Vegas’ infamous Heart Attack Grill is shutting down — and blaming the end of cheap thrills

After 15 years of serving up towering burgers and courting controversy, the Heart Attack Grill on Fremont Street is closing its doors. The restaurant’s operators announced they won’t renew the lease, and they’re pointing fingers at what they see as a bigger problem: Las Vegas has become too expensive for the middle class.

In a farewell post on its website, the restaurant accused major casinos of pricing everyday visitors out of what it called “the quintessential American experience of affordable indulgence.” The statement read, in part: “The soul of Las Vegas has been replaced by corporate greed.”

The Heart Attack Grill built its reputation on being unapologetically over-the-top. Its menu featured items like chili-topped “Bypass Burgers” — from a single half-pound patty all the way up to an eight-patty Octuple Bypass, which could be loaded with 40 slices of bacon. Customers weighing more than 350 pounds ate free, as long as they bought a drink. Waitresses dressed like nurses, and diners wore hospital gowns.

The restaurant has drawn criticism for years. In 2013, a regular customer suffered a fatal heart attack outside the restaurant. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine called for its business license to be revoked. Owner Jon Basso told the Las Vegas Sun at the time: “People have got to live their lives.”

Now, Basso and his team say the city has left them behind. “Our core value, ‘eat big and laugh loud,’ no longer fits a city peddling forty-dollar ‘artisanal avocado toast,’” the announcement read. “The honest, heavy-duty calories that built our reputation are now considered gauche.”

Still, the restaurant isn’t ruling out a comeback. The statement hinted at new opportunities elsewhere, promising to find “new communities that still appreciate a Bypass Burger.” A specific closing date has not been released.