An angry German tourist is suing a famous Mexican restaurant for a six-figure sum after claiming its salsa was “dangerously spicy”.
Faical Manz was visiting New York City in August 2024 when he decided to enjoy a meal at Los Tacos No. 1 in Times Square.
After filling three tacos with large chunks of the restaurant’s green salsa, the northern European claimed to have experienced verbal torture.
Manz sued the iconic venue for $100,000 (£75,340) after claiming it caused ulcers in his mouth and tongue, causing him “constant pain”.
A spice-intolerant tourist from Schimmerhofen, Germany, also alleged that the tacos caused diarrhea and nausea.
He claimed that he “desperately tried to wash down the spice with a Coke and later some ice cream, but to no avail”.
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“For someone like me, who lives in Germany and doesn’t eat anything spicy, this was a huge blow, physically and mentally,” Manz wrote in the lawsuit.
He also claimed that he “had no idea how dangerous these sauces could be” before eating them, so he added a large amount of salsa to his food.
Manz also wrote that the restaurant “failed to provide adequate warning about the spiciness of the sauce”.
After eating a slice, he said he discovered that the green salsa was “very spicy.”
Manz claimed that his tongue and mouth immediately began to burn and his Apple Watch “automatically” recorded an increase in his heart rate.
He cited a colonoscopy taken before the incident as the reason he had such an adverse reaction to the spiciness.
“It is practically prohibited for me to eat such hot spicy food,” Manz said in his complaint.
But Manhattan Judge Dale E. Ho ruled against the boiling tourist, saying: “When it comes to salsa, the spice is often the issue.”
Ho also said that Manz failed to prove that the restaurant acted negligently.
He said the Germans neither asked the staff about the spice level nor tested the salsa before putting it on their plates.
Ho wrote, “A quick Google search for Mexican food, ‘salsa’ or even Los Tacos reviews would have revealed that salsa can be quite spicy.”
“Manz admits that he never asked anyone, whether customers or Los Tacos employees, about the ingredients of the salsa bar before laying down the large sum on each of his tacos.”
“A sensible person with Mr. Manz’s characteristics could easily figure out that the salsa at Los Tacos was spicy.”
To add insult to injury, a photo of the salsa stand also revealed that the green variety was labeled “medium.”
Ho described Manz’s evidence as “completely lacking”.
“In his personal testimony he presented the only evidence regarding injuries caused by the consumption of salsa,” they wrote.
Manz was unable to produce anyone who could corroborate his “dangerously spicy” claim.
After the incident, the German holidaymaker apparently returned Business As always, attending the US Open and eating other meals without any problems.
Manz held on to his performance for the rest of his US tour and sued Walmart and the New York Police Department for $10 million (£7.57 million).
The first accused the new jersey Superstore of discrimination because its WiFi access requires a US phone number.
The NYPD also violated Manz’s standards for not acknowledging his international phone number when reporting a crime.
Both lawsuits have also been dismissed.
The Sun contacted Los Tacos No. 1 for comment.
