The Heart Attack Grill is a controversial medically-themed burger restaurant located in Chandler Arizona (near Phoenix), their motto is "taste worth dying for." The menu consists of burgers with half pound patties and french fries fried in pure lard. The burgers have clever medical monikers, the single bypass has one patty, the double bypass two patties and so on. The quadruple bypass burger has more than 8,000 calories! The french fries are all you can eat, and they sell only regular HFCS soda and unfiltered cigarettes. The owner is dressed as a doctor and the waitresses are scantily clad nurses that make Hooters girls look tame. You can be wheeled out of the restaurant by a naughty nurse in a wheelchair, and if you are over 350 pounds you eat free.
I feel torn about it. On the one hand it seems excessive and maybe even unnecessary to serve such high calorie, high fat foods. On the other hand I do not feel it is the role of the dietitian to tell people what they CAN'T eat. We need to set examples for healthy lifestyles, but not be food nazis. People rarely take the advice they ask for, much less unwanted advice about eating. And quite honestly it does look pretty good. But I still wouldn't want my husband to go there for his health, and other reasons...
Bill Geist of CBS visited the controversial restaurant in November:
How do you feel about the Heart Attack Grill? Is it a clever gimmick or a crime to public health?
