Big Boy Restaurant Group, LLC is an American restaurant chain headquartered in Warren, Michigan, in Metro Detroit. Frisch's Big Boy Restaurants is a restaurant chain with its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Big Boy name, design aesthetic, and menu were previously licensed to a number of regional franchisees.
Big Boy was started as Bob's Pantry in 1936 by Bob Wian in Glendale, California. The restaurants became known as "Bob's", "Bob's Drive-Ins", "Bob's, Home of the Big Boy Hamburger", and (commonly as) Bob's Big Boy. It became a local chain under that name and nationally under the Big Boy name, franchised by Robert C. Wian Enterprises. Marriott Corporation bought Big Boy in 1967. One of the larger franchise operators, Elias Brothers, purchased the chain from Marriott in 1987, moved the headquarters of the company to Warren, Michigan, and operated it until bankruptcy was declared in 2000. During the bankruptcy, the chain was sold to investor Robert Liggett, Jr., who took over as Chairman, renamed the company Big Boy Restaurants International and maintained the headquarters in Warren. In 2018, Big Boy was sold to a group of Michigan investors and renamed Big Boy Restaurant Group. The company is the operator or franchisor for 75 Big Boy restaurants in the United States.