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The Good: Clean locations, Decent family environment
The Bad: Vastly different service standards, Menu/price changes make it less consistent than I'd like, No real “hook.”
The Basics: Big Boy is an average family restaurant chain and a good place to get average American cuisine.
I remember being confused as a child at seeing different Big Boy restaurants in different states. In the area of New York state that I grew up in, we had a T.J.’s Big Boy and I guess I always thought of it as T.J.’s, not Big Boy. But, on one of our family trips to Ohio, I was stymied to see a Bob’s Big Boy with the same iconic character statue out front. Who was this Bob and why was he ripping off my T.J., I wondered as a child. Now, of course, I know better and, truth be told, I seldom see a Big Boy restaurant with a name before it now. The local one – now that I have settled in Michigan – is just Big Boy. It is also the only one I have come across in recent memory that had a reason to stop in.
Other Big Boy restaurants may do it, but the local one in Michigan is the first one in my life that I have encountered that has a breakfast buffet. That is an interesting hook that makes the otherwise stiflingly average American dining restaurant worthy of an “average” rating.
Location
Big Boy restaurants are spread throughout the United States, at least in every major city and along virtually every major interstate in the continental U.S. Big Boy tend to be located as standalone restaurants, though usually near shopping complexes, as opposed to actually ingrained in them.
Big Boy tends to be organized like old diners with a soda fountain feel near the front and tables and booths arranged around. The entire restaurant has a neutral, family friendly atmosphere and there is a corporate-consistency to the chain. Big Boy tends to be a sit-down restaurant where customers are waited on by their server, who seats them.
Big Boy tends to be modestly decorated. They usually have tables and mildly uncomfortable booths. The walls tend to be decorated with hotel-style artwork, a kind of bland, safe art that puts just enough on the wall to create desperate conversations if you're out with someone you don't truly know or are uncomfortable with. The color scheme at Big Boys is predominately white and red.
Waitstaff
Big Boy uses traditional waiters or waitresses. However, service can vary drastically both by location and time of night. Locally, the waitstaff is older and seems both knowledgeable about everything in the restaurant and somewhat bored by it. They are efficient, but not superlative servers. That said, I have never had bad service at a Big Boy and it is nice sometimes to go to a restaurant where the food is served quickly and one is not hassled by the servers.
Food
Big Boy is American fast food, so the cuisine is prepared relatively quickly, mostly grilled up on site. I had a standard hamburger there most recently and it came with a side of nice steak fries and vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes) on the cheeseburger that were clearly fresh. The bun was soft and surprisingly tasty, the lettuce was crisp and cool and the meat was hot and well-prepared. Much of the food at Big Boy is similar; sandwiches and diner-style plates.
As for drinks, coffee is inexpensive and the coffee at Big Boy is very standard, perfectly average. They also have standard juice options with orange and apple juice. They also have a pretty basic softdrink menu and milkshakes that are good, if not superlative.
The local Big Boy, though, does have a strong reason for checking the place out. It is the restaurant’s breakfast buffet. The (local, at least) Big Boy breakfast buffet is a celebration of freshly prepared eggs (two types), sausage (also two types, come to think of it), grits, sausage biscuits and gravy, pancakes, bacon (delightfully some that was not overly crisp and flavorless!), potato puffs, and cereal, in addition to a standard salad bar option. This delightful collection of food was universally hot, which was a nice change from other places I have been, and made for a delightful meal for under ten dollars.
Overall
Big Boy is a fast-food restaurant I am giving it a light recommendation because the most I had to say about it was that it was clean and the breakfast buffet was worthwhile. Other than that, this is a largely unremarkable chain. I like chains for a baseline standard of quality and Big Boy delivers that, but not much more.
For other restaurants, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Red Robin
Moe's Southwestern Grill
Tim Hortons
5/10
For other restaurant reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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