"Listening to Jonathan Winters at Bob's" and other memories, from Wayne Colmer, Habitat Chair Elect

By Wayne Colmer
Chairman Elect
Habitat for Humanity, San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley

I have been a fan of Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant since my childhood growing up in the San Fernando Valley. I would like to share some Bob’s memories with you.

As a child, my parents would take the family out to dinner once a month for Chinese, Pizza or Bob’s. The kids preferred Bob’s and liked to eat in the car and the parents liked to eat inside at the restaurant. There was always a heated family debate over which venue we had last chosen. Eating in the car, for some reason, seemed to be great fun for us kids. Every time we went to Bob’s, we asked for decals of Bob, and we cut off his head and transferred it in place of the hamburger onto the tray Bob was holding. We would put these decals everywhere.

When I was mature enough to go to Bob’s with my friends, we always gave the hostess “clever” names for the reservation queue, like Mr. E. L. Phant. Later, those clever names were changed to have a different connotation. Who says today’s kids know what fun is? We met girls at Bob’s and took our dates there. I can remember lunch in Toluca Lake sitting next to Jonathan Winters, listening to his stories in character and laughing so hard, I could not eat.

Bob’s Restaurant has always been an important social landmark for those of us who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. It is wonderful that this landmark is here today still serving good food and providing great memories.