The Big Boy Restaurants and How They Got Started

The legacy of the Big Boy Restaurants started in 1936 when Bob Wilan began a small enterprise in Glendale, CA. He sold his car for $350 and opened up a small, 10-seat diner called Bob’s Pantry. According to the history of the original restaurant, the famous Big Boy hamburger was created one day when members of an orchestra stopped in and asked if Wilan could come up with something different from the usual hamburger. What Wilan created was a “Double-Deck Cheeseburger” with two beef patties and a special sauce. They loved the burger and other customers that were there that day asked if they could try this new burger too.

The name “Big Boy” came about when Bob Wilan had a chubby young boy come into his restaurant one day. “He was about six and rolls of fat protruded where his shirt and pants were designed to meet. I was so amused by the youngster—jolly, healthy-looking and obviously a lover of good things to eat, I called him Big Boy.” Wilan decided to name his new hamburger Big Boy, after the boy. Due to the burger’s success, he was inspired to rename his diner “Bob’s Big Boy”.

The restaurants became so successful, they captured the attention of the Marriott Corporation, who bought the Big Boy chain in 1967. In 1987, one of the largest franchise operators, the Elias Brothers, purchased the chain from Marriott and moved the headquarters to Warren, Michigan. The Elias Brothers operated the restaurants until they declared bankruptcy in 2000. The chain was then sold to Robert Liggett Jr., who is the present CEO of the company. He renamed the chain Big Boy Restaurants International. The headquarters have remained in Warren, and the franchise is currently made up of more than 455 Big Boy Restaurants in the US and Canada. The different names under which these franchises run include Abdow’s, Bob’s, Shoney’s, and many more. Big Boy Japan owns and operates more than 216 locations under 4 different names, including Big Boy, Milky Way, Victoria Station and Grill Dan.

The oldest remaining Bob’s Big Boy in America is in Burbank, CA. It was established in 1949 and was designed as a drive-in where carhops brought the food out on trays.

Although the name Big Boy was originally applied to the famous double-decker hamburger, the Big Boy restaurants are also noted for their signature food items like onion rings, shakes and strawberry pie. With a menu like that, I’m sorry we don’t have a Big Boy restaurant here, in New England. However, we do have an original, beautifully restored Big Boy that stands guard in the Retroplanet offices. He was restored by Vintage Vending and installed in the offices during construction. Because of his enormous size, the walls were put up around him. Watch for a future blog entry about Big Boy’s restoration process.

Have you had the good fortune of enjoying a Big Boy hamburger? Maybe you have memories of eating in one of these diners. Please blog-in and let us know.

Posted Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am EST by Ann
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