History Bob's Big Boy Broiler Opens In Downey!

Hey - you know what?

Last time I stood there, the joint looked a whole lot different to this picture.

Must be the good company you now keep, guys

 

Yeah, and that picture has people,furniture and food in the shot .
I think that this was taken at the 2nd anniversary cruise several months back

 

Correct, Jeff's Fun Run it was the later part of January of this year.

Chopit Kustom's was one of the stop's on the cruz

before the final stop at the Broiler.

 

Nor sure about the weather on Weds, but we'll still be there! Hope you will too! .

 

Bobs was awesome had a kick ass time with the wife!

 

Saw your car back on the north side of the lot. Thank you for coming out again. Look for us and lets put a face to the name.

Back in 1982 Street Rodder Magazine ran a piece on "Returning to Harvey's Broiler". It was a penned by a Hod Rodder who grew up in Downey and cruised there from the beginning thru it's heyday that Tom Wolf wrote about in Esquire in 1963. This Hot Rodder was Burlie Burlile-He also had the idea to have the 1st re-cruise a year later and It was the 1st video cruise that I'm aware of ever.

It was a great success, it did not include any raffles or trophies. Just a bunch of guys hanging out again with their cars whatever they might be? The crowd came and it was kinda part of the OCCA's monthly cruise nite for June of 83. Burlie stopped by last wednesday, the weather wasn't the best, but guys showed up, Thank You!

Without Burlie's help and history we probably couldn't have built our collection and archives as extensively as we have. There is also someone not mentioned, His name is Sid and I see that I did not recognize him in our previous thread. Sid, runs Roadside Peek. Adriene shot him off pix right away when the damage was done and we continued to shoot Sid off pix when we did anything, so better late than never , THANK YOU SID for all that you do to keep the past,present and future alive!

I'm sure that there are others that I have forgotten to thank,but please remember that w/o you, we really couldn't have the Broiler for all to enjoy once again, so Thank You.

 

K, yes it was great to see Burly again! I know he comes a long way from his home in Utah, proving once again that All Roads Lead To The Broiler. Thanks for everything, Burly (and also for buying a copy of our book at the restaurant!). You inspired us and gave us a treasure trove of letters, articles, photos, vintage tees - and historic video footage! - just when we needed it most. Who knows, next time you visit we may have installed a video at the counter running your incredible 1983 cruise-in to the Broiler!

And Syd Nagoshi at Roadside Perk, who worked his a** off posting nightly updates and photos for me...since 2002. Syd runs an excellent website filled with terrific photos of roadside signs and buildings across the U.S. Check it out:

http://www.roadsidepeek.com/

I'd also like to thank our friends at Wacky Tacky for coming out to the Broiler and putting together such a great restaurant review! We love the article! Come see us again soon and sample our new menu!

http://thewackytacky.blogspot.com/2012/03/chow-time-bobs-big-boy-broiler.html?m=1

 

See, I even spelled Syd's name wrong=Lol, He did work his tush off.

There is so many people who have become "family" working on the Broiler and we have created so many great memories.

Burlie is truly one of a kind! I thank him for penning that article and bringing the Broiler to the attention of many people back in 1982 and of course myself.

 

The only day of the week i look foward to CRUISE NIGHT!! See you folks tomorrow
Weather scemed great today!

 

Ill be rollin in a lil late. Take'n Pop's to the Doc

 

Got this YouTube clip from Koala Kruizer who got it from Lindsey @ the Broiler F/B page. Grill Big Boy, Grill it Good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFmXa7vLSjE&feature=player_embedded

 

Great cruise nite!!!!!! What a nice show of cars of all kinds. Keep on coming in, we love seeing y'all!!!

 

Great meeting you guys last night! Johnny, Kevin, Adriene & all - thanks for the hospitality. Nice cars, good food, good folks - enjoyed the evening.

Chevy Bob

 

Was going to throw out a message last night but I forgot your name . It was great to see you as well Bob .

 

And you as well, come join The Broilers at the table when you're in next time, lots of conversation going on there=Lol!

 

Just got back from the broiler, and i gotta say i was rather disappointed. i always pull into the back parking lot as a matter of course, and the first thing i saw was empty 12 packs, aluminum cans and red cups littering the lot. all the dudes in the back lot were holding red cups, and some in the front lot and there were even dudes in the front lot cruising around with bud light cans. unless there's something i don't know, i'd say that doesn't bode well for the future of cruise-in parking at the Broiler. i think i'll stick to wednesday nights if thats gonna be the norm.

 

Altered Pilot and I spoke about the above, We @ the Broiler cannot control what some show goers do when not in the restaurant, we try to ask people to not bring their own beverages as the Broiler needs support by people doing business there.

We worked very hard to get it built, put a restaurant with a history in there as well and made the building about as close as it could be to all 3 incarnations of its existence.

I'm not on the premisses every night,but I did show up, that night and all was cleaned up by the time that I arrived all looked well. If anyone who is witnessing this and can let us know, we'll go out and take care of it.

Meanwhile, Wednesday nights cruise was a good one- it seems that the Lakers game took some of our cruisers by about 7:30pm,but as some left others arrived.
Thanks all of the continued support of "Our Broiler" and for keeping it alive!

 

We did talk, and like I told Kevin, it wasn't an indictment, but an observation. I know he is not an employee and this was not directed at him. I know that the restaurant employees are concerned with what is going on inside the restaurant, because that is their job.

I was just kinda taken back. we just got the broiler back, and i'd hate to see a handful of knuckle heads ruin it for all of us.

I'm not into being a big tattle-tale. we're all grown-ups. I would just really like to have the 'other' part of the broiler continue and grow for years to come!

 

The weather is looking good, It's gonna be a great evening, Lakers and Clippers are out, Kings are in,but no skating tonight . No excuses, so come on out and grab some grub with the Broiler's Club!!!!!! We welcome you!!!! See ya's tonight!!!!!!

 

I'm glad I came out. Now it's no longer the unknown! I look forward to making my way back out there to see everyone, again! Thanks goes out to Kevin & Mr.Gee!

 

it was good to see Kevin, Adrienne and Jim tonite. beautiful weather, great cars and EVERYONE in a good mood.

 

Was great to see the Five Seven all the way from the IE. Here's a link to the Broilers miss fortune.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153678

 

Kevin, found the song I was refering to during the round table discussion about the first Mc Donalds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvj4svKcjl0

 

Hey Mitch, J. Fishbeck & Jim S.
It was great seeing all of you guys, sorry that we couldn't chat a lil longer. Next time for sure though! Here's leaving you with a Big Boy Combo Though . Don't we wish that the price was still $1.09??????

Hey Juicy Gee. Will ck it out in a min.

 

OMG! That song is right out of Grinding It Out! by Ray (Krook) Kroc himself! Best damn song that I've ever heard about this theft!
It has all the facts right down to the selling the business to Krook and retaining their #store which Ray so very pissed about that he openned another on 17th and E. in Berdo. The foundations for the sign are still there, I don't think that MC D Corp even acknowledges that Berdo was the 1st ever and wants nothing to do with its history since Ray never received that location and had to build across the street to put the Big M out of biz.

Foolish move on Mc D. corp. That's why they never considered the Downey location a part of the corporate chain. It was originally franchised by the brothers themselves in 1953 and openned in Aug 53, Ray didn't come along till late 1954 and openned his Des Plaines Il. location in 1955. That is when they say that the Mc D. Corp started, when in fact it really had been converted from a barbeque beef drive-in stand to a self service type a full 7 yrs before the Mc D. Corp came into existence.

This one in Alhambra was recently torn down, although it had been extensively remodeled in 1972. It was originally constructed in early 53 and openned in May, The firestone tire building in the background still stands to this day. Mc D's put up and ugly ass box in this beautys place! They could have taken a note from one of their other operators located @ Alvarado/Temple St in L.A. Atleast it resembles an original Mc D's and uses Speedy to boot=The Bros Orig Mascot! see below, much better than the box that they placed @ 909 E. Main St. Alh.

 

^^^^^

To Bad we don't see that anymore while eating breakfast at this location just down the street.

"OMG! That song is right out of Grinding It Out! by Ray (Krook) Kroc himself! Best damn song that I've ever heard about this theft!" I just listen to too much music

 

An interesting interview with Ray Kroc:

Celebrity Interview: Ray Kroc, Founder of McDonald's | Winners Within Us™ Magazine

http://winnerswithinus.com/hall-of-fame/celebrity-interview-ray-kroc-founder-of-mcdonalds/

 

I pulled up this evening to find only VW's.
Looked for some of this on the menu


This guy must have come by while I was eating

When I went back out the Bug's were gone

 

Here's a round table thought for Wednesday night coming up. Why exactly is it called the Broiler? After all, wasn't there Broilers here before.

 

Actually it was called Sally's Friars, . I guess that they were really meant to be Broiled. A broiler has been that sight for over 44 of it's 54 years.