heart attack grillRemember that story yesterday about the man who had a heart attack at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas? It's for real -- EMT personnel say the victim really, truly did have heart attack symptoms. This was not a faked publicity stunt!

But I bet the owner enjoyed it just the same. CBS News interviewed Heart Attack Grill owner Jon Basso about his gut-busting restaurant. In a nutshell: "I am here to tell you straight out that I am here to make a buck." In other words, he profits off our gluttony. He's like the Dr. Kevorkian of hamburgers. DEATH BY LARD FRIES IT SHALL BE! Should restaurants like this even exist?

Or is Jon Basso just more honest about what he sells? Couldn't you say the same thing about every other fast food restaurant out there? Oh sure, a lot of fast food places are starting to offer salads and apple slices -- but the point is to get you hooked on the more decadent stuff. I mean, who sits around daydreaming about oatmeal? Besides food nerds like me, I mean.

Heart Attack Grill is just a theme restaurant -- it's just that it's a really creepy theme. Jon Basso calls himself "Dr. Jon" and the wait staff are called "nurses" even though they are NOT. (I kind of hope a few of them are trained in CPR, though ...) Basso says, "Who doesn't want to risk a little danger every once in a while. If I can put danger back into hamburgers, all the better."

I guess -- though all hamburgers are dangerous if you eat them all the time, or if you eat too many of them. You could say the same thing about pasta. Ahem, Cheesecake Factory, which is acting all repentant now about its shameless obesi-menu and trying to sell "healthier" menu options. So is this restaurant really "dangerous" -- or is it just scary to hear someone be so honest about what selling fatty food is all about?

Do you think restaurants like the Heart Attack Grill should exist?


Image via ayesamson/Flickr