Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2024 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ · WVTX
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

***This note to TV viewers: Ch 20 WVTB St. Johnsbury is currently off the air. We are working to resolve the issue. Thank you for your patience.***

'Heart Attack Grill' Greeter Dies After Heart Attack

One of the Heart Attack Grill's "triple bypass" burgers.
Matt York
/
AP
One of the Heart Attack Grill's "triple bypass" burgers.

Two customers' collapses last year didn't seem to faze fans of Las Vegas' Heart Attack Grill.

Now there's word from the Las Vegas Sun that John Alleman, an unpaid and unofficial spokesman for the restaurant who stood outside its doors every day to greet customers, has died after suffering a heart attack last week.

Alleman, 52, was at a bus stop outside the restaurant when he was stricken.

Grill owner Jon Basso tells the Sun that Alleman's death isn't going to mean the demise of "Flatliner Fries" or what the restaurant says is the world's "most calorific burger." We're talking 10,000 calories.

"The grill is where you can be yourself. We accept people as they are," Basso says in the Sun's report. "(Alleman's death) isn't going to stop us from what we're doing. People have got to live their lives."

On its Facebook page, the restaurant writes that "John was such a part of the HAG family. It's hard to look at our menu today without getting teary eyed."

Alleman, by the way, reportedly weighed about 180 pounds. An earlier unofficial spokesman for the restaurant, Blair "Gentle Giant" River, died in March 2011 of pneumonia. He weighed about 575 pounds.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
Latest Stories