- Restaurant Hawkers Asian Street Fare warned him of the spice level via the receipt which went viral
- Doan said it wasn't as spicy as he's had despite the ominous warning
Jacksonville resident Logan Doan likes his Thai food spicy. “As a white guy, I always ask for ‘Thai hot,’ but I feel like the server doesn’t take this seriously, and they have the kitchen tone down the heat in fear that it will be too hot and I’ll send it back. I’ll often ask for them to tell the chef it’s not for a white guy, but I don’t think they do this.”
When Doan got his to-go carton from Hawkers Asian Street Fare last week, the kitchen workers had scribbled “cuidado,” (“watch out”) and had drawn pictures of flames on it. His receipt also had 17 “spicy” notes printed in red with an additional note at the bottom which read, “make him regret being born.” His office pals gathered around in nervous silence as he started eating the dish, which was covered in pepper flakes.
Alas, he got through it—restaurants, even those that work in the spiciest of genres, have to think about liability as much or more than they do the occasional outliers like Doan. In other words, there’s a lot of people out there looking for any reason to sue.
But did it please Doan’s palate? It was okay—but as far as spicy foods go, he’s endured hotter. “Some folks in my office thought I was crazy for eating it, but I didn’t really get a rush from it. I definitely didn’t regret [being born],” he said. “I often push myself to the limit, and this dish wasn’t as spicy as some of the stuff I’m typically used to.”
Doan said his preference for insanely spicy food does have one advantage. “It definitely helps with keeping people from eating your leftovers.”
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