Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bob's Big Boy


Driving through town the other day, I noticed that our local Shoney's had closed.  It was here 15 years ago when we moved to our little burg and it's always kind of sad when a business closes, even if it's part of a big chain.  Especially when I knew that Shoney's USED to be called Shoney's Big Boy, which was an extension of the original California Bob's Big Boy restaurants. 

When I was a kid growing up in Southern California, my mother would always take us to get something to eat after we'd been to the dentist.  Oh, and not just anything--we'd either get Baskin Robbins ice cream or, if we'd been particularly good, she would take us to Bob's Big Boy for their incredible brownie/ice cream/fudge sauce dessert that pretty much guaranteed more visits to the dentist.

Some Sundays after church, Dad would announce we were having lunch at Bob's Big Boy.  Double cheeseburgers!  Ice cream shakes!  French fries!  A life-long losing battle with the scale!  Who cares!!!

The hostess would always supply us with the latest Big Boy comic as we sat in the waiting area for our table for six.  I always thought it was cool to see a fat kid as a comic book hero.  Big Boy disappeared some time ago and Shoney Bear was introduced.  What a joke.

I found this Big Boy bank a couple weeks ago and all these warm and fuzzy memories came flooding back.  He was filthy and it took some scrubbing to clean him up, but now he's clean and smiling away. 

9 comments:

  1. I love BBB! My mom used to take us there when we were kids. I always wanted to order the combo, (double burger, fries, and a salad with their famous blue cheese dressing), but she wouldn't let me because I was only able to finish about half of it. I was so excited when I finally got big enough to finish a whole combo. Now that I think about it, that is a horrible thing! But I was a skinny-minnie growing up, so....

    My favorite thing about BBB, besides the blue cheese dressing, was the comics! They still have a BBB in Hollywood, so I visited it about two years ago. I was thinking of renting it out for a night to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday! I ordered the combo, read the comic, and polished off the whole thing! Such great memories.

    Thanks doll,
    The Glamorous Housewife

    ReplyDelete
  2. hmmm blue cheese dressing...is there a recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  3. MEMORIES la da dada da da da!

    The last time I ate at Shoney's, I think I was 16 years old. My cousin, my mom, my aunt and uncle and I had spent the day rafting down the Nolichucky River in the NC Mountains and were absolutely exhausted. Who knew how much energy it took to row a rubber boat between a bunch of rocks? Plus, my cousin and I had to flirt with one of the guides so he would put our cigerettes in his waterproof pouch. But, I digress!

    When we got to Shoney's they seated us next to a table with lots of whiney young children. We couldn't take it! We begged the waitress for another table. She agreed to allow us to sit in one of the back rooms that was closed off for the evening. I'm not sure how we stayed awake long enough to eat. This was before my days of picking up the tab. I sure do hope Uncle Larry tipped her big!

    ReplyDelete
  4. :( I just moved to Texas 4 months ago, no more Bobs Big Boy for me for quite some time. I miss it so! I used to love going to the Bobs in North hollywood with the bf!

    xo Darla

    ReplyDelete
  5. That BBBBank (!) is superb! Where did you find it?

    I'm going to have to nose around on eBay or something, that is just wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I found the bank at an antique mall and paid $10 for it, which is more than I wanted to pay BUT it's so worth it. I think I saw it online and it was priced at $25 so maybe $10 wasn't so bad after all.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I LOVED the 'Big Boy' that stood out front of our local Bob's. I REALLY wanted him for our yard/gardens when they closed!!! (still do...)

    ReplyDelete
  8. You and I had the same childhood. Fries and a brownie hot fudge sundae! Your Big Boy bank is just perfect. And now I have something (else) to search for while junking. Thanks for the inspiration!
    xox
    Pam

    ReplyDelete
  9. Heh Heh. I have one of these banks, a couple bobble heads, keychains, etc. Is Big Boy not the epitome of Americana? Mmmmmmmm...I could murder a blue plate special right now! LOL!

    ReplyDelete