Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Who do you blame for the success of The Heart Attack Grill?

Dominic A. Carone, PhD
Patient
March 13, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share

If you go to Las Vegas, one of the many restaurants you will encounter is the Heart Attack Grill.

It is probably the most extreme and unhealthy place to eat in the United States and deliberately courts controversy with its use of extreme menu item names, unusual promotions, and unique themes. An example of the extreme food names include Flatliner Fries (French fries made with pure lard), Butterfat Shakes, and the Bypass Burger (which comes in Single, Double, Triple, or Quadruple Bypass sizes), the latter of which contains 12 slices of bacon, two pounds of beef, and four layers of cheese. No lettuce is allowed.

Burgers can be as high as 8,000 calories (i.e., 4 days worth of calories in one burger). Obese customers over 350 pounds eat for free if they weigh in with a scantily clad “nurse” (waitress) or “doctor” (waiters). Orders are called “prescriptions” and customers are called “patients.” Finishing a triple or quadruple bypass burger allows customers to be wheeled out to their car by their own personal nurse. This past February, one customer was wheeled out a real stretcher when he suffered an apparent heart attack after eating a triple bypass burger.

The knee jerk reaction to the Heart Attack Grill concept is to either laugh or become angry. Either reaction plays into the hands of the owner (Jon Basso), which is to gain attention by purposely and cleverly courting public controversy by turning political correctness about medical issues on its face.

For those who are upset by the Heart Attack Grill concept, it is important to remember that the owner is at least being blatantly out front and honest about the food he serves, rather than other fast food restaurants that do not take this approach. For example, should you be more upset at The Heart Attack Grill’s Bypass Burgers that blatantly indicates how bad it is for you based or at Burger King’s Triple Whopper Sandwiches which requires some searching to find out that they are 1140 calories?

To be clear, I am not saying people should not be bothered about the Heart Attack Grill. Personally, I have mixed and vacillating feelings about it. On the one hand, it is certainly justified to be upset that someone would sell an 8,000 calorie menu item but on the other hand we do live in a free country where people have the right to eat unhealthy if they want to.

While eating one burger during your life time from the Heart Attack Grill on vacation will likely not kill you, eating these burgers on a regular basis likely will, a point the owner readily admits. However, if someone does dies from eating at the Heart Attack Grill regularly the primary blame falls to the patient for doing so despite knowing the risks. After all, the slogan of the Heart Attack Grill is “Taste Worth Dying For.” All of this being said, Basso cannot absolve himself from all blame because he is peddling this type of extreme food to the public.

Ultimately, the success or failure of the Heart Attack Grill depends on market forces. That is, if enough people decided not to eat there due to the health risks, then the company will go out of business. If people flock to the restaurant, then it will flourish. It’s as simple as that. The Heart Attack grill has been open since 2006, indicating that the concept attracts customers.

Dominic A. Carone is a neuropsychologist who blogs at MedFriendly.com.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

How primary care is sold down the river

March 13, 2012 Kevin 10
…
Next

Why electronic medical records may not save money

March 13, 2012 Kevin 13
…

Tagged as: Cardiology

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How primary care is sold down the river
Next Post >
Why electronic medical records may not save money

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Dominic A. Carone, PhD

  • After the latest school shooting, social media accounts should be monitored

    Dominic A. Carone, PhD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Giving a gun as a gift: How young is too young?

    Dominic A. Carone, PhD
  • How a psychologist explained Sandy Hook to his children

    Dominic A. Carone, PhD

More in Patient

  • AI’s role in streamlining colorectal cancer screening [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • There’s no one to drive your patient home

    Denise Reich
  • Dying is a selfish business

    Nancie Wiseman Attwater
  • A story of a good death

    Carol Ewig
  • We are warriors: doctors and patients

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • Patient care is not a spectator sport

    Jim Sholler
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • A female doctor’s day: exhaustion, sacrifice, and a single moment of joy

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • Addressing America’s reliance on psychotropic medication [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden cost of malpractice: Why doctors are losing control

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Rediscovering the soul of medicine in the quiet of a Sunday morning

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • An introduction to occupational and environmental medicine [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 7 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • A female doctor’s day: exhaustion, sacrifice, and a single moment of joy

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • Addressing America’s reliance on psychotropic medication [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden cost of malpractice: Why doctors are losing control

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Rediscovering the soul of medicine in the quiet of a Sunday morning

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • An introduction to occupational and environmental medicine [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Who do you blame for the success of The Heart Attack Grill?
7 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...