Heart Attack Grill

The Heart Attack Grill is an American independent restaurant in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. It was formerly located in Chandler, Arizona. The restaurant serves deliberately unhealthy junk food that is high in fat, sugar, and cholesterol, and its staff wear hospital-themed uniforms.

Theme

The establishment is a hospital-theme restaurant where all waitresses wear "nurse" outfits. Each patient dons a hospital gown and wristband before ordering, and those who do not finish their food will receive a paddle-spanking by one of the "nurses" with the option to buy the paddle afterwards.[1][2]

The menu is generally themed around items that are exceptionally high in calories and fat. It includes a variety of burgers from Single to "Octuple Bypass" hamburgers,[3] ranging from 8 to 64 oz of beef with the "Octuple Bypass" burger containing approximately 19,900 kilocalories or 83,260 kilojoules;[4] all-you-can-eat "Flatliner Fries", cooked in pure lard, beer and tequila; "butterfat milkshakes"; and soft drinks such as Mexican Coca-Cola. Customers can also order unfiltered cigarettes, or candy cigarettes for children.[5]

Customers over 350 lb (159 kg) in weight can eat at the restaurant for free (not including beverages)[6] One of the restaurant's promotions is a reward for customers who finish a Triple or Quadruple Bypass Burger, after which they are placed in a wheelchair and wheeled out to their vehicle by their "personal nurse".[7]

History

The Heart Attack Grill was founded in 2005 in Tempe, Arizona, by Jon Basso, with the declared intent of serving "nutritional pornography",[8] food "so bad for you it's shocking".[9] The idea came when writing a marketing thesis about fitness training studios, as he became inspired by stories about his clients cheating on their diets.

The Arizona location closed on May 31, 2011,[10] with a Heart Attack Grill opening in Dallas, Texas, earlier that month.[11] The Dallas restaurant closed in October 2011 due to non-payment of rent.[12][13]

The Las Vegas location opened in October 2011,[14] and is legally owned by Jon Basso's LLC, ironically named Diet Center LLC.[15] The restaurant's slogan is "Fighting anorexia since 2005".

On February 18, 2012, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine requested the owner of Heart Attack Grill declare "moral bankruptcy" and close the Las Vegas restaurant. However, the owner did not close and instead defended his restaurant.[16]

In 2019, founder Basso and the restaurant were accused of sexual harassment by a server. The matter was settled out of court in 2020.[17]

Illnesses and deaths

The restaurant's spokesman, 575 lb Blair River, died on March 1, 2011, aged 29, from complications of pneumonia.[18] The Arizona location closed shortly thereafter, on May 31, 2011.[10]

On February 11, 2012, a customer suffered what was reported to be an apparent heart attack while eating a "Triple Bypass Burger" at the restaurant. Restaurant owner Jon Basso called for emergency services and the customer was taken to the hospital.[19][20] Reportedly patrons thought it was a publicity stunt and started taking photos. Basso later said, "I actually felt horrible for the gentleman because the tourists were taking photos of him as if it were some type of stunt. Even with our own morbid sense of humor, we would never pull a stunt like that."[21]

On April 21, 2012, a woman fell unconscious while eating a Double Bypass Burger, drinking alcohol and smoking.[22]

In February 2013, an unofficial spokesman and daily patron, 52-year-old John Alleman, died of an apparent heart attack while waiting at a bus stop in front of the restaurant.[23]

Reception

Heart Attack Grill has deliberately courted controversy as a marketing strategy.[24] The restaurant has been criticized and drawn complaints for its revealing uniforms and sexualized portrayal of nurses.[25][26]

Notable customers

Various competitive eaters and other celebrities have visited the Heart Attack Grill, including Nikocado Avocado,[27] Hungry Fat Chick,[28] Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias,[29] BeardMeatsFood,[30] Brian Shaw[31] and former Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest champions Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Matt Stonie and Miki Sudo.[32]

In television

The restaurant was featured on an episode of Extreme Pig-outs on the Travel Channel, All You Can Eat on The History Channel,[24] World's Weirdest Restaurants on Food Network Canada, ABC News,[33] on a CBS report with Bill Geist,[34] on Khawatir 10 on MBC,[35] on 7 Deadly Sins on Showtime,[36] on the pilot episode on Fluffy Breaks Even, and The Kyle Files.[37]

In France, it appeared in an episode devoted to Las Vegas of the television program Drôles de villes pour une rencontre.[38]

In Spain, it appeared in the 33rd episode of the seventh season of the television program Madrileños por el mundo,[39] dedicated to Las Vegas. It was also in the tenth episode of the second season of the television program Viajeros Cuatro,[40] also dedicated to Las Vegas.

See also

• Gross-out
• Junk food
• List of restaurants in Dallas
• List of restaurants in the Las Vegas Valley
• List of hamburger restaurants
• Obesity in the United States
• Breastaurant
• Food challenge

External links