“It’s kinda underwhelming, not gonna lie,” that’s what Jr. CJ Guillermo thinks. Moments pass. Guillermo is not impressed by the spiciness of the food he has just eaten. Then, it hits. Sweat starts to bead on his forehead, tears start to accumulate in his eyes, he rips off his glasses in agony. Never again will he underestimate the spiciness of this food. 

   Spicy food is a staple of many cultures, Mexican, Indian, Thai, Japanese. We set out on a quest to find the spiciest food in Holland. We traveled to three different restaurants: Taqueria Azteca, Rock ‘N’ Thai, and Buffalo Wild Wings, and got the spiciest food on each menu.

   Taqueria Azteca was a disappointment in the level of spice that had been promised with the phone call between the cook and Sr. Joe Overway. The cook had promised they had plenty of spicy food. When we arrived the food was prepared and we were excited. We opened the box to steaming beef fajita corn tacos. We went in for the first bite. Nothing. Not a bit of spice. Not even someone that finds pepperoni spicy would find this food spicy. If spicy food is what you’re looking for, do not go to Taqueria Azteca. Although, if deliciousness is in mind, Taqueria Azteca is exactly where you should be . There was an abundance of flavor, like all the wonders of the world jam packed between a corn shell. Bite after bite was just marvelous. Guillermo went on to devour the entire meal, not leaving a trace of beef behind. On the spice scale we gave Taqueria Azteca a 2/10. 

  The spice of Rock ‘N’ Thai’s chili peppers was hyped up by classmates.We couldn’t tell you why though because the spice was mid at best. We ate the thai chili peppers assuming that we would need some milk in the next couple seconds, but that just isn’t how the meal went down. We had high hopes for Rock ‘N’ Thai to be spicy, but we were once again let down. We aren’t sure if our spice tolerance is just higher than everyone else’s or if restaurants just don’t know how to make spicy food. Either way Rock ‘N’ Thai needs to figure something out to help bring spice to their food. Rock ‘N’ Thai gets a 5/10 from us.

   Buffalo Wild Wings also was underwhelming. Being known for hot wings, we had very high expectations. We went in, ordered a 6 count of the Blazin’ Carolina Reaper wings, said a little prayer and dug in. With the first wing down, we felt absolutely nothing but a mild hint of spice. It was underwhelming, so we ate another. Then another, until all the wings were gone, but there was nothing. We were full of disappointment and disbelief. While waiting for the bill, we got a chocolate cake from Coach Jim Otteman and we both took a bite. That’s when it hit. Weirdly enough, the cake was an activator for the spice and we both suddenly got a wave of heat that was burning our throats. Our heads started to sweat as the heat started to overwhelm and take over. It wasn’t long before our eyes started to water and we began to cough. The spice started to win, but the spice didn’t last long and was gone as fast as it came. On the spice scale we gave Buffalo Wild Wings a 8/10 due to the delayed spice.

   To our surprise, Buffalo Wild Wings hosted the spiciest food of the three restaurants. We expected Rock ‘N’ Thai to be the spiciest due to its Asian culture and the perception that most Asian foods are spicy. However, the Carolina Reaper wings were the roughest compared to the rest. Reaching a whopping 2 million on the scoville scale, the official scale for spice, B-dubs blew the other two restaurants out of the water. No restaurant in Holland can compare to the pain felt with those wings… yet.