A Reincarnation of Bob’s Big Boy

One of the greater offenses against an American pop icon occurred in October, 1989, when the Marriott Corp. closed the original Bob’s Big Boy restaurant on Colorado Boulevard in Glendale. To make matters worse, it was announced that Marriott would eventually shut down all Bob’s Big Boys to make room for its own Allie’s chain, because, a spokesperson said, surveys show that people want a “contemporary atmosphere and trendy food.”

But Big Boy lives, sort of . . . in the Glendale Galleria. The new, gleaming red-and-white Big Boy Diner, opened by a company called Cal Corn, looks a lot like the nouveau-retro pretend diners that popped up in the ‘80s to celebrate the ‘50s. In other words, it’s hard to imagine that the original 10-seat diner that Bob Wian opened in 1936 had glass-brick dividers and a selection of bottled drinks that ranged from Evian to New York Seltzer. And the walls here are decorated with cartoony, pop-art prints that show Big Boy getting into all sorts of scraps--with a girl scuba diver, with a suspicious cop.

This new Big Boy tries hard. Every booth has a jukebox with mostly ‘50s rock and ‘40s swing; the service is young and polite--waitresses wear bobby socks, saddle shoes and pony tails; waiters wear bow ties, suspenders and fresh faces. Big Boy himself spins around and around at the end of the counter.

The menu may offer grilled-chicken salads and avocado and alfalfa sprout sandwiches--but you can ignore these. Go instead to items marked with the big red splotches that exclaim “Original Item”: the chili size, the silver goblet milkshake and the Big Boy Combo--double-decker burger, salad wedge and fries.

Big Boy Diner, 1322 Glendale Galleria, Glendale; (818) 246-5814. Entrees $2.95-$6.29.