LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The unofficial spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas has died of a heart attack. He was the second unpaid mascot to die in the past two years.
John Alleman, 52, suffered an attack while waiting at a bus stop in front of the diner last week. He was taken off life support Monday, the Las Vegas Sun reported (http://bit.ly/12HUXqT).
The medically themed diner is famous for its huge hamburgers, extra-fat milkshakes and fries cooked in lard. It uses the tagline: “Taste worth dying for.”
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Owner Jon Basso told the Sun that Alleman came to the restaurant daily and encouraged passing tourists to try its calorie-laden offerings.
“He never missed a day, even on Christmas,” Basso said. “People just loved him. He connected with people in a real way.”
Alleman became an unofficial mascot for the restaurant, which features waitresses in nurse garb. His caricature as “patient John” graced its merchandise and menus.
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In 2011, another unofficial spokesman, a 575-pound man named Blair River, died at age 29. At the time, friends said pneumonia may have been the cause of death.
In 2012, a man in his 40s was hospitalized after he began sweating and shaking while eating a 6,000-calorie Triple Bypass burger at the downtown Las Vegas restaurant.
The ominously named diner features tongue-in-cheek health warnings and casts customers as patients. Eaters are given surgical gowns as they choose from a calorically extravagant menu.
Basso said Alleman weighed about 180 pounds and his death showed heart attacks can happen to anyone.
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