title of the post I think it would be reasonable to conclude that, unlike my cohort, I do not like the Beltline Bar’s food.  That thinking would be dead wrong, so allow me to explain.

Yesterday  I got a call from my mother wanting to meet me for dinner (my parents are going to Seattle and Banff for a few weeks) that night.  I obliged and, with my dad’s help, we settled on the Beltline Bar.

After consulting with a few friends (I had never been there before, sadly enough) it was decided (for me) that I would get the famous double-beef wet burrito.

When it came time to order, my wife got the chicken enchiladas, my mom got some gooey thing I don’t remember, and I of course ordered the wet burrito.  Then a funny thing happened:  my dad ordered-and although he is a HUGE wet burrito fan and loves beef to no end-the beef chimichanga.  When I asked why, he replied with a sly grin, “you’ll see”.

When the food came out, I immediately dived into the burrito like a crack addict searching for nickels.  Upon consuming roughly 1/3 of the burrito, I thought I understood what the big deal about the dbwb was.  I could see my dad was enjoying his chimichanga, so I asked if we could swap a piece of each other’s meal.  After doing so, I took a bite that shattered my taste buds.  The chimichanga was incredible.  I thought the dbwb was delicious, but this blew it away.

The moral of this story is, you can prefer the chimichanga to the  wet burrito, or vice-versa, but you should still go to the Beltline Bar.  -TM

Located in a strip mall off of 28^th street near Burlingame, Tacos El Caporal proved to be an interesting location for a restaurant that serves fresh Mexican (although not terribly surprising if any of you have been to Big Burrito in Kalamazoo).

The Ambiance

As stated previously, it’s located in a strip mall and when I walked in I noticed the crowd was extremely diverse in age and culture thereby heightening the anticipation of good food.  The cooks are preparing the meal in front of everyone (to the side of the eatery to be exact) and since the restaurant is fairly cozy, I feel that management is showing they’re confident in both their food and the preparation.

The Service

After my wife and I sat down in the booth, we were immediately greeted by a warm smiling face named Isabelle.  She helped us with our selections since some of it was in Spanish and also got our drink orders immediately.  Time and again, she would swing by to make sure we were taken care of.

The Food

I ordered the spicy pork gordita and the regular pork tostada.   The gordita comes out like this little pocket of goodness with a bunch of goodies stuffed inside to please the palate.  The tostada comes out loaded (like a tostada should) with all the necessary ingredients that would/should go with it.

The Summary

Overall I think that this is a great little place (esp. for the money) that should be on everyone’s radar who likes fresh Mexican at an affordable price.  -TM

Honestly, I really wanted to title this post  “Loco for la Cantina”…but I would’ve been lying.  It’s not to say I don’t like la Cantina, I do, but I’m not crazy about it.

The restaurant is set up such that when you arrive, you will wait to be seated by the hostess.  In my experience, while this happens on the weekend, during the week, you are usually left standing there at the door like an idiot until a server comes over to seat you.  Usually at this point he/she tells you to sit wherever there’s an open seat …umm…so…why the hell is it “Please Wait to be Seated” then in the first place?  At any rate, after standing around, we were seated in the front of their casa, at their classic bench style seating.

The Ambiance

The bench is honestly a charming touch, and goes well with the ambiance.  The ambiance in question is something between an American restaurant and a Mexican one, which is to say that the authenticity is really nice, replete with worn seating and dirty carpeting.

The Service

Servers are really nice when they actually come by to serve you

The Food

I had the beef Chimichanga with beef sauce, and my better half had the taco salad.  I really think it’s a well done chimichanga, probably one of the better one’s in the GR area, although I’d be surprised if it were one of the best.  After tasting the beef taco salad (“honey, I have to have a taste of it…do it for the blog!”), I thought it was pretty good.  One very big problem I had with one of their foods though:  I swear their guacamole was Gordon Food Service.  You’re a serious Mexican restaurant…what gives?!?  I was seriously disappointed, as would all who appreciate fresh food (and avocados) as much as I.

The bar area

The Summary

Overall, I think La Cantina is a solid Mexican place to eat, but could use upgrades on the service and freshness of key ingredients (avocados!)  –TM

The name doesn’t exactly call out great Mexican, and the location is not in the best part of Grand Rapids, but if you’ve lived in the area for any length of time you’ve seen the commercials and have heard of their wet burrito.  Located at 28^th and Division, this establishment creates a famous wet burrito that they have been serving for over 50 years.  I initially heard about this spot from my parents who used to frequent back in the late 70’s.  I really cannot speak to the rest of their menu selections as it is extremely difficult for me to deviate from the Burrito, but from what I have been told, you really can’t go wrong with anything.

Now, I would love if someone would be able to correct me, but the local story of Beltline Bar goes something like this.  When they first opened shop in the 1950’s they were just a local bar that served tacos during happy hour.  The tacos soon became the primary reason customers would visit during the week so they expanded their “Mexican” offering to include what is now their famous wet burrito.  Over the last fifty years they have become a neighborhood favorite with a wide variety of Mexican fare including their wet burritos ($7), which can be made with chicken, pinto beans, pork, ground or shredded beef.  It’s not authentic Mexican food.  It’s not Tex-Mex.  I would have to classify this as Midwest-Mex.  You’ll have to experience this for yourself to see what I mean.

I’d like to complete this article with a review I found online that speaks perfectly to their Wet Burrito.

behold the wet burrito as glistens on your plate.  you know you shouldn’t finish the entire thing, again, for the risk of severe abdominal discomfort.  after all, it probably weighs about three pounds.  three pounds of seasoned ground beef, refried beans, and a scant sprinkling of veggies, wrapped on a ginormous flour tortilla, then smothered in red sauce and cheese and baked (that’s “the famous.”)

yes, there are lines.  yes, there are drunks.  yes, this is going to completely blow your diet.  but trust me, you’re not going to find another burrito like this, I’ve tried.

-JD