Heart Attack Grill
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| Type | Limited Liability Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Full Service Restaurant |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Owner(s) | Diet Center LLC |
| Website | http://www.heartattackgrill.com |
The Heart Attack Grill is an American hamburger restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada (formerly Chandler, Arizona). It has courted controversy by serving high-calorie menu items with deliberately provocative names.
The establishment is a hospital theme restaurant: waitresses ("nurses") take orders ("prescriptions") from the customers ("patients"). A tag is wrapped on the patient's wrist showing which foods they order and a "doctor" examines the "patients" with a stethoscope. The menu includes "Single", "Double", "Triple", and "Quadruple Bypass" hamburgers,[1] ranging from 8 to 32 ounces (230 to 910 g) of beef (up to about 8,000 calories), all-you-can-eat "Flatliner Fries" (cooked in pure lard), beer and tequila, and soft drinks such as "Jolt" and Mexican-bottled Coca-Cola made with real sugar.[2] Customers over 350 lb (160 kg) in weight eat for free if they weigh in with a doctor or nurse before each burger. Beverages and to-go orders are excluded and sharing food is also not allowed for the free food deal.[3]
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[edit] History
The Heart Attack Grill was founded in 2005 by Jon Basso with the declared intent of serving "nutritional pornography",[4] food "so bad for you it's shocking".[5] 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.
One of the restaurant's promotions is a reward for customers who finish a Triple or Quadruple Bypass Burger, after which they are placed on a wheelchair and wheeled out to their vehicle by their "personal nurse".[6]
The restaurant's previous spokesman, 575-pound (261 kg) Blair River, died on March 1, 2011, aged 29, from complications of pneumonia.[7]
As of October 21, 2011, the restaurant is located in Las Vegas, Nevada taking over what used to be the home of Jillians, and also the former home of Las Vegas Cafe.
[edit] Menu
The Heart Attack Grill menu consists of four burger varieties based on number of half-pound patties: the "Single Bypass Burger," the "Double Bypass Burger," the "Triple Bypass Burger," and the "Quadruple Bypass Burger." Each of the burgers can be augmented with "unadulterated" (not drained of the grease from cooking fat) bacon slices in quantities of four slices per patty, or 4 slices of bacon on the Single Bypass, 8 slices on the Double Bypass, 12 slices on the Triple Bypass, and 16 slices of bacon on the Quadruple Bypass Burger. All burgers are served, per patty, with a slice of American cheese, red onion, sliced tomato, and Heart Attack Grill's own unique special sauce.
"Flatliner Fries" (french fries) are the only available side item. These are fresh french cut potatoes deep fried in pure lard. Heart Attack Grill also offers three flavors of milkshakes, dubbed the "Butter-fat Shake," in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. This high calorie shake is so named because it is made from butter fat cream. Various packaged candies are also available as dessert items, most notably is the controversial candy cigarette.
For refreshment, high sugar content sodas are available, as well as bottled water, and several brands of malt liquor and beers that are served in the can. There is also a full bar which, in keeping with their theme, serves FAT bastard wines, and liquor shots served in 4 ounce novelty syringes.
[edit] Reception
Heart Attack Grill has deliberately courted controversy as a marketing strategy.[2] The restaurant has been criticized and drawn complaints for its portrayal of nurses.[8]
The Quadruple Bypass Burger with 8,000 calories (33 MJ) has been identified as one of the "world's worst junk foods".[9] It consists of four half-pound beef patties, eight slices of American cheese, a whole tomato and half an onion served in a bun coated with lard.[10][11]
The restaurant was featured on an episode of Extreme Pig-outs on the Travel Channel[2] and on a CBS report with Bill Geist.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lee, Robyn. "Heart Attack Grill Is Up Front About Slowly Killing You | A Hamburger Today". Aht.seriouseats.com. http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/09/heart-attack-grill-burgers-cheeseburgers-chandler-arizona.html. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- ^ a b c Edelhauser, Kristin. "Heart Attack Grill-an anti-marketing strategy that works". Entrepreneur.com. http://www.entrepreneur.com/worklife/successstories/article175144.html. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
- ^ "Heart Attack Grill". Chandler, Arizona. http://www.heartattackgrill.com. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
- ^ "Heart Attack Grill Turns Bad Press Into Big Business | Wall Street Fighter". Wallstreetfighter.com. http://www.wallstreetfighter.com/2008/08/heart-attack-grill-turns-bad-press-big-business_03.html. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
- ^ "Heart Attack Grill". Popgive.com. http://www.popgive.com/2008/10/heart-attack-grill.html. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
- ^ MSNBC — Heart Attack Grill Serves Bypass Burgers, Flatliner Fries
- ^ Johnson, Weldon B. (March 3, 2011), "575-pound Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies", The Arizona Republic (Gannett), OCLC 61312426, http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2011/03/03/20110303chandler-heart-attack-grill-spokesman-dies-500-pound-man0303.html, retrieved March 4, 2011
- ^ "Waitresses Dressed as Nurses Rile Real RNs". Foxnews.com. December 9, 2006. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235679,00.html. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
- ^ Charlotte Martin [1], The Sun, May 27, 2010
- ^ Phoenix News Times — Heart Attack Grill's Quadruple Bypass Burger Challenge
- ^ Heart Attack Grill, Where a Burger is 8,000 Calories and the Fries are Cooked in Lard
- ^ CBS. November 25, 2008. A Meal To Die For on YouTube.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 33°18′19″N 111°56′53″W / 33.305183°N -111.947991°E
