The Unhealthiest Restaurant In America - Why It's Controversial 

No matter what people do he still wins at the end of the day Talk crap about his restaurant on TV = free exposure Eat there = easy revenue Not eating there = saving someone from obesity and an unhealthy life Someone dies = a wake up call for others This man quite literally has all the cards in his hand.

He's not glorifying obesity, He's glorifying honesty.

He’s the reason my grandma lost 120 pounds. She felt so embarrassed being up on that scale and getting cheered for being fat. She’s 230 and her goal is 180. She’s been working at it for two and a half years and I’m mighty proud of her and grateful for Mr Basso.

Basso is literally the guy who says: "If you die here it is your fault"., and it is still effective.

Basso is an absolute marketing genius. He basically made his restaurant immune to any criticism regarding healthy food by completely embracing the unhealthiness of fast food.

Fast food companies have been doing this for decades. Suddenly, this guy is at fault for telling the truth.

The fact the heart attack grill is a literal experiment and people still flock to eat there is honestly a genius design. Props to the creator

@7:58. I actually did have an experience like that. I live pretty close to Vegas, I went to the heart attack grill once, I had not weighed myself in years because I was afraid to, I did not want to weigh myself at the restaurant, but I was basically forced to. I was upset to see that scale at near 400 lbs and to see that I was able to eat there for free, my dumbass still ate a double bypass burger, and I started having chest pains when I got home. I told myself I was still young, I can change all this now before it’s too late. My first ever goal in my weight loss journey was to make sure I could not eat at the heart attack grill for free anymore. Once I hit 349 lbs it felt great. I have since lost 200 lbs l, weighing in at 195 lbs. my next goal is still based on the heart attack grill, I want to get to 174 pounds, which would mean that even if you doubled my weight, I still wouldn’t be able to eat there for free. As a former obese person, and someone who was possible another double bypass burger away from a heart attack, I see absolutely nothing wrong with what Jon basso is doing. Honestly, stepping on that scale and still deciding to eat at that restaurant probably saved my life

Controversial, yes. But all our fault? Also yes. This guy lies for nobody. Jon really is the most upfront, truthful, and borderline psychotic businessman ever. He’s successful because he knows society can’t say no to greasy gluttony.

Basso’s marketing is definitely genius

Other restaurants: Eat fat free Heart Attack Grill: Fat eat free

I feel bad for everyone that died, but they did this to themselves. You literally ate at a place called the "Heart Attack Grill" and now you're shocked when you have a heart attack.

This guy is *actually* on his villain arc... He used to be a nutritionist and then got sick of patients not listening to him

Basso is the definition of Lawful Evil. The man’s food is harming and killing people but nobody is forcing said people to walk into his restaurant.

Jon Basso is like a supervillain, who speaks with the truest of facts. And that’s what makes him incredible.

I love and respect Jon's business practices. He's brutally honest, gets straight to the point, and doesn't force or shame anyone to eat at his restaurant

"He's deliberately trying to get people to eat more than they need." You have just summed up the entire food industry right there.

i ate there for free in 2019. it really did make me look at what I was doing to myself. I currently weigh 200lbs and am still working my way down to my goal of 175.

I live in Arizona and back in 2009 when they were still in Chandler, AZ myself and my girlfriend went… She was from Russia and wanted to do the most grotesque American thing possible just to do it and boy did this scratch that itch. It was kinda slow that day, but man the servers and Basso himself were up beat as hell. I got a chance to talk with him for a few minutes, but didn’t ask him any standard questions or anything that I had seen online at that time. He was genuinely a nice guy and really went out of his way to make sure the customers were having fun and liking the food. About the food… oh my god, it’s so bad for you but it BY FAR was the best burger and fries I’ve ever had. Almost 15 years later and I still remember just not tasting anything that rich in terms of burgers. We could see from our seats the staff just dumping lard straight into the fryers and then filling up at the fry bar. The burgers weren’t actually as messy as you see online. They were well constructed and looked great, it was just a LOT. My girlfriend did actually finish the quad and got wheeled out to the car in a wheelchair. I had the double and didn’t even try to pretend I could do more. It’s so bad for you, but the guy is upfront and honest unlike every other food company that openly makes you think their product is going to make you better.

This dude is no worse, and actually far better than many drug companies, and any beer or cigarette company in the USA. Drug companies, in the USA, can and do advertise directly to consumers, giving lists of generic symptoms like 'do you feel achy, unhappy, have a tingly feeling in one or both legs after sitting for 12 hours, or want to be taller? Then sk your doctor about Fukitol. Warning: Side effects include EVERYTHING." Then you get cigarette and beer companies saying 'we've got HEALTHY(er) versions of everything now, so you won't die as quickly! But here we've got Basso saying "If you use my products, you WILL die. Sooner rather than later." He's also pointing out that his 'competitors' are doing the same thing, just being less honest. Burger King/Mackeys, In-n-Out and the rest pushing their 'lite' sodas and burgers, then asking you to buy three of each at once. I wish that all advertising was legally mandated to be done by a monotone british guy, calmly reading statistical facts about the product in question.

I hate that everyone is treated like a child and adults can't make their own decisions anymore. This guy isn't holding a gun to your head and forcing you to eat there. If I want to do drugs, not wear a seatbelt, or eat at the Heart Attack Grill, let me do it. If any of these things kill me, I'm doing the rest of the world a favor by naturally selecting out these behaviors from the gene pool, just as evolution intended.

The only difference between this guy and a big fast food CEO is the fact that he’s brutally honest. He couldn’t be clearer about how bad his product is for your health.

Basso is ironically one of a plethora of reasons I haven’t lose total faith in humanity. He be real, honest and somewhat nuts which works to spread awareness about health.

Am I the only one loving how freaking HONEST Basso is? In an age where people lie even when they and everyone listening to them know they are lying, isn’t it refreshing to see a man who knows what he is and doesn’t pretend to be anything else?

He's the literal embodiment of chaotic neutral in the fast food industry

If you suffer a heart attack in this restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter, it's not because of the food you had at that moment but because of years of bad food choices that led up to that moment. 😅

I remember eating there about 10 years ago. I had an absolute blast. There was an industrial scale at the entrance so you can weigh yourself before and after your meal. They were selling unfiltered cigarettes with a meal deal. The waitress said there was a rule that if you didn't finish your burger, you got a paddlin'. My friend couldn't finish his, so I took one for the team like the bro I am.

As an European, Heart attack grill is the most American thing I could possibly imagine

In all honesty, while many may disagree with Jon and hate him for what he's doing, I think he's a genius for what he's doing. He's spreading the message about his food but in the harshest way possible. Why hate on someone for eating at a restaurant YOU chose to eat at?

While the food served in Basso's restaurant may lead to death, in a dark and morbid way, Mr.Bosso is the most honest man on the market. He doesn't pretend that eating in his restaurant won't cause any health problems. He doesn't try to market it as a great place to eat with your friends or family like McD, KFC or other fastfood chains do. He lays down everything immediately, black on white. On every single step he reminds customers that eating in his place may lead to your death and he doesn't force anyone to eat in his place. It's people's decision to live their life this way. While we may antagonise him for what he's doing, it's our fault that he's restaurant is still in business.

I ate at the Heart Attack Grill in Vegas with a bunch of friends a couple years ago for the meme. The food was very mid, but the alcoholic drinks they had were very unique I gotta say

I couldn’t imagine blaming someone for my own poor health choices

He cooked up one of the best satirical social experiments I've ever seen. Dude's a genius. Massive balls. Massive respect.

Jon is like that one super-villian you understand and can't really hate.

Basso is an anti-hero. On the surface it seems like he's doing something wrong, but in reality his marketing has caused so many people to change themselves which is amazing.

Makes sense. He used his previous knowledge of health to peddle the exact opposite thing to teach a great lesson. This dude is a legend. He deserves praise, not critics.

I think the reason so many people respect him is because not only is he brutally honest, but he’s a remaining bastion of reason for everyone that is tired of being lied to about how “being overweight/obese is actually healthy”

As someone who's anti big business due to constant blatant false advertising, deceptive business practices, labor and consumer exploitation, and just straight lying. I totally approve of this man's brutal honesty. "Death is good for business." Absolutely shocked me that he just straight up said it. But I applaud him for saying it. Whereas McDonalds try to argue about health and whatnot. Knowing full well that it isn't. This guy will just say "Yeah, you might die if you eat here." But guess what? People do it anyway. It's almost as if people are gonna do whatever they want and maybe he gets more business because he is so straightforward. Not only death is good for business but so is truth.

I respect a honest man and their are plenty of fast food places in the US with similar health risks without this clear message. I think this is much better then a raised index finger. People experience themselves weight on a cattle scale.

I watch this every time before I work out to stay motivated.

Had he opened a health restaurant no one would have cared. He knew this was the best way to bring people's attention to the danger of obesity. And he made it into a business, creating job oppurtunities. And he's honest about everything from the start? Dude's a legend

Imagine blaming a restaurant for customer's decades of bad habits.

3:19 The contrast of the nurse being super fit is hilarious

It's absolutely perfect Give the people with zero self control the thing they want - somewhere to indulge While also sending the very clear message that it will kill you! Most negative press on this likely stems from other burger chains not wanting to be associated with what they actually do. At least Dr. Basso isn't lying to people!

Bro this guy's attitude of absolute honesty is perfect marketing genius. Nobody can claim that the food that didn't know it was unhealthy.

You can't blame the guy. He tells you exactly what they sell with no BS, its up to people to decide whether or not to eat there.

This guy was psychotic and a genius at the same time

Is this lying? No. Should this be closed? No. Best doctor ever and the most brutally honest person ever.

I love the lack of remorse Basso has. He continues to warn everyone, if you keep eating this food, you will die. And people don't listen.

Its scary how Jon is kinda right. People can't stop eating those kinds of food and Jon knows it. Jon is straight up truthful to what his restaurant is. A True "Heart Attack Grill". Those people would have stopped but no, they just chose to continue eating there. Its really hard to tell who is at wrong whether it be Jon's business practice or the people not resisting, the only thing we know is what Jon did worked

After watching this, I actually have a lot of respect for this guy, we need more people like him.

I feel like people who haven't heard of the heart attack grill yet might have seen those towering burgers in the thumbnail and thought "clickbait lol" but thats deadass one of the menu items lol

I think he's done the right thing being as honest as he is. *Everything* is the customer's fault. He's not forcing you to go, hes not forcing or even coercing fat people to go, despite bottomless burgers. It's one of the most interesting psychological exercises out there.

Telling people not to do stuff that are bad for them rarely works, but giving them exactly what they want and making them see what it does to them and people like them is nothing short of genius. Love the way he thinks!! 👏👏👏

The US : we've got healthcare at home. Healthcare at home :

Marketing: you’re doing it wrong He’s one of the most honest Americans

As morally questionable as it may be, I can do nothing but applaud Basso. He's brutally honest and transparent about his business and no one is being lied to. Everyone setting foot in his establishment does this on their own consent and is being made well aware of the potential risks they're taking.

So basically he was using reverse psychology to save fat people. What a plot twist! I applaud this man for being so brutally honest and based

Jon Basso is literally the embodiment of Scout's voiceline after dominating a Heavy: ''Next time eat a salad!''

“Oh no, I died at a place called the *heart attack* grill”

Basso is a brutally honest person and he is right about everything. I want to go check this place out now. Just for the novelty.

Basso did nothing wrong. He makes it very clear that _you're_ doing something wrong by giving him business. And you know it. And anyone, everyone could say "no" and never give him another dime, but they don't. That's the message. Your poor health is your poor choice. It's an ugly reality.

Jon is like the human version of South Park. He gets away with things that most people wouldn't, just like SP gets away with content other shows could never. BUT he has a point. He's giving the people what they want, not breaking the law. A lot of fast-food restaurants don't offer grilled chicken or salads anymore because they just didn't sell.

This is reverse psychology at its finest

The embodiment of "If you can't be a good example, at least be a horrible warning"

I like this owner, an honest, genuine person. Warnings are everywhere, but people won't just listen.

"This is bad for you and its gonna kill you" I love the honesty

The one thing I find diabolical is the owner bragging about the people who died. The level of disrespect in that is actually unreal. However, he is as brutally honest as they come.

He's 100% transparent and honest. I respect all choices made by people that go into those choices eyes wide open

People are responsible for their own choices. In the land of sueing anyone for anything, people forget they can avoid things like alcohol and tobacco. Nobody forces these things on anyone.

Having a heart attack at the heart attack grill is just on another level...

The owner is blunt, funny, and and all out madlad and I love him for that. Too many companies pretend that their food is good, but he’s being real with it explaining what happens to people who eat bad. We need more business owners instead of business owners who lie and cheat and pretend for publicity.

Americans never fail to amaze me: This guy is a genius and his methods of letting customers know that they are just killing themselves by choosing an unhealthy diet is spectacular...give this man a medal.

A restaurant owner like this guy was everything I ever wished for, previously being a phychologist, he knew too damn well that little effort as just creating gyms or some short advertisements to try and encourage American people to lose weights wouldn't be enough and took the drastic measures through controversially creating probably is and would always be the most nasty and unhealthiest restaurant that you will ever run into, with the goal of that to shock therapy, he purposefully let the men in his advertisements be killed by the food that he feeds them with that one but simple message of trying to make people be reppeled to those chunk foods presented. Truly one of the stand out figure in the entire history of fast food chains of all time.

Imagine having a heart attack at a place called “the heart attack grill” and saying “who could see that coming, im suing this guy”

I really admire how brutally honest this man is.

I find this absolutely disgusting and horrifying, *and* I want to fly to Vegas right now so I can try it. I bet I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Smart man, he tells you the truth before you enter, the name of the restaurant tells you what might happen if you go in there. Brutally honest man. Respect

Jon looking like the king pin from spiderman.

Cannot really blame this Guy for what he is doing. He is not forcing the food down people's throat, they eat it of their own free will.

To be fair… he’s completely honest. He tells everyone what they’re eating is shit, so if anyone eats it, it’s their own fault.

Honestly, props to the guy for leaning fully into what people want. He isn't sugar-coating anything (unless they want that, I guess) and just gives them what they are asking for. He's not at fault because people want to wreck themselves.

Imagine having lawsuits for spreading awareness of eating unhealthy food.

Lawsuits for s*** like this should be thrown out. In fact the public should be able to sue those individuals for taxing the healthcare system

Literally can't blame Basso at all. That's the whole point, the people who went there did it to themselves. The most mind baffling thing out of this whole ordeal, is just how much people are willing to avoid accountability and deny reality despite knowing full well they did it to themselves. It's cognitive Dissonance on another level.

My uncle is the manager at heart attack grill and the owner is really really nice. Haven't met him, but from what my uncle says, the dude is just really genuine and celebrates creativity in the workplace. When you walk inside, there are songs 'related' to obesity and absurd videos showing. My uncle actually made a few of the recent ones. I can't go into detail on this but their staff hiring and promoting ceremonies are very interesting, so much so that my uncle drove across town on one of his days off to participate. The owner really cares for his employees from what I've seen/heard.

"Hey, this food kills you" "Ok" *eats the food* *dies* (Pikachu meme)

most honest businessman i have ever seen. for real.

It's actually disarming in the extreme to hear somebody this honest and transparent in the food industry. I can't help but feel like Basso was pretty cool.

Fun Fact: He used to own a fitness center and even franchised a Jenny Craig. He was sued by In n Out Burger because of his In and Out Workout Centers. Disgruntled he realized there was more money on the opposite end of the spectrum. And opened Heart Attack Grill

This is literally just Burger Shot from GTA from the menu to the brutal honesty 😂😂😂

He probably spent his nutrition advising career giving people solid, reasonable advice that was promptly ignored, until he got to the point where he realized most people simply didn't care enough to get healthy so he went all-in with the opposite mindset.

I went here last year in July 2022. I’m only 130 lbs and am normally very healthy I promise lol, but I decided to go with my friend since I’d heard so much about it. The environment was super fun, the nurses were great, and it was honestly a great time. For all the people hating on the restaurant, nobody’s forcing you to eat there, so if you don’t want to, then don’t lol

Bro is Andrew Tate of fast food

It’s reverse psychology. The fatter ppl feel like they need to change because it’s something that is unhealthy, and it’s the opposite of telling them directly.

It’s hard to dislike Jon since he’s just so honest about everything he’s doing. No shame whatsoever. If anyone belongs on the Lawful Evil section on that chart it’s him. Edit: this is one of the most interesting videos I've watched lately. I spent another hour watching videos about this guy and his restaurant afterwards. Thanks for covering this interesting character and his story.

This guy is literally a comic book villain brought to life, not a bad one either, but one with backstory, depth of character, and relatability.

9:11 By the time they’re 350, they aren’t doing this on accident.

is there such a thing as "moral bankruptcy?"...

I love this guys brutal honesty. This should be studied in Psychology classes about the behaviors of humans. This guy is like the modern warning labels on cigarettes while McDonalds is like the Big tobacco corporations in the early 20th century, promoting it while saying its healthy.