As a Texan, suing over salsa being too spicy is like accusing water of being wet. And this stuff's made in New York City (get a rope).

A German tourist’s attempt to pursue $100,000 in damages from a New York City taqueria whose salsa he found to be too spicy has failed after a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit.

In a complaint filed in October 2024, German national Faycal Manz said he was visiting New York City two months earlier when he stopped at the Times Square location of Los Tacos No 1.

Manz maintained that he bought three tacos there and then availed himself of the offerings at the restaurant’s self-service salsa bar.

“As I had no idea how dangerous these sauces could be or which ingredients are put in the sauces, I started putting a lot of these sauces inside my tacos,” Manz wrote in the filing.

Point of order: The correct way to use any unknown sauce is to put a dollop on the edge of your plate, basket, whatever. At this point, you determine whether you're going to commit to using the sauce more liberally.

Do you know where I learned this? Germany.

But dude was apparently more of a financial tourist than anything else. Later on, we get:

Court records show that Manz filed several other lawsuits related to his August 2024 trip to the US.

One seeking $10m accused a New Jersey Walmart of discrimination because its wifi login required a US phone number. He also demanded another $10m from New York City police over their response to a reported street assault.

The Walmart case was dismissed, too. And last week he dropped the lawsuit involving the police response, according to the New York Times.

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[–] 5 points 7 months ago

People abroad say the US is very litigious. Some of that is probably related lax consumer protection and the poor social safety net, but it's nice to see that perception proven incorrect in this case. I wonder if he legitimately believed the hype about suing people in the US or if he would have done this anywhere else.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Main takeaway from this is, I want to go visit that taqueria. I want to buy some of this "too spicy" salsa.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    I'm not a huge fan of spicy foods, but any taqueria with salsa that spicy has to be at least worth a visit.

    And sure enough, it has a 4.8 star review on Google with 15k reviews. I know where I'm going next time I find myself in NYC.

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  • 24 comments in c/news@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 41 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    $20.1 million across three lawsuits. Bro had the wrong visa. He said he was here as a tourist, but clearly he was here on business.

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  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    The other 2 lawsuits are just as bonkers!

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  • [–] 16 points 7 months ago (10 children)

    I really hope this doesn’t pressure them to call their salsa “spicy” if it’s not; I already have trust issues with food adjectives because of stuff like this.

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  • [–] 17 points 7 months ago (9 children)

    IKR? I hate it when something is supposed to be spicy but seems to be calibrated for someone that thinks black pepper is spicy.

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  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (8 children)

    Definitely. There was a burrito place by me that I used to ask for their hottest sauce and every time I asked for it, they gave me a half squint and said, “are you sure? It’s really spicy.” It was never what I would consider even moderately spicy. I think they were just racially profiling me…which I guess I can’t complain about if that’s the worst way I’ll be racially profiled in life.

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  • [–] 11 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    I have a similar story. I can handle hot, and seek it out because who doesn’t love endorphins? I asked for their hot salsa, and then asked if they had anything hotter. She brought out this small dish and stood there and watched me eat it and made a derisive grunt before walking away. It was the hottest salsa experienced, I broke out into sweats and then hives. For the next day any mild perspiration caused me to break out into a rash.

    It was amazing. 10/10 would recommend.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    Haha, I’ve experienced something similar to that. I ordered queso at a taco place and there was a sliced pepper floating on top. My wife doesn’t like spicy food, so I will grab that stuff immediately. It was a little hot, definitely felt a slight burn. A few minutes later, the waitress came out and was looking at the queso, then the tray, then the plates and the floor. She was slightly panicked and said, “did this come out with a pepper on it?!” And then explained that she tells all her guests not to eat the pepper because it’s too spicy and they get a lot of complaints. Definitely way too dramatic for the heat level of that thing.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    The trick is to ask them if the spice is scaled for white people or not

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    “Is there a non-white people extra spicy?” I’ve had to convince waiters at many restaurants that I really mean it. Recent experience - I had the chef come out and double check with me at a new Indian restaurant and I confirmed extra spicy - and he was right, it was pretty tongue melting. Now I usually order spicy unless I’m really in the mood. Sometimes (sadly rare) they mean it!

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    My wife and I went to an Indian restaurant and the owners were letting their daughter take the orders. She was maybe 7 or 8 or so. I ask for something extra spicy and she asks Indian or American extra spicy. I say Indian.

    She looks worried and walks off. Place was not very busy and dad is watching from the corner as she takes orders, so she goes over to him...

    whispers

    She comes back and asks "are you sure? Indian extra spicy is very spicy". I say yes, she walks back and there is more whispering, this time with Mom also there. Concerned looks from all three directed at our table. It was hard not to burst out in a laugh.

    When the dish came it was some serious spice. Maybe the hottest thing I've ever had at a restaurant. And it was delicious. I think the owner asked what I thought when I was paying the bill. I was sweating a bit (rare for me) and probably dipping into the naan to cool things off when he asked. :)

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I remember eating at a Chinese restaurant and ordering something "extra spicy". The waiter asked, oh, what level? Well, I had eaten there before and didn't know they had a level, so asked what that meant. He said 1-10, with 10 being spiciest. I said 10 and continued looking at the menu (it's a rather large one), waiting for the other orders. Then I notice there is a silence and look up.

    Waiter is staring at me, concerned. He says "no one has ever said 10!". After that, others at the table had to change their orders to 10 to try it out, LOL.

    After all that, it was spicier than the normal extra spicy I've had there, but it was not worth the panic the waiter had. :)

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 child)

    My favorite way of people trying to calibrate things for you in real time is if they ask something like: "do you want that Indian hot, or American hot?", I take the subtext being, "okay, white guy, let's make sure you buckle up if you ask for the Indian hot version". 🤣

    In my experience, Indian restaurants can bring the spicy. So can (some) Thai places. They can really turn things up and tear off the knob for pepperheads if they know they can take the bubble-wrap off for you as a customer. :)

    I don't think I've ever eaten at a Mexican restaurant that really turned things up, but I think that's mostly because the peppers they use are rather limited in their upper end. Most of it has been around store-bought "extra hot" salsa level which doesn't phase me.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    It’s always nice to find a Mexican restaurant that makes a serious house habanero salsa, and every once in a while they’re amazing! I went to one restaurant for about a decade when I found their amazing salsa, but at some point they couldn’t import their chef’s preferred peppers anymore and stoped making it.

    I’ve had a much easier time finding Indian that can bring the spice - I assume their spice collection is broader than most, but I love when I can find a seriously spicy Thai dish.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    Good.

    Courts don't make the right decision fairly regularly here, but occasionally they get one right.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    Tongue blisters? Bullshit.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    I saw a Houston Jones video where he pretty much took pepper spray to the dome, and said the worst part was the genital burn while showering after. Homie got a fucked up mouth from citric acid more than capsaicin.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    I’ve eaten a whole Carolina reaper peppers before and I’ve never noticed anything except the pain

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago* (4 children)

    you gotta practice harder those are deliciously sweet.

    also there are ointments to help with satan's eyeball. if you do it right you don't get any afterburn.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    I don’t like sweet stuff. I prefer ghost peppers

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    see i don't have a good source of hot peppers. i want a nice salsa with a mix of the sweet carolina reapers and the earthy ghost peppers.

    my mild salsa uses pasillas and anaheims (if i'm sharing) or habaneros (if i'm not) to give an example.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Nice. I’m a pepper grower. Mostly ghost, but I’ll grow anything My local nursery sells that’s hot

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  • 18 comments in c/offbeat@lemmy.ca view that post
    [–] 62 points 7 months ago* (7 children)

    Manz maintained that he bought three tacos there and then availed himself of the offerings at the restaurant’s self-service salsa bar.

    “As I had no idea how dangerous these sauces could be or which ingredients are put in the sauces, I started putting a lot of these sauces inside my tacos,” Manz wrote in the filing.

    “There were absolutely no warnings at all,” he wrote in his complaint, which mentioned that he has history of gastrointestinal problems and generally avoids spicy foods.

    Is this a publicity stunt or something? A grift? Surely it's not actually some dumbass who genuinely thought they could get $100k after voluntarily triggering a stomach ache.

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  • [–] 40 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    He was visiting the states and wanted the authentic experience of suing anyone you feel like

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  • [–] 19 points 7 months ago

    Court records show that Manz filed several other lawsuits related to his August 2024 trip to the US.

    One seeking $10m accused a New Jersey Walmart of discrimination because its wifi login required a US phone number. He also demanded another $10m from New York City police over their response to a reported street assault.

    🙄 One of those guys.

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  • [–] 28 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    After he took the first bite and tasted how spicy it was, instead of spitting it out he thought to himself "its amazing how they got this food to taste spicy without it actually being spicy" and continued to eat all three tacos

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    There's legit some hot sauces that are a slow burn. Takes a minute to get to full force...by which time it is FAR too late to spit it out.... guy's still a numpty. Just pointing out I've gotten myself in too deep. Only difference is I said "Yeah, probably should have asked what everything was." Not "Imma sue a motherfucker!"

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  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    I always feel like it's been three or so bites before you realize that you've made a mistake.

    Honestly, I want the taco salsa that makes Germans litigious. The restaurant should sell shirts or something.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Definitely. By the time I realised that a tactical error was made I've usually smashed the first taco, and am part way through the second.

    I would absolutely smother several tacos in lawsuit sauce, and if that shop isn't capitalising this....idfk if they deserve to run a shop anymore.

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  • [+] 34 points 7 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 33 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    I’m gonna go to Oktoberfest and say the smell of beer made me nauseous.

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  • [–] 20 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    “I had no idea it had alcohol in jt!”

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  • [–] 11 points 7 months ago

    What kind of dipshit just starts loading random unmarked sauce onto his food at a mexican/indian/korean/thai restaurant? Especially if you don't like the heat.

    I guess you'd develop the tolerance after doing that mistake once.

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  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    No matter whether it's labeled or not, you don't start ladling on the salsa until you've tasted it first. What a maroon.

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago*

    Oh. I thought the lawsuit was gonna be because it wasn't hot enough. Some of these places serve spaghetti sauce as salsa. Which is fine. Adapting to local preferences and stuff.

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