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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.