Find hot, unique at Chile Headz

Have milk at the ready. The food at Chile Headz Restaurant might not be that spicy, but the hot sauces will do the trick.

Luckily, the level of heat is up to the customer. The sauces, made fresh at the Tex-Mex restaurant, range from mild to “Afterburner” and can accompany many of the food items on the Chile Headz menu.

The restaurant is a chance for owner P.J. Burgess-Derrick to offer her special recipes, honed to perfection over the years, to a larger audience.

“My friends and family always told me I should sell my hot sauces,” Burgess-Derrick said. “So I saw this place for lease and decided to take a chance on opening a business.”

That was almost a year ago, and since then, Burgess-Derrick has been selling the hot sauces and other Tex-Mex foods from the cozy restaurant. Business started out slow, but continues to pick up, she said.

The menu features items ranging from a jalapeno cornbread chili dog to a chipotle beef or chicken sandwich. And those spicy chicken sandwiches that are sold from fast-food restaurants? Not even close, Burgess-Derrick said.

One of the most popular items is a concoction known as the Cow Pie, a jalapeno cornbread shell filled with melted cheese and topped with a chili burger or vegetarian chili sauce. The mix is topped with sweet-hot jalapenos and a choice of hot sauce.

“We want to keep the food so that is appeals to everyone,” Burgess-Derrick said. “Some people don’t like hot foods.”

But the food doesn’t all get made behind the counter. Customers can buy their own seasonings, sauces and chili base to take home and put into their own recipes.

Chile Headz fills a gap in the Spokane restaurant market, Burgess-Derrick said. There are very few authentic Tex-Mex restaurants in the area, and many places try to pass off Mexican food as being Southwestern.

“People come in looking for tamales, well, we don’t have that,” she said. “It’s unique, and there isn’t really anything like it. You have to have something unique to keep people’s interest, as well as good food.”

Burgess-Derrick hopes to make a chain out of the Chile Headz store, and said owning her own business was a chance to break away from the office and start something new.

“It’s tough work, but it’s fun,” she said.