Heart Attack Grill spokesman John Alleman dies of heart attack
The unofficial mascot of the Heart Attack Grill, which serves massive, calorie-heavy burgers, died of an apparent heart attack.
The unofficial spokesman of the Heart Attack Grill has died of an apparent heart attack.
The Las Vegas Sun reported that 52-year-old John Alleman suffered a heart attack last week in front of the Las Vegas restaurant known for its menu of massive burgers, including the Double Bypass. At the time, Alleman was waiting for a bus. The newspaper reported he was taken off life support shortly after 1 p.m. Monday.
The owner of the Heart Attack Grill, Jon Basso, said Alleman appeared at the restaurant every day, coaxing in customers and establishing himself as its unofficial mascot.
The restaurant opened in 2011 and features waitresses in nurse garb and a famously fatty menu, including the three-pound Quadruple Bypass Burger, which comes in at almost 10,000 calories.
Reuters: Joshua Lott. Unofficial spokeman of Heart Attack Grill dies of heart attack: Waitress Elisha Greenleaf takes Julian Moreno to his vehicle in a wheelchair after he ate a Quadruple Bypass Burger at the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler. IMAGE
The Sun reported that Alleman, a native of Pennsylvania, may have been genetically predisposed for cardiac problems: Both his parents died in their 50s from heart attacks.
Alleman worked security at an abandoned high-rise construction site on the Strip. He was never officially on the Heart Attack Grill's payroll, though a caricature of him, "Patient John," appears on the restaurant's menu, in a clothing line and on other merchandise.
The Sun reported Alleman is the second unofficial spokesman for the restaurant to die. In March 2011, Blair River, called the "Gentle Giant," died at age 29 from flu-related pneumonia.
Also, in February 2012, the Sun reported, a customer at the restaurant had what he believed was a heart problem while eating a Triple Bypass Burger. A woman suffered a similar medical problem two months later while eating a Double Bypass Burger, the Sun reported.
On the Grill's website, it offers a "diet program" that promises that "diets which include these types of food are much more likely to become a life-long habit."
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