Big Boy
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Loading…Scroll to take the ride. Ninety years, start to finish.
Big Boy Time Machine
1936
Bob Wian sells his prized DeSoto Roadster to buy a ten-seat hamburger stand in Glendale, California. He names it Bob's Pantry and gets to work.
A regular asks for something different, so Bob slices a bun into three and stacks two patties. The double-decker is born. He names it for Richard Woodruff, a six-year-old who swept floors in exchange for burgers, and a studio animator sketches the mascot on a napkin.
The Elias brothers open the first franchise in Hazel Park, Michigan (1952). Stan Lee writes the first Adventures of the Big Boy comics (1956). And in the summer of '65, the Beatles slide into a booth in Burbank. A plaque marks it to this day.
Bob sells Big Boy to Marriott for $7 million in 1967. The Elias Brothers grow Michigan and Ohio to 100+ restaurants and bring headquarters home to Michigan. Hollywood comes calling: Heat (1995) and Austin Powers (1997) both film with Big Boy.
Since 2018, Big Boy Restaurant Group has been writing the next chapter from its home base in Michigan: 53 locations and counting, with more on the way. The car's still cruising.
From a traded-in roadster to a Hollywood landmark — the whole Big Boy story, one milestone at a time.
In 1936, Bob Wian sold his prized DeSoto Roadster to buy a small hamburger stand in Glendale, California. He named it Bob's Pantry — and a legend started cooking.
A regular customer — a movie-studio animator — sketched a now-famous character on a napkin. The burger craze that followed prompted Bob to rename the stand Bob's Big Boy and introduce the iconic Big Boy mascot.
Customers couldn't get enough of Bob's new creation. One fan in particular was a chubby six-year-old in droopy overalls who'd help sweep up in exchange for a free burger. In his honor, Wian named the better burger the Big Boy.
One night in 1937, a regular asked for something different. Bob sliced a bun into three, stacked on two patties and — voilà — the first double-deck cheeseburger was born.
Designed by renowned architect Wayne McAllister, the restaurants blended 1940s streamline-modern style with free-form '50s coffee-shop architecture. The towering Bob's sign was always the most prominent feature.
The oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America was built in Burbank in 1949 by locals Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert. The state of California later honored it as a Point of Historical Interest.
Brothers John, Louis, and Fred Elias were the first to formally apply to Bob Wian for a franchise license. Their Dixie Drive-In in Hazel Park, Michigan became the first official Big Boy franchise.
The first Adventures of the Big Boy was written by Stan Lee and produced by Timely Comics — the company that became Marvel. Manny Stallman and later Bob Bindig carried the series to 1996, one of the longest runs in American comics.
By 1964 the Elias Brothers had opened 100 restaurants across Michigan and Ohio. They bought the Big Boy chain outright in 1987 and ran it from headquarters in Warren, Michigan until 2000.
The Fab Four dined at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank in the summer of 1965. A plaque marks their corner booth by the window facing Riverside Drive — and guests still request it every single day.
Bob Wian sold Big Boy to the Marriott Corporation in 1967 for $7 million — roughly $55 million today. He stayed on as a vice president, president, and board member of Marriott's Big Boy division before retiring.
Michael Mann filmed several scenes of his 1995 crime thriller Heat at the Burbank Bob's Big Boy, catching Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, and Dennis Haysbert on camera.
Big Boy made a few groovy appearances in the 1997 spy spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, directed by Jay Roach and starring Mike Myers.
Robert Liggett, Jr. bought Big Boy in 2000 and served as chairman until 2018, when he sold it to a group of Michigan investors. They renamed it Big Boy Restaurant Group — today's operators and franchisors.
Ninety years on, Big Boy is proud of its history of serving great food, making memories, and giving back. Home of the original Big Boy, the Slim Jim, and the Classic Blockbuster Breakfast, we're meeting the future with new favorites and more ways to enjoy them — thanks to you.
Here at Big Boy, we're dedicated to thinking BIG.
Because we want you to think Big Boy — for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
A warm, welcoming table for every generation.
Home of the original double-decker since 1936.
Hotcakes, scrambles, and morning favorites, anytime.
Kids' Club, fundraisers, and hometown pride.
The flavors and feeling you grew up on.
Curious how Bob's Big Boy and Big Boy connect? Meet the California landmark where it all began.
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