Heart Attack Grill is an unabashedly unhealthy restaurant — the menu consists of huge burgers, milkshakes and fries cooked in lard — and having such a big man as a spokesman was part of its tongue in cheek "glorification of obesity." But those who knew River said he was more than the larger-than-life caricature he portrayed in promoting the restaurant.
Restaurant founder Jon Basso said he got to know River, first as a customer then as the grill's spokesman.
