Memories of the Montrose Bob’s Big Boy – Part 1

The Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley has a wonderful Facebook page. On it are featured old photos and interesting tidbits of info on the Valley’s past. I recently posted some photos of the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant and asked commenters to write some of their memories. I also asked readers of this column to offer their memories. I’ll offer those up in the next few columns.

First a brief history of that particular Bob’s that was at 3212 La Crescenta Ave., near the intersection with Verdugo Road. First on that site was Stan’s in 1940. It was a little box of a place with three picture windows facing La Crescenta Avenue and a view of the Oakmont Golf Course and the Verdugo Mountains beyond. Bob Wian, founder of Bob’s Big Boy, acquired the property in 1946. It was the third restaurant in his chain. It remained the small box it had been until 1953. Wian hired the firm of Armet and Davis to expand the restaurant and give it a “space age” makeover that was becoming popular in that era. (Today we call that style “Googie Architecture,” named for the modernistic John Lautner-designed Googie’s Coffee Shop in Hollywood.) It actually incorporated the original three window box structure built in 1940 but added wild zigzags for the roofline. It remained a family favorite throughout the baby boom years and right up until about 1988 when it closed as Bob’s. It was a couple of other short-lived restaurants after that. Today it is the Bright Start day care center. It retains the Googie-style architecture.

Let’s dive into the past with a few (anonymous) memories of Bob’s: “In 1946 I was 10 and my dad would walk over to Bob’s on La Crescenta just beyond where it split with Verdugo Road and buy the family take-out dinner. A Bob’s Big Boy with salad and fries was 60 cents. I went to school with Bob Wian’s son and during high school the Bob’s Drive-in in Glendale was the hangout for the area.

“After high school, I worked for Clarence Nash for a year. He’d retired from Disney and bought Anderson Feed and Seed. He would quack like Donald Duck and whinny like horses plus [voice] other animals, and kids in the store would be looking around for the real animals. The Nashes lived a few blocks north of Bob’s Montrose, on Sierra Vista I believe. My buddy Sid Gordon at one time had a whole bedroom devoted to Bob’s memorabilia. He sold it before passing. I wonder who has it now?”

“Your recent article on the Montrose Bob’s Big Boy restaurant hit home. I was struck by Cindy Redden’s tenure at the restaurant, 1977-1984. That was exactly the period I, with my friends from the Montrose Cycle Club, frequented the restaurant. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings when the days were long we would participate in a training ride at the Rose Bowl, doing 10 laps on the roads circling the Brookside Golf Course. We worked up a good appetite for a hamburger and fries. After a quick shower at home we would be at Bob’s Big Boy by 8:00. I’m sure Cindy served us many of those burgers and fries.”

“Me and my friends would spend many a Sunday evening at Bob’s Big Boy Montrose after attending the evening service at Montrose Community Church. We usually had a hilarious time as teenage guys do. My favorite memory was when my friend Dennis Bone ordered a salad with a side of pancakes! I just laughed but he didn’t think it was unusual. I later worked at the Bob’s in Sunland when it first opened and made an impressive $1.57 per hour! I was rich!”

This one came in verbally: A gentleman told me that recently he ate at the Burbank Bob’s. He brought a very old Bob’s menu with him and showed it to the manager. The manager was so impressed he let him order off it and pay the old prices! Forty-nine cents for a burger!

Next week, more memories.