page_title: Bob's Big Boy
section_title: Burbank
hierarchical_section_title: Bob's Big Boy / Restaurants / Burbank
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue in front of Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California, which was designated a California Point of Historical Interest in 1993.
context_page_description: Bob's Big Boy is a restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. It is now part of Big Boy Restaurant Group, the current primary trademark owner and franchisor of the Big Boy system. At its peak in 1989, there were over 240 Bob's locations throughout the United States, most belonging to Marriott. By August 2019, only five Bob's Big Boy Restaurants remain in operation, all in Southern California. Those five locations are in Burbank, Calimesa, Downey, Norco, and Northridge. Two of these restaurants are now protected historic landmarks: the Burbank location on Riverside Drive and the Downey location, previously known as Johnie's Broiler. In August 2020, the addition of a Bob's Big Boy in Indian Springs, Nevada was announced in partnership with Terrible Herbst, with an opening planned for November 2020.
  The restaurant is named after Wian and the Big Boy hamburger, which he created six months after opening his original location. Slicing a bun into three slices and adding two hamburger patties, Wian had created the original double-deck hamburger.
context_section_description: The Bob's Big Boy Restaurant located at 4211 Riverside Drive in Burbank, California, is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in the United States. Built in 1949 by local residents Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert, it was designed by Los Angeles architect Wayne McAllister, "incorporating the 1940s transitional design of Streamline Moderne style, while anticipating the freeform 1950s coffee shop architecture". The style's often referred to as 'Googie architecture', which originated in Southern California.
  The building features a curving windowed facade, expansive roof overhangs with 1950s "free-form" style of cantilevered roofs, and tall display signs. The towering Bob's sign is an integral part of the building design and its most prominent feature." The styling is said to have "made McAllister's reputation," and he is credited with creating the restaurant's circular drive-through design.
  The restaurant was designated a California Point of Historical Interest in 1993. McAllister worked to preserve the structure as a historic landmark (McAllister was also the architect for the original Lawry's restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, amongst other buildings).
  The Riverside Drive venue was designed as a drive-in, in which car hops brought food to the cars, and now operates a drive-thru window. In 1993, the tower sign was renovated, the dining room updated and an outdoor dining area was added. Carhop service was reintroduced on weekends and a weekly classic car show's hosted in the parking lot.
  Bob Hope and other film personalities including  Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds and Jonathan Winters were once regulars at the restaurant. Hope frequented the Burbank drive-in as it afforded him privacy.
  The Beatles dined at the Burbank location during their 1965 U.S. tour. For many years, a plaque has described the event; the plaque has been stolen many times by fans, and replaced each time. Many restaurant regulars call this booth "the Beatles Booth."
  This location was known as "Bob's #6".
caption: Statue in front of Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California
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