I am an Ex-Employee of the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas, AMA!

What was it like being surrounded by the fall of western civilization?

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I can picture the entire cast of pawn stars being regulars.

I never saw them in there. But, it would not be surprising, considering the fact that their pawn shop is located less than a mile away.

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What's the employee cartoon for?

Merchandise. They would sell T-shirts, coffee mugs, canvas bags, etc. With your cartoon picture on it.

Did you ever have people come in just to say how gross and disgusting the restaurant is?

All the time! People would always talk down to us employees as well, because 1. Our uniforms were provocative, therefore in their minds we were all brainless and 2. How we are the immoral ones for serving them that food. Because it's not like people have freedom of choice when it comes to their eating habits.

Did any non-obese 350-pound people ever come into the restaurant to eat for free? eg. bodybuilders, powerlifters etc? (highly unlikely I know)

I never saw one, not while I was working atleast.

1) Would the waitresses make good money?

2) How would you determine if someone was over 500 pounds?

3) Was it ever creepy having to spank people?

4) How much money did you make?

5) Was there a limit on how much food in a day the people who get free ones could order?

1. It really depended on their shift, a weekday afternoon would be average. Opposed to a Friday night, where they would make up to 200-300 a night. There are alot of cheap tippers in that restaurant (unsurprisingly)
2. There is a scale in the middle of a restaurant, and if anything over 350 comes up, an alarm will go off. Usually people will applaud and celebrate if someone weigh that much.
3. Sometimes - only of the customer made it creepy.
4. I was a hostess, I made $11 an hour plus commission from selling menus.
5. They can have an unlimited amount of Single Bypass burgers (but usually, one was more than enough)

Selling menu's? Can you explain further?

For a dollar a piece, we sold paper menu's. Just for a novelty, or proof that a place like that exists. It's how the hostesses got tips.

So of the $1, how much commission did you get?

The whole amount. Usually there's two hosts working at the same time. One will seat the customers, and the other will put the hospital gowns and bracelet on the guest. If we sold a menu, we would put it together in a pool and then divide it amongst ourselves when we're leaving our shift. Trust was important, because you never knew if who you were working with would pocket the money.

Is it like a legit spanking or a light tapping? Also is in front of everyone in the restaurant?

It depended on who was doing spanking. Some girls were rough and put all their strength into it. I was a weakling and would lightly tap, because I also have terrible coordination and was scared I would miss and actually hurt someone. Also, we'd go lighter on females.

Fwiw, what is the healthiest dish on the menu..? I mean, relative to what is served there.

Here's the whole menu: Single Bypass Burger 2,000 calories. 5 bacon slices Double Bypass 4,000 calories. 10 bacon slices Triple Bypass 6,000 calories. 15 bacon slices And Quadruple 8,000 calories. 1 whole tomato, onion and 20 slices of bacon.

Flatliner Fries (fried in lard)

Butterfat Milk Shakes (with a real stick of butter)

and Chille Cheese Fries

Plus malt liquor, and an array of candy flavored alcoholic drinks. The onions are so carmilized that they are basically pure sugar.

What kind of malt liquor?

Tall cans of Old English, Mickeys, stuff like that. I can't remember too well.

Lol, I actually was checking out the heart attack grill website and saw this AMA on it...

Anyway, how much free food does a *< 350 pounder get to eat?

That sucks, I don't want this on their site... Anyways, they can have as many single bypass burgers as they want.

They posted it because you tweeted about it. They automatically grab all Twitter posts that include their name and post it on their website.

I don't tweet..

How many do they eat on average?

Usually, they can't finish one. It's strange, but the big guys can't finish the big burgers. Everytime someone would finish the Quadruple Bypass, it was always a young, thin guy.

Does this place actually have regulars? Like 350lb people that come in every day and eat unlimited for?

Yep! We'd get a few locals who would come in frequently to take advantage of the free meal. Most of them will come in, not get a drink, and not leave a tip. So that they could literally have a free meal.

Im sorry if this offends, but this place sounds like the embodiment of cancer

Not offensive at all. The food is disgusting.

I stayed at the Golden Nugget last year, right down the street(sidewalk?) but forgot to stop by and gorge myself. Do the shakes taste like butter? Can't imagine a buttery taste being that good.

In my opinion, the shakes are pretty gross. They're too rich, and so thick you need a spoon.

ok last question where did you guys come up with the menu? like did you just have a recipe for the 9000 calorie burger or did the owner have them all?

I asked Jon, the owner that once. He used to be a nutritionist, and had the philosophy that about excess and moderation (I wish I could remember who it was that he quoted, but this was so long ago) and anyways he just came up with the concept. I'm pretty sure it started out as a minor idea, then just blew up with the media attention, and then he decided to move the location to Vegas.

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.”

This one? It's from Robert A. Heinlein, one of my favorite authors :)

That's a great line, and so specific! But, no that's not the one he was talking about :/

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom." William Blake

The marriage of heaven and hell. Love that one too. But, it's also not what he was talking about.

Maybe the Oscar Wilde quote: "Everything in moderation, including moderation."

Bingo!

What was your favorite memory?

I loved anything that had to do with filming. Every week there would be a crew from some documentary type show coming in. Those were always fun, just because I'm into production and I like seeing how things like that worked.

How bad were the bathrooms in this place? Were you constantly having to go in and unclog the toilets?

The bathrooms are pretty funny. In the mens urinal, they have painted cartoons on the wall of nurses making fun of a small penis size.

How fat was the fattest person that ate there?

That's tough, there was a guy over 700 pounds once. But, usually the range is between 350-400. Which, after working there for so long, didn't even seem too heavy.

did you ever date anyone you met there? like a 400 lb man?

nope.

Why did you start working there in the first place? The business model?

It was a job. Which in Las Vegas, is actually pretty hard to find one with decent pay. I had no specific interest in working there particularly, it just sort of happened.

Do people ever come in groups and share a single one of those 9000 calorie burgers?

You're not aloud to share. Because if that was the case, a whole family would share one burger and they wouldn't purchase anything else.

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He wasn't the CEO. He was a morbidly-obese spokes person for the restaurant. He died a few years ago at their first location in Chandler, Arizona. Before the owner moved the restaurant to Vegas.

How did the milkshake taste? I love milkshakes but I dunno if I could do one with a full stick of butter.

They're really thick. Ridiculously rich and filling. I personally think they're gross. But to each his own.

what type of cheese do you guy use the most?

The only kind they have cheddar. It was the overly processed-almost-plastic synthetic cheese.

Forgetting about the terribly unhealthiness of the food and the whole culture of the restaurant, how did it taste? Was it really good?

People actually like it! Alot of folks come to Vegas to try In-N-Out, and lot of people say it's comparable. I disagree.

Have you ever suggested to not serve a customer a burger because you knew it would be fatal? Ignore my grammer.... :s

I wish we could, but that would defeat the whole purpose. Plus, that's discrimination.

I drove by this place when I was in Vegas last year. I was disgusted by how they were proud of having such high caloric burgers. Where do you work now? Thanks!

I'm still going to UNLV and work as a server in a restaurant.

I fail to see what is so wrong about this place. Meat is not unhealthy, and neither is fat. The fries and the coke seems more unhealthy than a burger. As long as you regular diet is within a certain range, eating 8k calories one day won't affect you.

The ingredients are pure lard, fat, grease, and salt.

Can you explain how the FDA allows you to operate? I mean.. you're basically rewarding people for being obese.

As long as a restaurant is clean, I don't think the FDA has any control on the calorific contents of the food that restaurant is serving. If you think about it, many other establishments sell disgusting food in high fat content. Heart Attack Grill is just the first place to admit it.

What would happen if an immovable object were to be struck by an unstoppable force

It would, inevitably move, I suppose.