Some friends of mine back then had a reason I think may have been pretty common: they lived an apartment building that didn't allow combustion grills on the balconies. And coincidentally this sort of rental property is exactly the type to have an absolutely fake junk "extractor" for handling smoke in the kitchen. So they could put the Foreman on the patio and do an okish job with some steaks or burgers without smoking up the whole place.
This was exactly my reason when I lived in a tiny apartment in Boston having no exhaust or fan in the kitchen itself. Put the Foreman Grill by a window with some burgers cooking, job done.
There's warm weekends in Boston when strolling along one can look into the alleys and see a dozen Foremen Grills in action on the fire escapes. Fond memories of those days.
