Oldest Big Boy in America
Burbank, California
Bob's Big Boy might have been lost in the special sauce of minor burger chains if not for its swirl-haired cartoon statue. It is instantly recognizable, wherever a Big Boy statue hoists a double-decker cheeseburger platter overhead. The character was based on a six-year-old named Richard Woodruff, who got fat eating double-decker hamburgers there in exchange for cleaning counters. The concept and character were licensed to franchisees in many parts of the country (Frisch's in the midwest still uses the mascot statue).
Big Boy started in Glendale in 1936. Burbank's Big Boy restaurant, the third one, was built in 1949, but it's the oldest still in operation in the United States. The restaurant has a nice period stylish sign, standing 35 feet tall next to the entrance. A statue of the puffy boy in the red and white checked overalls is at the base, intimately ready for souvenir posing.