"I Need A Medic!" Coronary Clogging at Heart Attack Grill

 I love cheeseburgers just as much as the next person.  There's just something about the combination of beef and cheese that's mind-numbingly delicious--a bit overstated but you get the idea.  Who actually started America's obsession with beef between buns is debatable with the earliest being 1826 in a restaurant named Delmonces in NYC to 1904 by a man named Fletcher Downs in Athens, Texas.  Whenever the induction, this German import has become one of the staples of American cuisine.  One restaurant in particular has nabbed headlines for it's "heart-stopping" menu.  Allow me to introduce the phenomenon that is Heart Attack Grill.

Located amongst the glitz and glamour of downtown Las Vegas Nevada, this isn't your grandma's hamburger joint.  Its done up to look like a hospital with waitresses dressed as sexy nurses and waiters as doctors.  Added touches such as toe-tags tied around patrons' wrists indicating their order and customers being referred to as "patients".  Perhaps the most intriguing are the menu items which include the Single, Double, Triple or Quadruple Bypass hamburgers, each with the corresponding number of beef patties.  The buns are coated with lard and, if one is so moved, they can add bacon--5 slices per patty to be exact!  Also on the menu are flatliner fries ( the only side item--deep fried in pure lard) and a bevy of sugary sodas and butter fat shakes made with--what else- but butter fat cream.  Lest I forget, for the faint of heart they do offer bottled water.

The tongue and cheek humor of using a hospital theme is not only clever, it serves as foreshadowing!  As Americans we are constantly searching for that "next best thing" and originality keeps places like Heart Attack Grill relevant and intriguing.  Everyone's got a gimmick!  I almost forgot to add that Heart Attack Grill's special incentive.  "Patients" over 350lbs. eat for free--is this adding insult to injury or a testament to American gluttony?  Let your cardiologist decide...

Visit them

	www.heartattackgrill.com

Bust a Gut! America's Obsession With Competitive Eating

I am sure that for humans at one time the term "competitive eating" had an entirely different meaning. Surviving the harsh elements of primitive society and being the low man on the totem pole meant real competition--survival of the fittest--for the neanderthal man. However,through evolution, the human has finessed his way to the top of the food chain and has become the hunter instead of the hunted. The eat or be eaten carnal urge has waned a bit, and the very definition of competition has changed.

Competitive or Professional Eating is a popular pastime in the U.S. which began early in the nineteenth century at Nathan's Famous (a hot dog eatery) at Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y. The winner of the first competition ate just 13 franks-a mere fraction of what today's "athletes" consume. Nearly a hundred years after its inception, Professional Eating has earned its bragging rights outfitted with a company dedicated to overseeing the 80-100 events hosted nationally and internationally each year. Major League Eating promotes this "sport" and generates revenue and global attention increasing publicity for these glorified public displays of gluttony. 

The battle of the bulge is a hard and ardurous one, especially when we reward obsessively and greedily consuming as much one can for profit ( cash prizes range from $200 to $15,000).  In a time where terminal and chronic diseases run rampant, I cannot help but to wonder why these contests exist?  I suppose at first glance it is quite hilarous to watch men and women of all shapes and sizes shove anything from hot dogs to matzo balls down their throats.  However, the downside cannot and should not be ignored.  But then again, we as Americans love to be entertained, even if it is at the expense of others.  Oh well..bon apetite!