So… just curious to know what other fitness-minded people think about this topic.
I’ve written about whether or not 2,500 calorie dishes of pasta should be illegal:
I’m a firm believer in the idea that if these restaurants are going to serve these gut-busting atrocities and pass them off as meals, then they should also be forced to make the nutritional information for those dishes available to the public… just like the processed food manufacturers. Not as an obscure link on a website. As a part of their menu. To me, it just makes sense – if the FDA says that food manufacturers have to put the nutritional info on the side of the box, then restaurants should be forced to have the information equally readily available. Kudos to CSPI for helping bring to the forefront the issue of hidden calorie counts.
However, to say that because CSPI uncovered these heart-stopping (literally) findings means that we should all campaign to have the dishes banned by law? I think that’s quite a reach. I mean, complaining about high-calorie appetizers that are supposed to, by definition, whet the appetite… you’d probably do better to talk to the person who orders the appetizer as their meal and remind them that “this dish is intended to serve 4… not one.”
I’ve also written about The Heart Attack Grill, before:
Complete with its own wikipedia page – which makes it kind of a big deal? – and a Yelp profile a mile-long, The Heart Attack Grill pulls no punches: the sign on the window says, plain as day: “This establishment is bad for your health!”
The entire restaurant carries a theme. The owner walks around with a stethoscope, the servers – apparently inspired by the Hooters’ girls, if not but a little bit – wear skimpy nurses’ uniforms, put hospital ID bracelets around your wrist and offer to wheel you out of the restaurant… in a wheelchair.
Yes.
Offering up unlimited fries fried in pure lard, coke made with real sugar (oooooh, fancy – pardon me as I roll my eyes so hard I cannot type), a butterfat milkshake and burgers with names like the Single-, Double-, Triple- and Quadruple Bypass Burger, The Heart Attack Grill does what it can to live up to its motto: “taste worth dying for.”
Oh, and let’s not forget: if you think you weigh above 350lbs, you get to stand on a scale in the middle of the restaurant and have your weight checked. If you’re above that magic number? Guess what – you eat free. Every. Day. Every. Single. Day. And don’t think there aren’t people out there taking advantage of that perk. If you’ve seen this spot on Food Network or Travel Channel, you’ve seen the clips of people admitting as much.
However. Now, that The Heart Attack Grill has people literally dying in the restaurant:
At first Basso didn’t believe it because in the hospital-themed restaurant, where wait staff wear sexy nursing uniforms, and the diners are outfitted with hospital gowns, the employees and customers sometimes role play.
“No, he’s really having an f-ing heart attack,” one of the employees told Basso, he said.
Basso, who goes by the name “Dr. Jon” in the restaurant, and who plays the role in a white doctor’s coat and stethoscope, called an ambulance and paramedics were quickly on hand to treat the man, who Basso described as a normal, “run-of-the-mill” guy in his 40′s.The customer, who is in his 40s, was reportedly recovering in a nearby Las Vegas hospital after the attack, said Basso, who is not a doctor.
…and, considering how the restaurant completely plays up the idea of “everything in here is ‘unhealthy’,” “eat at your own risk,” yadda yadda… should these kinds of joints be illegal?
Not even just illegal – should the government have some kind of say as to when enough is enough in food and restaurants? Or… do you think the public should simply avoid these kinds of places? I mean, considering how we’ll all be contributing toward everyone else’s health care now… are these kinds of places, places that blatantly mock our health-consciousness by serving up 8,000 calorie quadruple bypass burgers, be on our metaphorical hit list?
(Note: It should be noted that, as far as I could find, two of the three Heart Attack Grills that were opened have since closed. That being said, I’m still curious about restaurants who might try to follow this similar path.)