Most of us will go out of our way to avoid pain. If we feel a headache coming on, we take an aspirin. If we see the Cardinals on TV, we switch the channel.

But living among us are certain people for whom pain is pleasure. People who look normal from the outside but harbor a dark secret. They welcome agony. They thrive on misery.

I’m talking, of course, about people who love spicy food. Those red-faced, sweat-dripping, taste-bud-destroying fanatics willing to take on any bowl of five-alarm chili, brave any plate of nuclear buffalo wings, to soar like Icarus ever closer to a culinary supernova.

For those people I have just four words: Carlsbad Tavern’s habanero cheeseburger.

Since opening in 1995, Carlsbad Tavern has been a Scottsdale neighborhood favorite. And why not? With its goofy name, faux-stone cavern decor and even bats on the ceiling, there’s nothing pretentious here.

What you will find, however, is great New Mexico-inspired food (thus the name play on that state’s natural wonder) and fantastic service.

Where to start? Try an appetizer of New Mexican pot stickers ($8.25), a half-dozen tenderly folded dough pouches with chicken and not-very-hot Anaheim chilies. Covered with a sweet corn cream sauce, they almost melt in your mouth.

Or the Carlsbad brochettes ($10.25), two skewers of grilled chicken, sirloin, shrimp, onions and green and red peppers. They come with three dipping sauces, but are pretty tasty as is.

Among entrees, the crab-stuffed poblano peppers ($13.99), served with a cascabell and yellow bell cream sauce, and the lobster enchiladas ($15.50), covered with jalapeño jack cheese and a three-chili sauce, are both delicious and surprisingly mild in their spiciness. Nothing to fear.

The same, however, cannot be said for the habanero cheeseburger. In fact, the largest type on Carlsbad’s menu is reserved for the “Warning: Hot!!” admonition on this fire-starter.

The burger is made by mixing crushed habanero peppers (considered the world’s hottest pepper, roughly 60 times hotter than a jalapeño or chipotle) with lean ground beef. After grilling, it’s topped with jalapeño cheese.

This potent patty comes with a glass of milk, just about the only thing that’ll dampen the flames a little. (Whatever you do, our server says, don’t drink water or soda if your mouth is burning. It only spreads the habanero oils.)

Properly warned, I tentatively take a bite. Not too bad. Another bite. A little warmer. I sip my iced tea and wait a minute. Another bite.

For a moment, I think I’m actually going to make it through the whole burger. I even confidently request that they take away the milk. I’m not going to need it.

Then, somewhere around the three-quarters mark, I hit the wall. The heat intensely building on my lips and tongue reaches the critical point, and I can go no further.

Without the milk, I don’t have a chance of finishing the last couple of bites. But as I soothe my sore mouth with a forkful of caramel flan with prickly pear sauce ($5.50), I have no regrets.

I have soared close to the sun, and lived to tell the story.

Carlsbad Tavern
Where: 3313 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale (1/3 mile north of Thomas Road)
Open: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily
Prices: Appetizers $2.50-$11.50, salads $4.50-$10.25, burgers and sandwiches $8.99-$9.25, entrees $8.99-$22.75, desserts $4.50-$7
Information: (480) 970-8164 or carlsbadtavern.com