This Bob's Big Boy restaurant was built in 1949 by local residents Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert, and is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America.
It was designed by respected architect Wayne McAllister, whose streamlined modern design became the standard for 50's coffee shop architecture.
The restaurant was honored in 1993, receiving a "POINT OF HISTORICAL INTEREST" designation by the state of California.
The current owner (the MacDonald family) acquired control of the restaurant in 1993 and began to restore it to its past glory - an exterior patio was added; the tower sign was rehabilitated; the dining room was remodeled; as well as the introduction of a Friday night "Classic Car Show."
Most important though was making sure the food was just as everyone remembered. The kitchen at Bob's is a fine-tuned machine. The burgers are fresh and "never frozen." Housemade sauces are made daily. The turkeys are oven-roasted. And thick milkshakms are made from real ice cream.
Celebrating over 60 years, Bob's added 132 solar panels. And up graded all interior lighting to reduce its "carbon foot print." Bob's combines the best of the "good old days" with care for the future generations to come.
We, the owners, the managers, and staff strive to provide you the very best food, service, and hospitality at a fair price; providing our guests with the best value in Southern California.
We're happy you care. And we hope to see you again soon!
[https://bobs.net/pages/hall-of-fame]
- Bob Hope
- Debbie Reynolds
- Casey Stengel
- Ritchie Valens
- Angie Dickinson
- Jonathan Winters
- Mickey Rooney
- Paul Mccartney
- John Lennon
- George Harrison
- Ringo Starr
- Rock Hudson
- Martha Raye
- Dana Andrews
- Alexis Smith
- Drew Carey
- Craig Stevens
- Fritz Coleman
- Suzan Ball
- Jay Leno
- Robert Hays
- John Salley
- Danny Trejo
- Kyle Maclachlan
- Laura Dern
- David Lynch
At Bob's Big Boy
The Beatles dined in this booth in the summer of 1965. Their HELP album was released in the USA on August 13th. Big hits included "Yesterday" and "Ticket to Ride"
The Beatles' Booth
Burbank Bob's Big BoyThe Beatles's Booth
Finding time after their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and their landmark Shea Stadium concert, the FAB 4 requested to dine at a real American diner. Bob's Big Boy of Burbank was lucky enough to fill this need and be a part of Beatlemania.The table is the last booth on the right as one walks in, where the end of the windows facing out towards Riverside Drive stop. A plaque at the booth describes the event. The plaque has been stolen many times by fans (and has been replaced each time).
Many regulars and tourists alike request "The Beatles Booth."
Don't be surprised if it's not available. Customers from around the world have waited hours to sit in the booth.
- International Man of Mystery
- Online
- Bob's Big Boy Table / Kitchen [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZxeFsMfzcg]
- Bob's Big Boy Exterior / Kitchen [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU5iume7wQU]
Burbank, CaliforniaBOB'S BIG BOY4211 West Riverside Drive
This Bob's restaurant was built in 1949 by local residents Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert, and is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America.It was designed by renowned architect Wayne McAllister, incorporating the 1940's transitional design of streamline modern style while anticipating the free-form 50's coffee shop architecture.
The towering Bob's sign is an integral part of the building design and its most prominent feature. The restaurant was honored, receiving the designation as a "Point of Historical Interest" by the state of California.
The current owner, the MacDonald Family, acquired control of the restaurant in 1993 and began to restore it to its past glory.
An exterior patio was added; the tower sign was rehabilitated; the dining room was remodeled; "Car Hop" service was re-introduced on Saturday and Sunday nights; and on Friday nights a “Classic Car Show” reverberates in the parking lot.
Many resources were spent to restore the quality of food, service, and hospitality which made Bob's a tradition and your meal the very best value in Southern California.
The Big Boy Story
In 1936, Bob Wian sold his car for $300 and bought a ten-stool lunch stand called "The Pantry." He then changed the name to "Bob's Pantry."One late night, a regular customer asked for something "different." Bob split the bun twice through the middle, creating a middle bun, added two burger patties and the rest is history. The "Double-Deck Hamburger" was invented.
But the name came from a chubby 6-year-old doing odd jobs at the time by the name of Richard Woodruff. One day Bob forgot his name and called out "Hey, Big Boy." Something clicked and a name was born: Bob's Big Boy.
Bob's Big Boy RestaurantVisit BurbankBob's Big Boy Restaurant
This legendary restaurant has been a favorite hangout for celebrities and movie stars ranging from Bob Hope to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and more. Open 24 hours!Food & Wine named them the best diner in all of California, here's what they had to say:
FOOD & WINEPeople fly to Los Angeles from all over the world, hoping for a fleeting glimpse of showbiz magic, and they are so often looking in the wrong places. It's in the mostly-sunny San Fernando Valley that so much of the real work gets done, and it's at the Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, a singular, landmarked outlet of the classic coffee shop chain, that so many of the goings-on can be observed. World-weary bi-coastals just off their BUR flights, studio grunts on break, celebrity couples looking to grab a bite-it's all happening here, at this magnificent institution with its seductive, swooping counter, long enough to double as a fashion show runway.
Bob's Big Boy
This Toluca Lake landmark escaped the wrecking ball, thanks to the Conservancy's Modern Committee.LA ConsrvancyBob's Big Boy
The postwar coffee shop and Los Angeles go together like a hamburger and French fries. Bob's Big Boy in Burbank is one of the most iconic postwar coffee shops in Los Angeles.Bob Wian built his first restaurant, Bob's Pantry, in Glendale in 1936. Bob's Big Boy on Riverside Drive is one of the earliest surviving of Wian's restaurants and part of a larger expansion of his chain in the late 1940s. The 1949 restaurant is a transitional design incorporating 1940s Streamline Moderne styles (broad, curving window walls and canopies) while anticipating the exuberance of freeform '50s coffee shop architecture (cantilevers, striking signage, use of glass).
Coffee shops of this era raised billboards to an art form, and the thirty-five-foot neon Bob's sign is an integral part of the building. The larger sign made the coffee shop visible to passing automobiles and helped establish Bob's as a brand.
The building was designed by Wayne McAllister, an architectural designer whose range of work included the Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel in Tijuana, early Las Vegas hotels such as El Rancho Vegas and the Sands Hotel, as well as many of Los Angeles' iconic mid-century restaurants and coffee shops.
Now the oldest operating Bob's Big Boy in the nation, this location was threatened with demolition in the 1990s, long before the renaissance of Mid-Century Modernism. The Conservancy's Modern Committee lobbied for its preservation and led a successful effort in 1992 to have Bob's declared a California Point of Historical Interest.
The owner has since reinvested in the building's Modern splendor and successfully uses its historic designation as a marketing tool.
This restaurant was built in 1949 by locals Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert and is the oldest remaining Bob's Family Restaurant in America. It was designed by respected architect Wayne McAllister incorporating the 1940s transitional design of streamline modern style while anticipating the freeform 50s coffee shop architecture. The towering Bob's sign is an integral part of the building's design and its most prominent feature.
State of California
Point of Historical Interest
Bob's Big BoyTime OutTime Out Says
In distinctly Southern California fashion, this Burbank standby built in 1949-it's the oldest surviving Bob's Big Boy location-is all about the automobile. Its colossal neon sign and familiar, rotund Big Boy recall a time when roadside restaurants screamed at drivers for their attention. The parking lot might as well be a second dining room, with car hop service on Saturday and Sunday nights as well as a classic car meet-up on Fridays. Inside, a lengthy concave countertop cuts through the comfortable coppertone diner. The most notable feature, though, is a sense of pop culture history, with a designated booth that the Beatles once dined at and the knowledge that David Lynch neurotically came by every day at 2:30pm for seven years to slurp down a chocolate milkshake.Breakfast is available all day at Big Boy's-just be sure to ask for the special breakfast menu if it's not already on your table-but if it's bacon and eggs you crave, you may be disappointed. The Eggs with Bacon or Sausage (two eggs, two strips of bacon, hash browns and toast) is on the bland side, needing a healthy dose of pepper and salt. So what's good here? The burger, which comes dressed with just the right amount of ketchup, relish and mayo. The patty avoids common diner faux pas: either thin and overcooked rubbery discs; or bible-thick and overcooked slabs of grey meat. Here, it's a medium-rare balance that rivals the juiciness of an In-n-Out patty. The accompanying fries are crisp wedges that don't get soggy over time, but the real kicker is Bob's shakes-particularly the chocolate, which comes with a supplemental tin of extra blended ice cream that makes one order enough for two sweet-toothed diners.
