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Big Boy Restaurant Group is an American restaurant chain. It is headquartered in Warren, Michigan (USA) in Metro Detroit. Big Boy was started as Bob’s Pantry in 1936 by Bob Wian in Glendale, California. It became famous worldwide with its signature Big Boy hamburger, which is the original double-deck hamburger. The chain is famous for its trademark – chubby boy with a pompadour hairstyle wearing red-and-white checkered overalls holding a Big Boy burger (double-decker cheeseburger).
After decades serving our delicious burgers across the world, we finally opened our first franchise in Thailand. Big Boy MBK Center is the first flagship store in Thailand, inaugurated on September 2022. We received an award in December 2022, a clear indication of the high quality of Big Boy’s excellent food. BigBoy was awarded ‘Recommended Restaurant’ by Restaurant Guru, a popular website for culinary reccomendations in Thailand.
By following the motto “Twice as big, Twice as good” Big Boy Thailand moves torwards to franchising this signature original double-decker hamburger restaurant chain to all over Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia.
To find out more about our franchises
Bob Wian sold his prized DeSoto Roadster to purchase a hamburger stand in Glendale, California. He named it Bob’s Pantry.
One night in 1937, a regular customer requested something different for a change. Bob went to work, sliced a bun into three slices, added two hamburger patties and, voilà, and the first double deck cheeseburger was born!
The oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America was built in Burbank, CA in 1949 by local residents Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert.
Brothers John, Louis, and Fred Elias were the first to formally apply to Bob Wian for a Big Boy® franchise license. Their restaurant called the Dixie Drive-In in Hazel Park, MI became the first official Big Boy® franchise.
The first edition of the Big Boy comic series was published, written by Stan Lee and produced by Timely Comics (later known as Marvel!) until 1961. Manny Stallman, followed by Bob Bindig, continued the series until 1996, making it one of the longest-running comics in American history.
The Beatles dined at Bob's Big Boy® in Burbank, CA the summer of 1965. A plaque commemorates the event marks a corner booth by the window facing Riverside Drive. Many regulars and tourists from around the world request "the Beatles booth" every day.
Bob Wian sold the Big Boy® chain to Marriott Corporation in 1967 for $7 million, that would be roughly $55 million today. After selling Big Boy, Bob Wian served as both vice president and president of Marriott's "Big Boy Restaurants of America" division, and later a board member, before retiring. Marriott later sold the franchise to the Elias brothers in 1987
Robert Liggett, Jr. purchased the Big Boy® chain in 2000. He served as Chairman from 2000 to 2018. In 2018, he sold the company to a group of Michigan investors, who renamed the company Big Boy Restaurant Group.
Now celebrating its 86th anniversary, Big Boy is proud of its history of serving delicious food, making memories, and giving back to your communities!
For the first time in history, Big Boy comes to Thailand with Destination Hospitality Group taking on our first franchise. We launch our journey in beautiful Thailand with a restaurant at MBK Center, Bangkok.
