US judge dismisses $100,000 suit over spiciness of New York taqueria’s sauce

A German tourist filed a lawsuit claiming he felt unpleasant symptoms after eating tacos with salsa at Los Tacos No 1 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. He alleged that he experienced unpleasant symptoms after eating the tacos, including burning in his mouth and tongue, an increased heart rate, nausea and tongue blisters. Manz said he later returned to his hotel, where he took medication for diarrhea, acid reflux and stomach cramps. “There were absolutely no warnings at all,” he wrote in his complaint, which mentioned that he has histor