E-Edition
Sign up for email newsletters
Sign up for email newsletters
E-Edition
An elderly woman walked into a new Big Boy restaurant on Grand River Avenue in Farmington and explained she met her husband at an eatery in the chain about 80 years ago.
He’s gone now, the woman explained to the owner, Al Baydoun.
She asked Baydoun if he could take a picture of her with the statue in front of the restaurant of the famous Big Boy, clad in the familiar red checkered overalls.
“It made me cry,” Baydoun said.
A love of nostalgia motivated Baydoun to retrofit the former Burger King as a Big Boy restaurant.
“It’s in their childhood. It’s in their memory,” he said of his customers.
“Big Boy is an iconic brand that’s been around since 1936,” he said. “How many restaurants can say they’ve been around since 1936?”
The restaurant on Grand River, east of the downtown area, is a Bob’s Big Boy, paying tribute to the name used by West Coast restaurants in the chain.
Baydoun’s restaurant is a simplified version of the Big Boy that is familiar to customers. It has a drive-through service and a counter where customers order. They can get the famous Big Boy double burgers, Slim Jim sandwiches and hot fudge cakes to go or they can dine in. A server will bring meals to their tables.
He said he plans to build a customer base by serving quality food in the form of old favorites and providing good service.
Baydoun said the simplified model accommodates customers’ busy lives and requires less staffing, an important consideration in an industry that struggles with getting enough help.
The restaurant is open from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Breakfast fare consists of simple items like egg sandwiches, not the buffet that customers find at a traditional Big Boy.
The Big Boy franchise, which closed multiple locations in the Detroit area in recent years, plans to open more restaurants in the coming months in Fraser, Lansing and Plymouth Township, said Frank Alessandrini, vice president of operations. Even more openings may follow the three that are already in the works.
Some will follow the modified model of the Farmington restaurant. Others, like the one in Fraser, will be traditional sit-down restaurants.
The Fraser location, in the area of 15 Mile and Utica roads, has applied for a license to serve beer and wine, he said.
Baydoun came to the United States from Lebanon at age 10. He got his first job washing dishes at a Big Boy.
“I set a goal for myself and said, ‘I’m going to own one of these one day,’” he said.
Three years ago, he opened a Big Boy in Garden City that is doing well. He is looking for locations for additional modified Big Boy restaurants like the one in Farmington.
“I’ve worked two or three jobs all my life,” he said. “I tell everybody I’m living the American dream.”
Three of his six daughters work with him.
“I want them to own a Big Boy someday, too,” he said. “I want to make sure they understand that nothing comes easy. It takes hard work.”
Sign up for email newsletters
Copyright © 2023 MediaNews Group