These five restaurants give new meaning to “hot lunch.”

Crawdaddy’s
Although they’re bright red the crawfish themselves aren’t spicy, but the incendiary garlic butter sauce drizzled all over them sure is.

Hunan Taste
Hunan cuisine is wonderfully spicy and Hunan Taste is the lone outpost for this regional Chinese food in San Jose. Try the Hunan shredded pork,  pork and bamboo shoots stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms, fresh spinach and eggs in a black bean sauce that’s deep, earthy and of course, spicy.

Omogari
Korean food can be incredibly spicy and if you want it hot, Omogari will have you saying “oh my God.”

Smoke Eaters
Smoke Eaters offers seven levels of spiciness with their wings. I haven’t actually had the spiciest level—inferno—but I’m glad to know it’s available. Beer is the requisite beverage here. 

Wu Ji’s Mala House
The specialty of the house are the hot pots. And with five levels of spiciness to choose from, the dish lives up to its name.