“My tongue and mouth were burning immediately,” he claimed. “My Apple Watch registered at this time a higher pulse.”
His lawsuit, for $100,000, was dismissed.
According to the article, the salsa at Los Tacos No. 1 isn't even that spicy.
March 19, 2026
"I have this German mind, if something is too spicy, it should be warned — or at least labelled."
Said Faycal Manz, quoted in "A German tourist sued a restaurant because its sauce is too hot. So I tried it/A litigious visitor claimed the salsa at Los Tacos No. 1 in Times Square made his tongue burn. I wondered: How bad could it be?" (London Times).
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43 comments:
If the restaurant is in Times Square, the food is bland.
Is that a Brontosaurus leg they're carving the meat off of?
What's Scoville rating?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
German tourist trying to get in on the American litigation game.
I sense a theme for the day - idiotic lawsuits.
Northern Europeans are indeed responsible for the dill and watercress level of spice. They'll eat mustard, but maybe not the brown stuff. They'll eat black pepper.
It's shocking how sensitive they are. Literally akin to a toddler with no experience.
When I worked in Germany, we took a German colleague to a Sushi Bar. Told her the wasabi was like guacamole. Much amusement ensued. She didn't try to sue though.
gspencer said...
"What's Scoville rating?"
A pet peeve of mine is hot sauce without a scoville number on the label. What if alcohol didn't have proof/ABV displayed? Scoville is a quantitative measure of "heat." Provide it, rather than flowery descriptions, so I know in advance what to expect, and sometimes, avoid.
I've eaten at Los Tacos No. 1 (the one off Union Square). It was great. And not particularly spicy. But Europeans are hopeless about spicyness. I've had Thai and Indian in Madrid (not my choice): astoundingly bland.
La Super-Rica on Milpas in Santa Barbara. Super Taqueria on Almaden in San Jose. Tacos Morenos on Water St in Santa Cruz.
"Scoville ratings? We ain't got no Scoville ratings. We don't need no Scoville ratings. I don't have to show you any stinking Scoville ratings!"
German-American?
Spicy hot is not actual heat.
rhhardin said...
"Spicy hot is not actual heat."
And hot women are typically about 98.6 degrees.
I call BS on the German who is too sensitive to eat spicy food. These are the same people who eat the abomination called Currywurst.
I used to grow Carolina Reapers to dehydrate and grind to powder to make my "Deer Tea" repellant. It worked for woodchucks too. Muy calliente!
BUMBLE BEE said...
"I used to grow Carolina Reapers to dehydrate and grind to powder to make my "Deer Tea" repellant. It worked for woodchucks too. Muy calliente!"
The inventor of the 2mm scoville Carolina Reapers didn't protect his IP, and made little money with his creation.
He went back to the lab and invented a next-gen Reaper at a new record of 2.5mm scovilles, and protected his IP. This time, he benefitted financially.
A spicy hot sauce in New York's Time Square?
Pull the other one, it has bells on it.
Reminds me that things have always been a little "heated" between Sylvester and Speedy Gonzales.
I love Melinda's hot sauces. I used to put the Ghost Pepper sauce on almost everything until it destroyed all the good bacteria in my gut. Now I just use the habenero which is very tasty and still pretty spicy.
Wasn't The Germans Have A Word For It another avatar of Laslo?
Speizeropgefickt: the state of being surprised by unexpectedly spicy food. CC, JSM
Werner Herzog is never surprised by spicy food. He just gives it to Klaus Kinski. CC, JSM
I don't know if mustard counts, but I was in Germany for a few years, and some of those mustards could burn your nose hair.
Maybe next time, Fecal Manz!
Germans do not understand real Mexican food. My brother lived in Stuttgart for about five years. He said the best Mexican restaurant in Stuttgart was Taco Bell.
Speizeropgefickt: the state of being surprised by unexpectedly spicy food. CC, JSM
Yes, Google it for the full etymology.
He also sued Walmart because their free in-store wifi didn't work with his foreign phone.
But Europeans are hopeless about spicyness. I've had Thai and Indian in Madrid (not my choice): astoundingly bland.
Well, I had a lamb vindaloo in London that just about blasted my hat off my head. I suppose the English have had enough experience with truly spicy curries since the days of the Raj to develop a taste for them.
This pathetic German pussy could stand to take some direction from his countryman, Father Ignaz Pfefferkorn, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians of Tumacacori, Arizona, in the 1750's. He had this to say after tasting the chiltepín peppers (my own personal favorites) that grow wild there:
After the first mouthful the tears started to come. I could not say a word and believed I had hell-fire in my mouth. However, one becomes accustomed to it after frequent bold victories, so that with time the dish becomes tolerable and finally very agreeable...
This guy's a wuss but I think too often places make stuff too spicy that's it's just meant as a flex for customers, usually men.
A like spicy but it must be flavorful not just hot. When it's so hot that it blows out your taste buds what's the point.
Milwaukee has some great Mexican restaurants, food trucks, and grocery stores. My favorite of the latter is El Rey but it's ungodly expensive for normal stuff. I love their pork tamales. Great for breakfast.
My son's Joke: Do you know what El Rey means in English? The Rey.
Hassayamper,
Surely your vindaloo was made by a South Asian resident of London, not an English resident of London.
Italian and French Cuisine's are considered among the best in the world. Neither is particularly hot. Usually heat = low quality food.
Of course, I don't believe anyone would go to any Tex-Mex Restaurant (even in London!) and be amazed it was spicy.
The story of Goldilocks is a lot shorter in Germany.
Goldilocks tasted the porridge of the Great Big Bear, and it was too hot for her so she sued the Bear family.
Surely your vindaloo was made by a South Asian resident of London, not an English resident of London.
Very much so, but the clientele was 80 percent indigenous British, or at least European.
Los Tacos # 1 is great. The branch near GCT features lunch time lines out the door and down the block everyday.
Dang, I haven't been to Super Taqueria in so many years! I used to work at Adobe in SJ and now I miss it.
“ Said Faycal Manz…”. That man’s name is too much to ask an anglophone to speak with a straight face. Perhaps like Mr. Hankey’s disabled son, he was born with a piece of corn in his head.
The breakfast burritos sold outside Los Tacos #1 are pretty good but not quite LA on set catering good.
According to rhhardin, a chemical burn is a lye.
Germans: please avoid Taos or Santa Fe. Please.
German here, a few generations back. I enjoy spicy food. I know you can challenge a Mexican cook to make food too hot, but not a Chinese. OTH, the hottest dish I ever had was a shrimp dish in Belize. I could only manage half of it.
With a name like "Faycal Manz" and a "German mouth" assimilation may be working over there. But which way?
I had a vindaloo curry experience similar to Hassayampers. I had an Indian secretary back in the 80s. She was a very nice young woman, and she knew that my family and I were going to have a vacation in London. As an almost lifelong Southern California I've eaten and enjoyed a lot of very spicey food and that I "liked my food hot". She suggested I try a vindaloo curry in London. I did, took my first bite and my hand made a frantic dash for my pint of beer. Whoo boy--Vindaloo can be blasting hot. Did I sue the restaurant? Nope, I'd "assumed the risk".
Even though I have lived in Texas most of my life, I had never eaten Mexican (or even TexMex) food until I was a senior in high school. I blame my German mother and her aversion to anything with more kick than a mild horseradish. These days I grow my own habanero bushes to satisfy my spice addiction.
I know a Mexican who eats jalapeños, but claims that eating Düsseldorf mustard is painful. It’s just a matter of what you’re accustomed to. Give the tourist some sauerkraut, horseradish, and Limburger cheese, and he’ll probably do just fine
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