[7] One of the restaurant's promotions is a reward for customers who finish a Triple or Quadruple Bypass Burger, after which they are placed in a wheelchair and wheeled out to their vehicle by their "personal nurse".

[8] The Heart Attack Grill was founded in 2005 in Tempe, Arizona, by Jon Basso, with the declared intent of serving "nutritional pornography",[9] food "so bad for you it's shocking".

On February 18, 2012, a D.C. group requested the owner of Heart Attack Grill declare "moral bankruptcy" and close the Las Vegas restaurant.

In February 2013, an unofficial spokesman and daily patron, 52-year-old John Alleman, died of an apparent heart attack while waiting at a bus stop in front of the restaurant.

[24][25] Various competitive eaters and other celebrities have visited the Heart Attack Grill, including the likes of Nikocado Avocado,[26] Hungry Fat Chick,[27] Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias,[28] BeardMeatsFood,[29] Brian Shaw[30] and former Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest champions Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Matt Stonie and Miki Sudo.

[36] In France, it appeared in an episode devoted to Las Vegas of the television program Drôles de villes pour une rencontre.

[37] In Spain, it appeared in the 33rd episode of the seventh season of the television program Madrileños por el mundo,[38] dedicated to Las Vegas.