These two Tucson women ate 19 pounds of burritos in under an hour (PHOTOS/VIDEO)


July 22, 2019
a man wearing a hat
By Jackie Tran
By Jackie Tran

The duo won second and first place at the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest.

Looking at Michelle Lesco and her 5’3″, 112-pound frame, you’d never expect her to be a world-class competitive eater. The same goes for 5’7″, 135-pound Miki Sudo.

However, the duo won second and first place at the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest just weeks ago. In only ten minutes, the two women collectively ate 57 hot dogs.

On Friday, Lesco and Sudo collectively ate over 19 pounds of burritos at Red Desert BBQ & Catering. With the requisite 24-hour advance notice, they accepted the burrito challenge.

Burrito challenge at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

It all starts with bacon. Enough bacon to fill a sheet pan.

Burrito challenge at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Afterwards, three giant tortillas lay on top of the bacon. Next goes brisket, pulled pork, coleslaw, and other fixings.

Burrito challenge at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

The massive burrito requires two pairs of hands to roll properly.

Burrito challenge at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Once the burrito is formed and wrapped it bacon, it goes onto the griddle. After the bacon is cooked through, the burrito is topped with chili, jalapeños, onions, and more. Then it is weighed to make sure it is around six or seven pounds.

Competitive eater Michelle Lesco at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Up first was Lesco. The seven-pound, 1.9-ounce burrito was the size of her arm.

Competitive eater Michelle Lesco at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

After letting the burrito cool down enough to eat rapidly safely, Lesco dove right in.

Competitive eaters Michelle Lesco and Miki Sudo at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

At 12 minutes on the dot, Lesco finished the entire thing. You could say she was full at that point.

Competitive eater Michelle Lesco at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Lesco was the only person to complete the challenge up to this point. She tied her previous record from January 2018, where she ate a slightly smaller burrito in the exact same amount of time.

Here’s raw video footage of her second run:

Competitive eater Miki Sudo at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Sudo decided to attempt the challenge… twice. With both burritos at once. Her burritos weighed in at 12 pounds, 1.2 ounces.

Competitive eater Miki Sudo at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Sudo began by bisecting the burritos open to help them cool down faster.

Competitive eater Miki Sudo at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

Sudo used a spoon to scoop the filling, somehow managing to avoid creating a mess.

Competitive eater Miki Sudo at Red Desert BBQ & Catering (Credit: Jackie Tran)

To even her own surprise, she finished both titanic burritos in 26 minutes and 52 seconds.

Here’s the raw footage of her performance:

For dessert, the duo tipped over a nearby ice cream truck and consumed all of the contents. Just kidding.

Red Desert BBQ & Catering is located at 918 W. Prince Rd. For more information, visit rdbbq.com.

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Article By

Jackie Tran is a Tucson-based food writer, photographer, culinary educator, and owner-chef of the food truck Tran’s Fats. Although he is best known locally for his work for Tucson Foodie, his work has also appeared in publications such as Bon...

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