“Mexican food, and more specifically, salsa, is often spicy,” U.S. District Judge Dale Ho wrote in his opinion.
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A New York City taqueria is no longer in hot water after a judge ruled against a German tourist who sued the restaurant for selling salsa that he alleged was dangerously spicy.
Faycal Manz sued Los Tacos No. 1 for $100,000 in damages after he allegedly experienced gastrointestinal problems, high blood pressure and emotional distress from eating spicy salsas at the New York City restaurant in 2024, according to court filings obtained by USA TODAY.
Manz, a sales engineer from Germany visiting New York City at the time, alleged that the restaurant failed to warn customers about the spiciness of the salsas. After eating them, Manz also said he had tongue blisters.
However, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho last month sided with Los Tacos No. 1, writing in an opinion that spiciness “is often the point” of salsa.
USA TODAY reached out to Manz and Los Tacos No. 1 for comment on March 12 but did not immediately receive a response.
Spicy salsa was ‘a very big shock,’ German tourist says
In the complaint, Manz said he wanted to eat tacos while on vacation in New York in August 2024 because “there is no possibility for me to eat tacos in my small German hometown.”
After finding the restaurant online, he went to Los Tacos No. 1 and purchased three tacos. Manz said he then added two types of salsas from the restaurant’s self-service area to his tacos.
Upon eating the food topped with salsa, Manz said his tongue and mouth began “burning immediately,” and his Apple Watch registered an elevated pulse.
“For someone like me living in Germany and eating nothing spicy, it was a very big shock physically and mentally,” Manz said in the complaint.
‘The spice is often the point,’ judge says
Ho sided with Los Tacos No. 1 in part because Manz failed to prove that the restaurant acted negligently. Additionally, he did not provide any evidence of other customers being injured by the salsa, according to the judge’s opinion.
The judge also wrote that the restaurant is not responsible for injuries stemming from a consumer’s “idiosyncratic characteristic” of the salsa.
“Mexican food, and more specifically, salsa, is often spicy,” Ho wrote. “In fact, when it comes to salsa, the spice is often the point.”
The spicy salsa was apparently not the only sticking point of Manz’s trip. He also sued Walmart over its Wi-Fi policy. That case has been dismissed, according to court filings.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
