Bob's Big Boy, Burbank

[hjshorter]

LAst weekend we drove from San Diego up to Burbank to see my cousins for the weekend. One of the highlights was Sunday lunch of a Big Boy combo and chocolate shake at the original Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Toluca Lake (est. 1949, the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America and a designated California Point of Historical Interest. David Lynch is also a fan. ). This is the original coffee shop with naugahyde booths, giant Big Boy statue out front, carhop service, and the original Big Boy hamburger: two patties, pickles, lettuce, special sauce, cheese, and hamburger relish. (Sound familiar? The Big Mac is a complete rip-off of the Big Boy). I swear, this place has not changed since my grandmother used to take us here back in the mid-70's. Bob's merged with Marriott, and was franchised in most states, but the original is still independently owned. The clientele ranges from movie folks from the nearby studios to tattooed & bearded Hells Angel's types.

I could not resist a trip to the gift shop afterwards, and we now have a Boy of our own, a smaller version of this one.

Any other Big Boy fans out there?

[Carolyn Tillie]

Thanks for the memories. Yeah, I grew up in SoCal and visiting Bob's was always a special occasion as it was one of the few times I was allowed downright greasy food on a grand scale.

Ah, that special sauce...

[Priscilla]

Bob's was a mainstay!

I loved how the waitresses were required to wear the most amazing wiglets along with their little white hats, even as late as the 1980s, when Ivan and I for a couple of years ate breakfast at a Santa Ana Bob's every day at some ungodly pre-work hour before hopping on our respective freeways.

Sorely missed. Course I have a bottle of Bob's Blue Cheese dressing in the fridge just now, and my Big Boy watch, Big Boy night light, and a Big Boy button from the "should he stay or go" ad campaign to comfort me. (I voted for him to stay.)

[sand]

I recall two stories, but I can't verify the veracity of either:

David Lynch allegedly ate at the Bob's on Van Nuys Blvd. (no longer in existence) everyday with Kyle McLaughlin while filming a movie in the neighborhood. He supposedly ordered the Big Boy combo every time as well.

The producers of the 1968 Elvis Comeback Special went to the Toluca Lake Bob's to find audience members for the show.

[Priscilla]

The producers of the 1968 Elvis Comeback Special went to the Toluca Lake Bob's to find audience members for the show.

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Relevance!!!

[Octaveman]

Relevance = Fun tidbit of information on the very Bob's Big Boy that is the subject of this thread.

Edited August 23, 2007 by Octaveman (log)

[Pierogi]

Any other Big Boy fans out there?

Ohhhhhhhhh, Bob's was the BEST. Used to go there with my parents on a regular basis, and then it became THE place to hang out after high school football games.

Those shakes in the silver goblets.........

[sand]

Relevance = Fun tidbit of information on the very Bob's Big Boy that is the subject of this thread.

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Thank you Octaveman.

I apparently need to be more careful when making a reference to a popular musical event associated with a southern California pop-culture icon in this strictly food discussion thread.

[Priscilla]

No no no, I mean Elvis embodies relevance!

[sand]

No no no, I mean Elvis embodies relevance!

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I should have considered the lack of a question mark, and, of course your tag line!

[hjshorter]

Can you feel the love here, people?

The Toluca Lake Bob's was also visited by the Beatles. Apparently they used to keep a plaque commemorating the visit at the table, but it was stolen so many times that they gave up.

My dad tells me that the Burbank location was popular for carhop service before heading up to Mulholland Drive and "parking."

[StanSherman]

The producers of the 1968 Elvis Comeback Special went to the Toluca Lake Bob's to find audience members for the show.

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The lead guitarist for Elvis at that time lived a couple of blocks away so that is likely true.

[andiesenji]

I lived in Burbank in the early '60s and we used to alternate between Bob's Big Boy and Van de Kamp's just over the border in Glendale, for Saturday morning breakfast.

I haven't been in the Burbank store for years but did stop at the Bob's in Barstow the last time I drove up that way.

Did you know that the Bob's iconic Big Boy symbol, a cartoon drawn by animation artist, Benny Wosham, was based on 90-pound, 6-year-old, Richard Woodruff?

[Coriander8]

Unfortunately, there are no longer any Bob's in my city. There used to be quite a few in the Long Beach-Lakewood area. I still get cravings for the hot fudge cake.

[Carolyn Tillie]

As a bizarre point of surrealism, I was surfing through some eBay offerings the other day. I stumbled on a series of auctions involving $20,000 and $30,000 purses. Wondering to myself, "who the hell would spend THAT kind of money on a frigg'n purse?" while looking at other auctions of someone who had bought one of those expensive monstrosities, I noticed that the bulk of the other items that that bidder had purchased were all Bob's Big Boy paraphernalia!

[andiesenji]

Unfortunately, there are no longer any Bob's in my city.  There used to be quite a few in the Long Beach-Lakewood area.  I still get cravings for the hot fudge cake.

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Has the one in Signal Hill closed?

That shouldn't be too far from you. It's on Willow just west of Cherry.

I had lunch in that store during the holidays last year, while I was staying in Orange County.

Friends and I had dinner at the one in Torrance after the South Bay Kennel Club show last year.

It's just north of PCH on Hawthorne blvd., west side of the street.

[Coriander8]

I'm so excited! The one in Signal Hill IS still there. It's right by Costco--I can't believe I never noticed it. Thank you so much!

[Igorot Warrior]

I'm troubled. I can't remember what I used to get when I was a kid (when we used to visit family in L.A.). But I do know that I've missed Bob's Big Boy. Maybe it was just more that it reminded me of good times. Hmmmm...maybe I'll make a trek to the OG Burbank location.

[SiseFromm]

Although I knew there had to still be one or two Bob's alive out there, I had no idea there was one as close as Burbank. I thought I knew about one up in Fresno area or something to that effect. I'd love to make a field trip to the Burbank location for old-fashioned fun times. Just seeing the statue of Bob out front will bring back a flood of memories.

[Igorot Warrior]

If you go...let me know! I'd be down to check it out too. Ahhhh...I'm feeling all nostalgic already.

Although I knew there had to still be one or two Bob's alive out there, I had no idea there was one as close as Burbank.  I thought I knew about one up in Fresno area or something to that effect.  I'd love to make a field trip to the Burbank location for old-fashioned fun times.  Just seeing the statue of Bob out front will bring back a flood of memories.

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[Foodie-Girl]

I grew up in Burbank and practically LIVED at Bob's through my teen years!

Though now in WA I still visit family and manage to get to Bob's every so often. Great memories!

Bob's Big Boy and The Smoke House were my haunts and still revisited as often as possible.

[StanSherman]

I grew up in Burbank and practically LIVED at Bob's through my teen years!

Though now in WA I still visit family and manage to get to Bob's every so often.  Great memories!

Bob's Big Boy and The Smoke House were my haunts and still revisited as often as possible.

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Those did seem like good times. Mom still lives in Toluca Lake (same place since 1947) so I still go to the Smoke House a couple times a year. Now that we live in a very small town I don't have the tolerance to wait that long in line to get into Bobs. My dad actually checked out of St. Joseph's Hospital once, had someone drive him over to Bobs and then checked back into the hospital.

Edited August 31, 2007 by StanSherman (log)

[andiesenji]

Ah yes, The Smoke House. My husband and I had a house account there, in the early '60s, rather than use Diner's and they didn't charge interest if the total was paid within sixty days. We had to entertain his business associates from out of town and they always wanted to see entertainment people. We rotated between there, Sorrentino's Seafood in Toluca Lake and The Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, with occasional side trips to The Hitching Post on Riverside Drive, across from Pickwick Bowl.

Remember The Hot Dog Show's root beer floats?

Edited September 1, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[StanSherman]

 

Remember The Hot Dog Show's root beer floats?

Fondly, but it wasn't for very long. They started to make me their off the menu root beer freeze. I still remember eating the carrot sticks that came with the dog.

[Priscilla]

Went to the Burbank Bob's Saturday while visiting my sister.

Those present with prior Bob's experience agreed it was still excellent. Tasted quite as we remembered, owing to the proprietary special red relish. There is also something about the bun and the shredded lettuce which contribute to its singularity. The salad actually comes on its own discrete plate now, too, rather than in the little triangular dish that used to nestle next to the burger and fries.

The chocolate shake, which looks the same, is not called Bob's Silver Goblet Shake on the menu as before but which did come with its overage in the stainless mixing beaker alongside, was pronounced Best Shake Ever by its consumer, and that ain't no small thing.

A short wait, alleviated by absorbing people watching and eavesdropping, and cheery, even enthusiastic service from a nice waiter. Sadly, the wiglets are no more. But thinking about Elvis's '68 comeback special, particularly his black leather jeans-style suit, buoyed me.