US restaurant facing backlash for letting customers eat for free if they're over 350 pounds

A US restaurant is facing a huge backlash after offering overweight diners free food.

Potential customers have been lining up outside the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas to see whether they qualify:

The controversial eaterie has gained quite the name for itself since opening over 15 years ago.

While most restaurants refer to their diners as just that, diners, the folks over at the old Heart Attack opt for the much more clinical - and slightly more concerning - 'patient'.

Some of their dishes include the Single Bypass Burger, the Octuple Bypass Burger, Flatliner Fries, and Butterfat Milkshakes.

So yeah, it's no place for anyone looking to lose a few pounds.

And it's over the top menu and gimmicky approach hasn't gone down well with a lot of people, who claim that it's actually pretty dangerous.

Taking to Twitter, some have hit out at its owners for offering free food to clearly overweight customers.

Heart Attack Grill

"I'm not a vegan," began one. "However I would rather try one of those delicious looking plant base burgers then go into the heart attack grill.. if you're over 300lbs you eat free.. I'm obese but don't believe in glorifying it the way the grill seems to do."

Another commented: "When I lived in Vegas, I ate too many made to order haagen daz ice cream bars. I'm guessing you don't go to heart attack grill to see all the overweight stuffing themselves and getting fatter. If you're over 350# you eat free? Wtf why? Pretty disgusting."

"The existence of the heart attack grill is sickening and disturbing to me," put a third.

However, despite the criticism, the restaurant's bosses have been defiant as their website states that it's proud of the diner and don't care what people say.

"The Heart Attack Grill® is a hospital themed restaurant in downtown Las Vegas," reads a statement on its site.

"It has become internationally famous for embracing and promoting an unhealthy diet of incredibly large hamburgers. Customers are referred to as 'patients', orders as 'prescriptions', and the waitresses as 'nurses'.

Heart Attack Grill

"All those who weigh over 350 pounds are invited to unlimited free food provided they weigh themselves on an electronic cattle scale affront a cheering restaurant crowd."

"'Patients' who are unable to finish their meals are subjected to brutal spankings publicly delivered by one of the Heart Attack Grill's attractive nursing staff.

"These spankings have been the subject of significant publicity. Thought of as being an erotic gimmick, Dr Jon refers to them as 'Pain Management Therapy' and insists they are a very necessary part of the healing process only from which true growth can emerge."