Hot Sauce, Computers, Comic Books: The Man Cave

Warning: Gender stereotypes ahead.

Now that that’s out of the way, Keith Hoskins, manager of , says that, of course, women are welcome in the store on Old Columbia Pike.

So, regardless of gender, if you like hot sauce, comic books, role-playing games or, incidentally, if you need your computer fixed, The Man Cave is for you.

I stopped in on a Friday afternoon to pick up some hot sauce, unprepared for what I’d find.

Keith Hoskins: hot sauce aficionado.

“We get a shipment in every week,” Hoskins said, “and we have access to 2,600 different varieties through special order.”

There’s a ghost pepper sauce, handful of liquor-flavored hot sauces and bbq sauces, and even Cackalacky—a hot sauce made out of sweet potatoes.

And Hoskins, it seems, has tried them all, including Dave’s Insanity Sauce, of which he said before I bought a bottle, “you had to sign a waiver to buy this when I first tried it.” It’s that hot.

Now, he said ,“My favorite is Virginia Gentleman,” a bourbon-infused medium-heat sauce.

One fact to note, he said, was that people who brag about trying the hottest hot sauces, “they have less taste buds,” he said. That’s why they don’t seem to be in as much pain as others when they douse their food in it. 

“It’s not really worth bragging about,” Hoskins said.

The Cave—let’s just call it that—began as a computer repair shop in an upstairs office on Main Street. Hoskins said he and owner Eric Smith decided they wanted to make a "guy place." 

“Guys are always getting dragged to Main Street with their wives and girlfriends to go antiquing,” Hoskins said. "Wouldn’t it be great for guys to have a place of their own?"

Hoskins said the inventory began with comic books, but the guys wanted to expand. “We asked, ‘what else is manly?’ ”

Sports memorabilia was an obvious answer, but it was too big of an undertaking for the business which, remember, is mainly computer repair.

“So we came up with hot sauce,” Hoskins said.

The store has expanded to include role-playing games such as Magic the Gathering, HeroClix and War Machine.

Magic, Hoskins said, “Just exploded.” Players range from 18 to their late 40s, he said, and include both men and women.