It's a clash over coronary-causing cuisine.
The Second Avenue Deli filed suit yesterday to beat back a chutzpah-laden challenge to sales of its "Instant Heart Attack Sandwich" and a planned "Triple Bypass Sandwich."
The famed Jewish-style restaurant says it got an accusatory letter from lawyers for Arizona's Heart Attack Grill, which specializes in fatty food with a "taste worth dying for."
The March 29 missive alleged infringement of the medical-themed hamburger joint's trademarks and "unequivocally threatened" legal action.
But court papers say there's "no likelihood of confusion" between the kosher eatery in Murray Hill and its adversary from the Southwest, insisting that "the food sold, as well as the clientele served, could not be more different."
"The defendant's Triple Bypass Burger is more precisely a cheeseburger, and as such is decidedly not kosher and unsuitable for the Second Avenue Deli's customer base," according to the Manhattan federal court filing.
"Similarly, anyone looking for a milkshake, cheeseburger or French fries cooked in lard will not find them at the Second Avenue Deli."
The suit also notes that the Second Avenue Deli has been serving its popular Triple Bypass Sandwich -- a half-pound of deli meat crammed between two large potato pancakes that sells for $23.95 -- "since before the Heart Attack Grill even existed."
Deli co-owner Jeremy Lebewohl said his late father, Abe, dreamed up the high-calorie concoction long before his still-unsolved murder in 1996.
"It was something my father, God bless him, loved to eat," said Jeremy, who runs the restaurant with his older brother, Joshua.
"He loved potato pancakes and his loved pastrami. A customer saw him eating it and said, 'That looks delicious."
The Lebewohls plan to start selling an even deadlier version version -- 3/4 of a pound of meat layered between three potato pancakes -- but apparently ran afoul of the Heart Attack Grill when they went to trademark the sandwiches' names.
"I think it is chutzpah to accuse us of stealing their concept," Jeremy said. "We decided to strike first."
A lawyer for the Heart Attack Grill didn't respond to a request for comment.
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