It seems that reports of the ever expanding “girth” of Americans never seem to end. Every day we are bombarded with stories of how the American waistline is getting larger, and we as a nation are getting sicker as a result. In this age of political correctness there is one restaurant in the South-Western United States that swims against the current. They make no bones about being politically correct.
Chandler is a prominent suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Their Heart Attack Grill has attracted a lot of controversy for its high calorie menu and marketing strategy. Founded in 2005, its goal is to serve food “so bad for you that it is shocking”, and its motto is “taste worth dying for”. The brainchild behind this establishment, Jon Basso, came up with the idea while he was writing a marketing thesis about fitness training studios (and the clients who cheated on their diets). He calls himself Dr. Jon, but he is not a qualified medical professional.
The Heart Attack Grill is a hospital theme restaurant. Waitresses dress like nurses, and they take orders called “prescriptions” from their customers/patients. Upon ordering their food, a tag is placed upon the patient’s wrist showing everyone what they ordered, and a doctor promptly examines these customers/patients with a stethoscope.
Let’s take a look at the various menu options. Burgers come in “Single”, “Double”, ‘Triple”, and “Quadruple Bypass” sizes (ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 lbs of beef), with the largest comprising a whopping 8000 calories. How much will this set you back? You can get the 8000 calorie monster for about $10.
With the burger taken care of let’s talk about the side dishes. You can add an order of “Flatliner Fries” (cooked in pure lard mind you), and wash it down with a Mexican Coke made with real sugar. When you are done eating you can always relax with one of their non-filtered cigarettes. They refuse to sell diet sodas, but you can get a beer or hard liquor if you like.
Not only has their menu drawn criticism from the health community, they have drawn official complaints for their portrayal of nurses. The Arizona Board of Nursing and the Center for Nursing Advocacy have gone so far as to launch a lawsuit over this depiction.
Their business model seems to be taking off. They are gradually opening up more restaurants.
Why not give their menu a try? You should check with your doctor first though