The Habanero Hamburger "Hall of Flame"

Welcome to the Habanero Hamburger Hall of Flame --- the unofficial home page for the Prince of Wales Pub's infamous "Habanero Hamburgers"... and those who survived them!

(This site is run by fans, and isn't affiliated with the Prince of Wales Pub or its staff)

CLOSED AFTER 32 YEARS

Sadly, Jack Curry's Prince of Wales Pub has closed after 32 years. Apparently the building ownership changed hands, and Jack lost his lease. If anyone has anecdotes, memories, or back-story they'd like to record, please email to habanero-request at habanero-hamburger.com!

FYI, this from Bill Swain: "Richard Whitely had the very first Habanero Burger in 1992, and had the very last one."

Habanero Hamburger History

Jack Curry serves the Habanero Hamburger, and more traditional pub fare, at his "Prince of Wales" pub in San Mateo. Jack has owned the pub for nearly three decades, and created the habanero burger for your eating pleasure. You are asked to sign a release form when you order one of these spicy [toxic] burgers, and receive a bumper sticker for "surviving" the experience.

Directions and Other Goodies

Here are some other Habanero Hamburger goodies, and directions to the pub:

The Hall of Flame: Those Who Swallowed And Survived

The plaques below commemorate some of the fine people we know have eaten the Habanero Hamburger, and have lived to brag about it.

If you would like to be added to the "Hall of Flame" list, or update your current count, please fill out this consumption update form. If you have any questions or problems, please send email to habanero-help at the habanero-hamburger.com site.

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(here is a link to the raw data in tab-separated-values format)

Eating Tips & Techniques

Here are a few tips and techniques for eating the Habanero Hamburger, contributed by our readers. Consumption strategies vary widely, but perhaps some of these will work for you.

Drink Beer --- Water doesn't cool the heat for long.
Eat Fast -- The lip and tongue burning will last 15 minutes after the last bite, so there's no point in pacing yourself. If it takes you more than 5 bites and 60 seconds, you're doing something wrong.
Ice Cream --- Milk helps, frozen milk is even better.
Fiber Pre-loading --- One person was know to eat piles of high-fiber crackers before dining to minimize the duration of any "exit wound".
Paste Containment --- Clark Dunson describes a colleague's technique as he "scraped all of the sauce off the patty onto the center of the lettuce leaf which he then rolled up. He ate the burger, and then popped the lettuce hotpocket into his mouth and gulped. He laughed with glee at our suffering, thinking he had outsmarted the wee scotch bonnet. He was not laughing by 5PM tho', when he had to make an emergency roadside stop to withstand the delayed action trauma! He spent the evening squirming on the floor.
Schedule Planning --- If you eat on Friday, leave the weekend free to lay in the bathtub.

Some Noteworthy Habanero Hamburger Quotes

There is no doubt this burger is hot, but it is not impossible to get it down. Speed is the key, you have about 3.5 minutes before the real burning starts to set in and this is your window of opportunity. I bought a milkshake before I went to the pub which proved essential for putting out the fire afterwards. I could have consumed another burger, but a friend's reversal of fortune put an end to those thoughts. Like has been mentioned before, the real ordeal is the ring of fire the next day. -- Eric Bennett (9/15/06)

Read Lincoln Quirk's blow-by-blow description of the Habanero experience. -- Lincoln Quirk (8/10/06)

"We made some of our team cry and nearly puke this time!" -- Peter Hazlehurst (10/20/05)

"First bite, tastes like salad... second bite, jalapeno level hot... third bite, dayom, a sip of coke would be nice... fourth bite, your nose starts running... fifth bite, your eyes are watering uncontrollably... sixth bite, you force the rest of it down your throat and run for the bathroom..." -- Anand Thaker

"It's not a meal, it's an ordeal!" -- Michael Snyder

"Excerpted from Mary Ladd's Food Finds Blog: ... Would I eat the spicy, hellish combo again? Maybe. I would love to share the eating experience with other fiery foods eaters, but must remember the past. I shudder to think of having those little soldiers in my system again." -- Mary Ladd

"At the time [the owner] Jack introduced the Habanero Hamburger, I was going to the Prince every week, so I signed up for the pre-introduction tasting party... at which Jack served samples of eight different burger patties. Each of us was to rate the burger for its spiciness, and the hottest would be selected to be served by the Prince as The World's Hottest Hamburger. The first couple weren't too hot...but the last one, the Habanero, pushed pain to a new realm. And lucky me...the next day, I had to get up at 5am to drive to LA...just in time for the second round of fire (which hurt as much or more as the consumption phase) to begin!" -- Mark Metzler

"It was definitely the hottest food I *ever* had!! Crazy..." -- Devang K. Shah

"It wasn't even hot. I can be at the top in 1 month if I wanted to. I can eat 1 a day no problem." -- Michael Gray

"Get the ice cream sandwich when you're done - $2.00 well spent." -- Allen Madsen

"Eating a Habanero Hamburger is an 'experience'. The first bite is mild. The first half is hot. The second half is really freakin' hot. And then the real pain begins! Thank god for beer." -- Mark Rose

"I thought eating a Habanero Burger was the worst pain I would ever experience. The next morning I realized how wrong I was." -- Jeff Patmore

"Ate a habanero burger as a team event while working at Oracle back in 1998. The proprieter told us they were made with 'an extra strong batch.' Had to drink about 6 beers to get the thing down. My office-mate at Oracle threw up when we got back to work.

I was in a lot of pain then, but the pain just kept getting worse over the next 12 hours. I knew exactly where in my body the peppers were at every moment. Due to a recent death in the family, I happened to have access to the remainder of a morphine perscription. That morphine was the only thing that got me through the intensely painful night after.

So 'morphine chaser' should be added to this site's 'helpful tips' section. Also, another tip to any married gentlemen out there -- don't plaster the 'I survived' bumper sticker on your family car... your wife won't appreciate it.

Going back for the first time in 7 years next week to indoctrinate some habanero burger virgins. Apparently, the habanero's long-term damage must include brain damage, because that's the only way to explain my decision to repeat this horrific experience. -- JP. "Habaneros rock!!! They are vicious (but I hear they're only #2 hottest in the world...???) I'd have another one any day!!!!!!!!" -- Rhys Drummond

"I must admit I was very skeptical, but the habanero taught me a lesson I'll never forget :-(" -- Lalith Narayan

"How do you 'survive' it if you enjoy it? They should sell the sauce by the jar!" -- Xavier Elizarraras

"Is Inktomi is moving to hamburger business or what? You are a mad dog, Doc! You are propagating all bad things in bay area." -- Mallick Arigapudi

"C'mon doc, it is not hot food; it is NOT food at all!" -- Mallick Arigapudi

"While I was eating it, I thought of an old Japanese saying, originally written about climbing Mt. Fuji, but adapted here for Habanero Hamburgers: 'A man is a fool to never in his life eat a Habanero Hamburger. He is an even bigger fool if he eats more than one in his life'" -- Drew Hamilton

"Great experience! I got to watch my Filipino co-worker break out in buckets of sweat on the first bite! As we ate our respective burgers, we passed them around to the group. Responses ranged from ''Oh, I've eaten Cajun food all my life, this can't be that... Oh my GOD!!`` to ''That's #&^!-ing HOT!`` -- Tony Maeller

"Remember to eat fast and follow the helpful hints on this site. Eat the fries or onion rings before hand because your mouth will be too hot to eat them afterwards. You wont be in pain forever. It will go away in 15 minutes like this site says. Remember, ''Mind over Matter`` ..." -- Jamie Lofrano

"This is no joke! It's hot so make sure you get a pitcher of aqua before you start, even though it doesn't really help. Just down it and be done with it! You may shed a few tears but it's worth the challenge!" -- Amy Lofrano

"I didn't know how infamous this burger was until I saw everyone's reaction to my order and when I was handed the release form to sign. At first I thought it was just a joke ...this burger is no joke.

I started by wiping the fries on the red habanero paste - each french fry made me sweat like a pig. That's when I got more ice in my glass and grabbed a second can of Coke in preparation for the burger.

When I bit into the burger... it's a type of 'hot' that was not like any other I've had before. Not because it was strong (which it definitely was), but it was just full of flavor. I was smiling through my sweat and tears. Eating the burger was definitely a journey.

As I ate, Albert (my border collie) started licking his lips and giving me the 'eye'. So I saved him the last half bite. To my surprise he loved it and wanted more!" -- Randy Sid

"I've been listed here for years... I originally found [this site] back in 1996, by a HotBot search on the Prince of Wales pub. Since I found it via HotBot, the guys at Inktomi were more than happy to add me to the list. Last night's burger was the easiest I've ever had. I never lost my sense of taste or my ability to communicate with others. The pain was almost gone a mere 5-10 minutes after the last bite." -- Doug Gates

"After my first 1.5, I decided I had to give an honest effort to getting into the top 10 before too much time went by... but I went for 2 last night for dinner and it almost killed me! I can still taste them... I'll be back, I just don't know when!" -- Matt Baxter

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