An Appointment with the Doctor

Every once in a while, I like to eat some spicy food. I'm not a masochist or anything, but I enjoy it a little bit when the food's so hot I can barely eat it. There must be some kind of sick thrill there.... but I know I'm not alone. Lots of people like their food hot. Otherwise, restaurants and sauce companies wouldn't waste their resources marketing their hot products. You don't produce what don't sells.

Luigi Ortega's is a small restaurant in Downtown Pasadena. It's right there on Colorado Boulevard. This place has a good location, amidst a number of other dining options and shopping facilities, but street construction can make getting to it a bit difficult. I hope you have an easier time on the streets of Pasadena than I did.

 
The ambiance of the eatery is friendly and peaceful. There's an aura of early 20th century Chicago, thanks to newspaper clippings and memorabilia scattered all over the walls and tables. It's not bad at all. I was reminded of Portillo's in a good way.

Luigi Ortega is basically a fusion restaurant that mixes Italian and Mexican cuisine in a semi-fast food format. I was intrigued by some of the irregular menu items: kangaroo burrito, alligator taco, turtle taco.... I was definitely intrigued, but they would need to wait for another visit.

Instead, I was there to sample Dr. Death's Suicide Pie: a 8" inch thin-crust pizza accompanied with jalapeno peppers, habanero peppers, hot tomato sauce, pepperjack cheese, and a specialty sauce that was supposedly as concentrated as an entire bottle of Tabasco. I was hungry and nervous all at one moment.

I've eaten spicy things before, and on a 10-point scale this interesting concoction probably deserves an 8.5 or 9. Ghost chili is still the king of heat. I only needed 8 minutes to finish this pizza, and only because I needed a good dose of water and napkins to keep me going. My lips were scorching. The different peppers and sauces complemented each other well. Anyone who loves spicy food would do well to visit Luigi Ortega's and pay the doctor a visit.