Bob’s Big Boy

I was pretty surprised by Bob’s Big Boy when my wife and I went there for dinner the Friday before Xmas, mainly because my recollection of Bob’s was that it was just average: Average quality, average prices, and average service. I don’t know what it was about this visit, but hopefully things have changed permanently!
We weren’t exactly sure what to eat that evening, and Bob’s just sounded like a good option. Becka ordered the BBQ Jack (minus cheese, so I guess that makes it just a BBQ then) and I decided on the patty melt. Prices seem a little high at first, considering we paid between $ 9 – 10 per plate, but it’s a much better deal since you get a dinner salad as well with your plate. It also makes something like the patty melt a little better to handle, since you’re able to get some fresh veggies with it! Everything was great, just what we wanted, and the only disappointment was that they were fresh out of the strawberry pie for dessert.
The food isn’t the reason why I wrote this review, though. Our server, Valerie, was really fantastic! She made our night with her fast and efficient service and sweet demeanor and attitude. I can only hope that other servers here are as awesome as Valerie, and if not, she could give them some lessons!

don’t care how cheap it is, this is not a great place for breakfast. The buffet food on Sunday looked unappetizing and the gravy had gotten that film over it from sitting too long… so we ordered fresh.
The pancakes were so, so. The french toast was good. Eggs were ok, over medium. The bacon seemed like it sat for awhile. The service was good. Every thing was just…

As a kid, there was something about the Big Boy mascot that made it a charming outing. I think it still has a place in my heart. This Signal Hill location is a nice place to take lunch — because it is close to work, and there aren’t many places in the area with sit down table service.
The menu is pretty good, and the salad and soup bar is consistently good. It’s all a tad over priced for what you get, but the food is decent. I think the service is always friendly. Someone said the place is quiet. This is true. Not too crowded. A nice spot to hide out for lunch, and play on my phone.
I would rather have the chicken fred steak, it’s yummy, but I like having the soup and salad as a healthy choice — which is what I had today. I especially enjoyed the tomato bisque soup.

Wifi slow. Service is nice, food okay… I would come back again.
Had the original big boy. Was about 7 dollars and comes with fries. I would come back again the next time I’m craving burgers… Oh my husband enjoyed their breakfast

Food is good, not not great. It’s a nice place to go to because it’s never loud and it’s a relaxing and chill environment. The staff are very friendly and have great customer service. Great coupons in the calendar they sold at the beginning of the year. I recommend buying it because it sure does save a lot! It’s like another Denny’s.
Great family environment, date, or a great place to stop in for lunch. Some days kids eat free!

I have not had Bob’s Big Boy in probably 12 years. I thought they went the way of the dodo bird. Extinct. Guess not. I was here for a quick lunch.
Interior was spacious and it was not loud at all. Has that 50’s diner feel with the décor. It kind of works.
Waitress was nice and efficient. Always filling your glass, check on your food. She was one of those old time waitresses. You know what I mean. Nice job.
I had a Bob’s Classic. It was pretty big. All the burgers went. Pretty much too big for my mouth but I managed. Overall taste was OK. I definitely had better burgers other places but it was well executed.
The price was steep for what I ate. For two people, same order was $ 23.
Overall, just OK. It was a little steep but you got a lot of food.

Oh man. I had this for the first time when I got here to Long Beach. How did they think of it? It’s so freaking good!
The people here are super friendly. Be sure to tip big.

Growing up eating breakfast and lunch here with my dad, I’ll admit, it’s more the nostalgia that drew me in, but what will permanently draw me back out the door? The absolutely unacceptable lack of customer service.
My boyfriend and I arrived after the Sunday breakfast rush, around 12:30pm. Only a handful of customers. Had to wait a few minutes for someone to notice we were there, but that was only the beginning. Once we were sat, we ordered drinks (a coffee and an iced tea), and 10 minutes later our waiter came back asking what those drink orders were again. Another 10 minutes-​our food order was taken. Anoher 20 minutes-​nothing (we ordered a cheese burger, grilled cheese and salads). The table across from us who saw after us, however, did get their food.
Finally, I see our waiter pacing around out front, and when he comes back in I ask if we can have our salads, he says YES. Then I see him looking busy’ on the phone at the front reception area, and nervously looking over every so often. No salads. No explanation.
10 minutes later, We get up, leave 5 bucks on the table (too generous if you ask me), and leave. As we’re about to walk out, our waiter still at reception, says ‘Can I get your number? I don’t think you understand all that is going on here. Something went on in the kitchen.“
WTF?!? Has a former service industry employee this is NOT how you handle an emergency situation. You actually walk over to us ASAP and let us know there’e been a situation and offer to make us anything on the menu available, or give us a coupon or something, but just ignoring us for 50+ minutes?!? Then offering some feeble excuse for an IOU? Where was the management staff?
p. s. We STILL have not received an apology or phone call one week later.
Absolutely horrified.
Absolutely horrif

I have been eating Bob’s Chili Spaghetti for awhile now. I, however never had it at this Signal Hill location until yesterday. What I discovered was a «watered» down chili version of this dish. What a disappointment!
Also, the other Bob’s offer a side salad with the dish, not here. The cost for the spaghetti and salad at Bob’s Burbank $ 8.00 and at Bob’s Torrance $ 9.00. The Chili only at Signal Hill $ 10.38??? WTH!

I was so excited when Big Boy was opening up in Signal Hill, finally I don’t have to drive so far for some tasty burgers. Oh boy! I shouldn’t have been too excited.
This place disappoints me, the service isn’t great and the food always comes out cold. If my food is done bring it out, don’t let it sit there. Especially if there’s NO ONE in the resturant! It should not take THIS LONG! Ugh!
The worse part is. I tried this place like three times. and still same thing over and over :(

Not bad. Could be worse. I give it a 3.5. Last time I had a burger at one of these I was appalled. This time I had spaghetti and was pleased.

Okay, so apparently I had wrongly assumed that this childhood favorite of mine had long been extinct. I guess I just wasn’t paying attention. When we were little it was fun to come here and get pies and ice cream, oh yea and hamburgers too… I just remember being into the desserts!
Anyway, I had to go to Best Buy Geek Squad (a whole other review) to pick up some data back ups and I spied a Drive Thru Starbucks — HOLLA, that got my attention, so while driving through it I see BOB!
I was like… BOB??? BOB??? is that you, BOB? No way. it can’t be… what are you doing here? Where have you been? Is this for real?
I convinced my friend that it was time for lunch, even though it was actually 4pm, so not really, but I hadn’t eaten and I wanted to see if it was anything like my memories.
So right off the bat, it is probably because it was 4pm and no one eats at that time, but the place was empty except for one trucker dude who seemed to be known there by name. But it was clean and there were lots of booths and tables and a big case of yummy pies and huge cinnamon rolls. (which i didn’t have since it is the new year and you know no one eats desserts in January — you are still thinking you are going to keep your New Year’s Resolution) anyway, so we were seated right away… by the one server in the place. She was very pleasant and had a striking resemblance to a young brunette Tippi Hedren (The Birds) …
We ordered and I was so intrigued by this thing called the SLIM JIM that I had to get it… it is basically a ham and swiss cheese sandwich on Grecian bread melted… it wasn’t bad at all. but the photo had the meat on top with pickles sort of speared into it and the actually sandwich had the meat inside with pickles on top… i am always a stickler — if you are going to have cheesy food photos in a menu, you have to make the thing look somewhat like the photo…
My friend got the Club… she said it was quite good. it looked big enough for sure.
I would say that this is like a Better Denny’s — you aren’t going to find anything gourmet and I don’t recommend getting a steak, but if you are seeking a burger and fries with that old fashion diner feel, this is a cool place… i didn’t have the desserts (again, its january people!) but I did ogle them and there was quite a variety and they looked pretty good.
I have to say, the old charm wasn’t really there, but I guess everything is more fascinating when you are a kid… Bob is alive and well and apparently in Burbank, Pasadena and Signal Hill just to name a few…

Growing up in the suburbs of Long Beach, we always had our one special place. That place: Bob’s Big Boy. Well boys and girls, let me just say — when it closed in the early 90’s, it never came back.
Instead now, we have Big Boy. It has the same mascot character, including the large statue out front, but as Annie P. says, not much else. The food is mediocre. During lunch today, the restaurant had a whopping 8 tables in use, and yet the two waitresses on duty were unable to keep up with the workload.
Preface: They were both EXTREMELY friendly and helpful. Great customer service and speedy on the drink refills.
Then the food came.
The menu is great. It has breakfast at all hours, and some great lunch and dinner items. Sadly, it’s not very good. The recipes seem to lack flavor. I mean, I’m sure somewhere in the back they have a box of FlavorCube 3000’s ©. I jest… but what I left with was a stomach full of mediocrity.
On the way out, the other waitress who was not helping us took my payment. She also included a few passing thoughts from her therapist. Wrong time and place?
Better than McDonalds, yes! Better than HomeTown Buffet, eh probably not.

Awful service, awful food, horrific salad bar. Would NEVER go here again!

My partner and I came in here for a quick dessert tonight.
We tend to always get here late, the place is usually dead, since it’s near closing time, and we have the entire dining room to ourselves which I always enjoy. I prefer quiet and calm environments anyway.
We each had a banana split, which I happily devoured, and our waitress, Jennifer, was very friendly, warm and chatty. We didn’t stay very long, but the short visit was quite pleasant.
(Sorry, no long «songs of praise» review here, just a quick dessert!)

This brings back memories of when I was a kid. I’m so glad to see that they’re making a comeback!
For some of the reviews I’ve read, it’s unfortunate that Big Boy didn’t live up to your expectations. I love so many things that they offer that haven’t changed in over 25 years.
They have the best bleu cheese dressing on the planet — hands down! At least I can buy that at the grocery store and even at Costco in the ginormous size!
They make tasty hamburgers… they’re not going to be gigantic or super unique… they’re just good basic burgers. Their homemade thousand island dressing on the burgers is what really makes it for me. Their milkshakes are really good too.
They have great breakfasts, salads, and sandwiches too. Their stuffed potato pancakes are legendary, and my favorite sandwich other than a burger is their Slim Jim. Oh, and don’t forget to order the onion rings.
Again, I’m just really glad to see a good old fashioned restaurant make a comeback. I’ll be visiting it again very soon.

I got a PM from a manager, suggesting that I give them another shot. Stopped by yesterday and had the ‘beyond big’ chicken sandwich with onion rings and a cholocate malt.
Here’s the breakdown…
The Good:
Yes, they still serve shakes/​malts in the big tin cup. Since it was handmade, some of the malt-​powder was stuck to the bottom of the cup. Yummy… just stir a bit for the extra-​malty goodness. Chicken patty was large and hung over the bun, but wasn’t a large as the photo in the menu. Speaking of menu, they have photos of sandwiches and entrees; I don’t remember seeing that last time.
The Bad:
Sandwich was fine, but not outstanding. I would’ve preferred the bun lightly toasted, or at least put in a warmer. They charge $ 1.99 to sub onion rings; unlike Polly’s Pies, this is clearly listed on the menu. However, it’s kinda hard to justify $ 2 for about eight onion rings.
The Ugly:
$ 16.68, excluding tip. That was a lunch. I’ve easily spent that on a nice dinner, so again, it’s hard to justify for just an average meal. Sure, you can get a bobble-​head or pie when you’re ready to leave (yes, they upsell you on the way out). At least the malt was decent, but for the money spent, you could go to Chinese Gourment and get two three item combos or Charlies and get a large sandwich with extra meat and a couple dollars change.
Again, unchanged at two stars. I was going to upgrade a third star for decent service and Mountain Dew (yep, they got it), but $ 16.68 for lunch is a bit on the steep side for me. If you’re in LA, that’s one thing, but this is LBC/​Signal Hill.

There he was, just standing there with that flirtatious grin that hinted at mischief, he was a little bashful and his big blue eyes quickly turned away from me. His thick wavy brown hair combed neatly to the side… and those form fitting checkered overalls were… dare I say it? HOT!
Ahhh yes, Bob’s Big Boy is back and representin’ in the LBC. A group of my friends dropped by on a Sunday afternoon to have a big lunch. I only vaguely remember going to a BBB back in my childhood days. The person sitting next to me said she already knew she was going to order onion rings because it used to be her favorite thing served here. The waitress came and took her order: a Big Boy Special with salad and onion rings instead of french fries. I was sold, I order the same thing.
The burger reminded me of a big mac you’d get at McDonald’s. I quickly tossed that middle piece of bread. (I don’t care for bread.) It was a good burger, but the onion rings were better. Crispy breaded rings of onion that were not dripping in grease… sweet.
Even though I was with a group of 15+ people the staff was very accommodating and even rung up most of checks individually without adding on a gratuity.
When you arrive, Bob will be there at the door to greet you… try not to make a move on him though, he’s mine.

I really wanted to like this Bob’s. Like most of the other Unilocalers below me, I too grew up on family meals at Bob’s. When they started to close down all the locations, I was very sad, but a trip to the Barstow location (on the way back from Stateline) cheered me up. That place still captures the original Bob’s vibe.
So anyway, I excitedly got together a group of about 12 friends about a month after this place opened. We had to wait an hour to be seated :(It was crazy busy on a Saturday evening. Our waiter was a nice guy, he was obviously not very experienced because he kept messing up and dropping stuff, but it was okay.
The food was lacking. It IS Bob’s, so greatness should not be expected, but this was pretty bad. I ordered a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes. I received 2 extremely thin pieces of white Wonder Bread (which I hate and think is gross), turkey deli meat (not like actual sliced meat, just deli meat), and mashed potatoes. EVERYTHING was COVERED in gravy. I was so disappointed. It was gross. This was like cafeteria food.
I decided to just eat it and be done with it and that I’d have a nice tasty frozen yogurt shake to cheer myself up. Well I was informed they don’t carry frozen yogurt, even though it says they do on the menu. Grr.
The only way I can see myself returning is for the breakfast buffet, because I have fond childhood memories of this. But seriously folks, this is not your old neighborhood Bob’s. They’re trying, but it’s just not the same. :(
EDIT: So I returned today for the breakfast buffet. I had to 2 stars. For $ 8.99 you can help yourself to all-​you-​can-​eat waffles, pancakes, blueberry pancakes, biscuits & gravy, sausage, bacon, potatoes, corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, apples in cinnamon, and fresh fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapple wedges). Not bad, not bad at all. And the food actually tasted good! Much better than what I ordered off the menu several months ago. It brought back memories of the Bob’s that use to exist around the corner from my home. Also there was no wait on a Sunday morning. which is a big plus because Long Beach citizens love their Sunday morning breakfast and form massive lines at all the breakfast joints. Bfast buffet is served until 2pm!

I grew up going to Bob’s Big Boy’s in Long Beach on Bellflower and it was da bomb. The Big Boy burger (predecessor to the Big Mac) was a king amongst burgers and still is in many ways. Anyways the Long Beach Big Boy’s closed about fifteen years ago and I have craved the elusive Big Boy Combo ever since. I found a great Big Boy’s in Burbank a few years ago and it was just as good as I remember it.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. This Big Boy’s just opened a few weeks ago and boy I was stoked. I finally went there today and boy was I bummed. The burger was black on the edges and the service pretty much sucked. This was partly due to a newbie waitress but — hey — why should I make excuses for her? The food was okay but I have no doubt I could get even better food at a drive thru down the street.
The menu is typical for a burger joint — burgers, sandwiches, and salads. They also have an all-​you-​can eat brunch from 11 to 2 with watermelon and stuff (according to the waitress). The desserts looked appetizing — pies and cakes. The classic Big Boy dessert is the Fudge Cake with ice cream. I didn’t have it here but it’s awesome. In fact, back in the day it was included as part of the Big Boy Combo. Alas, no more.
The Big Fat Big Boy still stands in front like a colossus. But he is a shell of his former self.
Bottom line is that I probably will not go back.