Bob's Big Boy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bob's Big Boy

Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, 2014
Formerly	Bob’s Pantry (1936-1938)
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Casual dining restaurant
Founded	August 6, 1936; 88 years ago (1936-08-06) (as Bob's Pantry) Glendale, California, U.S.
Founder	Bob Wian
Area served	Burbank, California Downey, California Norco, California Northridge, California
Products	Big Boy hamburger Hot Fudge Cake Strawberry pie
Parent	Big Boy Restaurants

Bob's Big Boy is a famous casual dining restaurant chain. It was started by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936. At first, it was called Bob's Pantry. The most famous item on their menu is the Big Boy hamburger. Bob Wian invented this special burger just six months after opening his first restaurant. He was the first to slice a bun into three parts and add two hamburger patties. This made the original "double-decker" hamburger!

In the 1940s, Bob Wian started letting other people open Big Boy restaurants as "franchises" (like a licensed copy). He only asked them to use "Big Boy" in the name, not "Bob's". Over the years, the company was sold many times. In 2018, a group of investors bought it. At its busiest in 1989, there were over 240 Bob's Big Boy restaurants across the country. Today, only four restaurants still use the full "Bob's Big Boy" name. All of them are in the Los Angeles, California area. Two of these are even protected as historic landmarks: the one in Burbank and the one in Downey. The other two are in Norco and Northridge. Other Big Boy restaurants in the U.S. don't use "Bob's" in their name.

The Story of Bob's Big Boy

Bob Wian's Early Life

Bob Wian grew up during the Great Depression, which was a tough time for many families. When he was in high school, his dad's business failed. To help out, Bob washed dishes at his school cafeteria to earn his lunch. He wasn't the best student, but he was very determined to prove people wrong.

After high school in 1933, Bob got a job washing dishes at a restaurant called White Log Coffee Shop. He quickly became interested in how restaurants worked. He wanted to own his own restaurant or even a chain of them! He learned a lot about how to run a restaurant, how to price food, and how to make sure food was consistent. He even made friends with another cook, Bennie Washam, who later drew the first Big Boy mascot.

Bob then worked at another restaurant called Rite Spot. There, he learned how to make chili, hamburgers, and a special red hamburger relish. He also saw how important it was for food to taste the same every time. Rite Spot also offered "carhop" service, where waiters brought food to cars. Bob would later use this idea at his own restaurants. He also got ideas for other menu items, like his famous hot fudge sundae. Bob often said that almost everything at Bob's Big Boy, except for the double-deck burger, came from ideas he learned at his previous jobs.

Starting Bob's Pantry

In August 1936, Bob Wian was ready to start his own place. He sold his car for $300 to make a down payment on a small, 10-stool hamburger stand in Glendale. It was called The Pantry. He cleaned the place until it was sparkling and borrowed $50 from his dad for food and supplies. He reopened it as Bob's Pantry.

Six months later, something special happened. A customer wanted something different, so Bob jokingly put together his unique double-decker hamburger. It was a hit! People loved the new burger, and it started bringing in lots of customers. The popular sandwich needed a catchy name, and that's how his restaurant got its new name: Bob's Big Boy.

Bob's Big Boy Grows

Bob Wian's Time: 1937–1967

In 1938, Bob opened a second drive-in restaurant in Burbank. Both locations offered carhop service. During World War II, it was hard to get meat and enough workers, so one of the four Bob's restaurants had to close. After the war, in 1946, Bob created a company to manage his growing restaurant business.

In the late 1940s, Bob started letting other restaurants in different states sell his Big Boy hamburger. This helped him protect the Big Boy name across the country. In 1951, a man named Alex Schoenbaum convinced Bob to create a formal "franchising" system. This meant other people could open Big Boy restaurants under a license. These new restaurants had to sell the Big Boy hamburger and use their own name with "Big Boy," but not "Bob's."

"BEEP ... BEEP ... To Bob's" spaceship ad from 1958. This ad made fun of the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite, which surprised the world in 1957.

By 1951, there were eight Bob's Big Boy restaurants. By 1965, there were 23 in California and six in Arizona. Bob was good to his employees. He offered them health insurance and a plan where they shared in the company's profits. Some employees even had the chance to open their own Bob's Big Boy restaurants.

Marriott Takes Over: 1967–1987

In 1967, Bob Wian sold his Big Boy company to the Marriott Corporation. This sale included Bob's 22 company-owned restaurants. At that time, there were also 580 franchised Big Boy restaurants across 38 states.

Bob Wian stayed on as president of Marriott's new Big Boy division for a short time. But he found it hard to manage such a huge chain. He missed working directly with people and didn't like Marriott's focus on fast growth and profits. So, he resigned in 1968.

Marriott quickly expanded the Bob's name. By 1979, there were 132 Bob's restaurants in California. Marriott also bought other Big Boy franchises in different states and renamed them Bob's. Bob's Big Boy even expanded to Alaska and Hawaii in the mid-1970s.

Marriott as a Franchisee: 1987–1990s

In 1987, Marriott sold the Big Boy trademark to Elias Brothers, another Big Boy franchisee. But Marriott kept the Bob's Big Boy restaurants and continued to operate them as a franchisee. By 1989, Marriott ran 238 Bob's Big Boys.

However, Marriott later decided to sell off its food service businesses. In 1991, they sold 104 Bob's restaurants in California. Many of the Bob's Big Boys located at rest stops on highways also closed over time.

Big Boy Restaurants International: 2000–2018

When a new company, Big Boy Restaurants International, bought Big Boy in 2000, only ten Bob's Big Boys were left in the western U.S. This number dropped to eight by 2006. The last Bob's in Hawaii closed after a fire in 2009.

A special agreement was made in 2001 with Frisch's, another Big Boy company. This agreement meant that Big Boy Restaurant Group and Frisch's became independent partners for the Big Boy name. This helped protect the future of Frisch's Big Boy.

Even though there were plans to open many more Bob's restaurants in California, only a few remain today. All of them are in the Greater Los Angeles Area of Southern California.

Big Boy Restaurant Group: 2018-Present

In 2018, the parent company was sold again and renamed Big Boy Restaurant Group. This company now manages both the "Bob's" Big Boy restaurants and other Big Boy restaurants that don't use "Bob's" in their name.

Bob's Special Products: Salad Dressings and Sauces

Bob Wian also started a company to make and sell Bob's Big Boy salad dressings, relish, and seasoning salt. This part of the business was sold to Marriott, and then later to an entrepreneur named Kathy Taggares in 1987. She renamed it K.T.'s Kitchens.

Kathy Taggares made a lot of salad dressing every day using natural ingredients. She even sold her life insurance, condo, and jewelry to buy the company! She moved the factory and added frozen pizzas. In 2019, a new company called The Flavor of California bought the rights to Bob's Big Boy salad dressing and sauces. They now make Bob's famous Bleu Cheese, Thousand Island, Ranch Country, Roquefort, and Lite Bleu Cheese dressings, as well as tartar sauce and seafood sauce. You can find these products in stores like Target, Costco, Walmart, and other supermarkets in 14 Western states. The jars even have a cool 1950s Bob's logo and a slightly changed Big Boy mascot!

Famous Bob's Big Boy Restaurants

Greater Los Angeles Area

A statue in front of Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California

Outdoor seating at the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California

The Bob's Big Boy restaurant at 4211 Riverside Drive in Burbank, California, is the oldest Bob's Big Boy still open in the United States! It was built in 1949 and designed by a famous architect named Wayne McAllister. He used a cool "Streamline Moderne" style from the 1940s, but also hinted at the "Googie architecture" style that became popular in the 1950s in Southern California.

The building has curved windows, big roof overhangs, and tall, eye-catching signs. The huge Bob's sign is a key part of its design. This style helped make McAllister famous. He also designed the restaurant's unique circular drive-through area.

In 1993, this restaurant was named a California Point of Historical Interest, which means it's an important historic place. The tower sign was updated, the dining room was refreshed, and an outdoor eating area was added. They even brought back carhop service on weekends! Plus, they host a weekly classic car show in the parking lot.

Many famous people used to eat here, including Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, and Jonathan Winters. The Beatles even dined at this Burbank location during their 1965 U.S. tour! For years, a plaque has marked "the Beatles Booth," though fans have often taken it as a souvenir, and it has to be replaced. This location is known as "Bob's #6."

There was also a Bob's Big Boy in Calimesa, California, but it closed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Glendale

The very first Bob's Big Boy (originally Bob's Pantry) was a small 10-stool hamburger stand in Glendale, California. Bob Wian bought it in 1936 and turned it into a drive-in. It became so popular that it needed a bigger building. A new, larger Bob's restaurant, similar to the Burbank one, opened in Glendale in 1956. It could seat 90 people inside and serve 55 cars at a time! This building was designed by Wayne McAllister and William C. Wagner. This location was known as "Bob's #1" and stayed open until it was closed and torn down in 1989.

Other Bob's Big Boy restaurants were also in Glendale, including "Bob's #4" and another one near the La Crescenta-Montrose community.

Downey

Bob's Big Boy Broiler in Downey, California, was once known as Johnie's Broiler. It also had the cool Googie style. The original building was torn down, but a new one was built exactly like the old one. It offers carhop service, a drive-thru, and has its original neon sign. It reopened in 2009 as a Bob's Big Boy.

Modern Designs

Starting in the late 1950s, many Bob's Big Boy restaurants were designed by a company called Armet & Davis. This firm was famous for its contributions to Googie architecture, which is a fun, futuristic style often seen in diners and motels. They created standard designs for Bob's and other Big Boy restaurants across the country.

Images for kids

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  Bob Wian, the person who started Bob's Big Boy, around 1948