Bob’s Big Boy is an iconic Los Angeles place to eat. There are just a few of these icons now here. They usually aren’t of the caliber of our Antoine’s or Arnaud’s, but they aren’t nearly as old. Most of these date to the mid 20th century, babies compared to our Grand Dames. Also, California is and has been since the 1960s a more casual place, so the food is too. The buildings are historic modern spaces from the last century, and some are even Art Deco. Occasionally I will go to a place like this, and I usually go with trepidation, realizing only on the way out how very cool it all is.
Every time I pass Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, I remember an old boyfriend who grew up in Los Angeles talking about Bob’s Big Boy with near reverence. Bob’s Big Boy indirectly spawned the Shoney’s era, though the two were not the same in style.
On this visit I finally made it to Bob’s Big Boy for breakfast, sitting in a large circular corner booth by the window. At some point in the meal, we noticed a plaque on the wall identifying our booth as the place where the Beatles sat when they came to Los Angeles for the first time in 1965. I don’t think a thing has changed since then, and the booth and the place has held up remarkably well.
It’s a diner with a long counter, booths along a window, and another room with more seating away from windows.
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The menu is enormous, and there were a few non-breakfast items I wanted to try. Remembering my old boyfriend’s enthusiasm about the burger, we ordered that, and of course I had to try the 20th century version of the classic club. Most of us had pancakes, and I got an All-American breakfast. There was also an omelet at the table from the build-your-own section.
Like at most diners, the hash browns were the frozen strips that inspired my own much better hash browns. I still love these frozen potatoes, for nostalgic reasons, but I also think they’re good. No matter where I see them, I try not to think about the oil that is used to make them so brown and crispy.
The plate that was presented to me was lovely. Two pretty eggs cooked exactly as I had asked, a few strips of nice bacon cooked stiff, and a large portion of these hash browns. I also ordered an English muffin, something I never do. But I love English muffins so this time I did. I asked them to double-toast it which was a mistake. Usually things at restaurants are mildly toasted, but a double toasting here made this almost black.
I was glad someone else ordered the biscuit, which was fluffy like something from the last century. It came with whipped butter.
The pancakes were just about as basic as could be, but they worked for the kids. About six silver dollar pancakes came to a plate.
There were no packets to unwrap of margarine or even butter on the table. Instead they brought little cups of their own whipped butter along with the syrup.
The omelet was enormous and very pleasing to the person who ordered it. There were chunks of ham and cheese visible from both ends of this large roll of egg. This came with a gigantic pile of hash browns as mine did.
The club sandwich was traditional, but a choice of toast was offered, and of course I chose sourdough. When in California, I never pass up an opportunity to eat my favorite loaf bread. This was a decent version of a classic club, with turkey slices that had a pastrami edge to them. There was plenty of lettuce and tomato and of course American cheese. Here is a predictable 20th century version of the popular sandwich. This came with a pile of decent frozen French fries. Ordinary but fine, just as expected.
I was so curious to see the burger, which was also perfectly fine and perfectly ordinary. It was a smashburger style with two patties. The meat was not frozen, something stated clearly on the menu. There were two patties, separated by a third bun like the MacDonald’s Big Mac. And in addition to shredded iceberg, tomato, and pickles, there is a signature red relish, which is ketchup and some chili sauce with minced onion, cucumber, and bell peppers.. Or something like that. And American cheese.
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There was nothing wrong with this burger, and nothing special about it. With its sesame seed rounded bun, it was the quintessential example of a burger from the first half of the last century.
And in an era where everything is changing so fast, there will always be room in our hearts for food that brings comfort like that.
