What to Know Bob's Big Boy in Burbank

4211 W. Riverside Drive

70-cent Hot Fudge Cake from June 17-27

Restaurants typically go by one name, and that would be... their name.

No shocker there, but that intro is our way of driving up, in a '55 convertible, of course, to a particularly iconic diner that has several prisms to its personality and names to its credit.

Are we talking about a place where vintage cars regularly congregate? Vroom vroom.

Is it a restaurant known for its roomy booths, well-relished hamburgers, and retro style? Shaboom shaboom.

Can you call this Burbank landmark by its first name? For sure. So whether you say "Bob's" or "Bob's Big Boy" or "the oldest Bob's Big Boy still hamburgering along in the United States," you're correct.

And you'd also be correct if you remember that acclaimed Googie-great architect Wayne McAllister built the Streamline-Moderne-meets-a-space-dream of a building in 1949.

Which means that, yes, Bob's Big Boy in Burbank is turning 70. And, yes, you're accurate yet again if you just said that Bob's Big Boy, as a chain, is far older.

But right now? We're sending the anniversary love to the Burbank outpost.

Will its Big Boy statue be sporting a point paper birthday hat during the 70th anniversary celebration?

Well, we'd hate to see his famous swoop of shellacked hair hidden under a chapeau, frankly. His red checkered overalls are festive enough.

But there is celebrating to do, and this is how it will happen, Bob's buffs: Stop by the Riverside Boulevard bastion o' burgerdom from June 17 through June 27, order the eatery's famous Hot Fudge Cake, and pay 70 cents.

If you know this cake, you know it is normally menu'd at $5.49. Sweet.

Something to keep in mind, though? This is definitely a "(w)hile supplies last" kind of deal, and each table is limited to one cake.

Oh, and yup: You'll need to dine at the restaurant to snag it, but of course you will, because eating at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank means you get to experience one of Southern California's most magnificent mid-century mealtimes.

A mid-century mealtime that wasn't recreated, in a fit of artificial nostalgia, in 2005.

This world-famous eatery really is 70, a fact as celebratory as it is scrumptious.

So best get to Burbank, just a hop/skip/jump from Toluca Lake, for your cake-y deal, before the final Thursday of June 2019.

And if you roll up in your vintage wheels, so much the better.