Big Boy Hamburger, Side Salad and Soda plus tax was $9.90
Bob's Big Boy
201 E Valley Blvd
Colton, CA 92324
Colton, CA 92324
(909) 514-0888
This Bob's is located off of the 10 Freeway in Colton Between Rancho and Mt Vernon. You can easily see the sign from the Freeway. This is my second trip to the Colton location. My last visit was about a year ago for breakfast. I was not overly impressed with the service or the food.
I am an old Big Boy fan. I started working at Bob's part time as a busboy when I was in High School . Bob's was a big deal back then, even had two stores that were still drive-in's. I actually worked in the Whittier store that had the car hop service. I was promoted through the ranks, to first fountain boy, where I made lots of cherry cokes and hot fudge sundies. Then on to the kitchen and manager trainee. My service with Bob's was interrupted by a six year stint in the military. When I was discharged, started college and working at Bob's again. All told I had over nine years service mainly as a store manager all over Southern California. I have eaten a lot of Big Boy hamburgers in my time. The old company owned by Bob Wian was sold to Marriott in 1967. That was before my time. Marriott owned them until 1987 and then sold the company franchise rights to Elias The remaining Bob's in California were converted into Carrow's and Coco's in the early 90's or just shut down. The last few years that Bob's operated company stores were not good ones, especially after Marriott sold the franchise rights. It seemed that Marriott purposely ran Bob's out of business with poor food and service so they could re-brand the future restaurants. The new stores that are popping up now are franchise operations.
Today I ordered the classic Big Boy Hamburger. It consists of a three piece toasted sesame bun, mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, two 2oz beef patties, one slice of cheese, topped off with relish. In days gone by three cooks worked the Big Boy side of the kitchen. A so called bun burner, builder and seller who packed the order and placed on the food bar and called the tickets, were the crew. If it was really busy, they would also have a cook doing nothing but cooking fries. There were also three or four cooks on "Steak Side". It was a very busy place. McDonald's rolled out the Big Mac in 1969 which was copied from the Big Boy Burger. It was less expensive and you could get it at a drive-thru. The expansion of fast food outlets in the 70's and 80's is what really killed the Big Boy.
What I was served today is a fairly good replica of what the old Big Boy Hamburger tasted like. The relish did not seem quite as strong as the original. And the bun has gotten bigger or my bite is not as big as it used to be. Overall, I enjoyed my Big Boy.
This location also were advertising a lunch special of 1/2 Turkey Sandwich and a bowl of soup. I did not see anything else on the menu that caught my attention.
It was $9.90 out the door for the Big Boy, a small green salad and soda. Just recently they converted the old Harvey's Broiler Drive-In in Downey to a Bob's. When I have driven by there is a line out the door. Might have to give that one a try to see is there are any differences. Several movie scenes were shot there when it was Johnnie's Fat Boy.
Food **
Ambiance **
Service **
Cost $-$$
Repeat- Only if I get a craving for the Big Boy Hamburger.
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