Review: The Heart Attack Grill

The mantra of the Heart Attack Grill is, "The more you weigh, the more you get." Located in sunny Arizona, this restaurant is medically-themed, and it offers free meals to anyone who weighs over 350 pounds.

Waitresses dressed in nurse uniforms serve up hefty orders of the restaurant's signature foods such as the single, double, triple and quadruple bypass hamburger. The burgers range in weight from 0.5 to 2lbs of beef and a single burger can have up up to 8,000 calories. The restaurant also boasts its infamous Flat Liner Fries which are cooked in nothing but pure lard. The place also serves jolt cola and Mexican Coke, both which are made from real sugar. No diet sodas are served. I wonder if you can even get a glass of water there.

Founded in 2005, the heart attack grill is not a joke or a play on words. Ironically, the guy who owns the restaurant, Jon Basso used to be a nutritionist. He also used to run Jenny Craig weight loss centers. In a YouTube advertisement for the Heart Attack Grill, Basso claims that he can guarantee you'll gain weight while savoring delicious tasting food. He claims its a diet you can enjoy for the the rest of your life.

The YouTube ad also mentions an exhaustive list of side effects such as sudden weight gain, repeated increase in wardrobe size, back pain, stroke, and the possibility of mild death. The restaurant has gained documented complaints for the way it portrays nurses, and the Heart Attack Grill's signature item, the Quadruple Bypass Burger which has 8,000 calories has been called one the the worlds most horrible junk foods.

An article on Entrepreneur calls Jon Basso "Cashing in on Controversy." Basso doesn't have to spend a dime on advertising, but because his menu and restaurant are so controversial, he draws in customer after customer. Tourists stop by to check out the Heart Attack Grill just as much as the Grand Canyon.

The place is located "glamourously" behind a gas station. Basso's explanation for why he gave up Jenny Craig for Triple Bypass Burgers? He was fascinated by what people did on their "cheat day," and he decided to create an enterprise from it.

I've never been to the Heart Attack Grill and don't plan on going as I think this kind of food can be addictive. One cheat day too quickly becomes a way of life. However, it's interesting to see how some people are doing business. Basso is excelling entreprenurially not because he is out there spending big advertising dollars but merely because he is creating controversy.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/worklife/successstories/article175144.html