Big Boy Restaurant Group Came to Fight

Our northern neighbors have arrived, and they didn't forget the rye buns.

“Don’t tell Sam, but I’m a Big Boy.” That’s a Slack message I nearly hit send on to my colleague Andrew before catching my typo.

I was dictating. It meant to say at Big Boy. Andrew went to college in Michigan, and I was filling him in on the latest regional drama: a choice in Big Boy-style dining destinations in the Queen City.

Dave Frisch started Frisch’s Big Boy after his first foray, Frisch’s Cafe, failed. Called “The Mainliner” near Lunken Airport, it had iconic signs and an airport theme. Frisch visited a California Big Boy owned by Bob Wian and wanted to sell the Big Boy hamburger to Ohioans and became Wian’s first franchisee.

Others joined the fray, but most shed their affiliations as their restaurants grew (like what you may know as Eat’n Park or Shoney’s). In the end, there was California Big Boy, Frisch’s, and Big Boy Restaurant Group (BBRG), or what I’ll call Michigan Big Boy.

In 2015, Frisch’s sold their franchise to a private equity firm for $175 million. COVID hit, and it hit hard. The new owners used the land under the restaurants, an asset they owned, as “a giant piggy bank” for a turnaround. That was a gamble! It didn’t pay off for the company, as this analysis from David Schenz shows.

At one point, Schenz writes:

Frisch’s owned the land and buildings for almost all its corporate stores—this will become crucial later on. Like many restaurants, Frisch’s was working capital negative—that is, they were receiving payment much faster than what they were paying their vendors. By 2015, Frisch’s had almost no debt, had about 11MM USD in operating leases, and had a healthy balance sheet.

Hard to imagine that today, owning your land.

One might think California Big Boy controls the strings since Bob Wian invented the concept, but since Wian sold Big Boy to Marriott in the 1960s, his California empire is a technically a franchisee. Marriott also owned things like Hot Shoppes and Roy Roger’s, among others, but is out of the food business (except within their hotels).

What came to become Big Boy Restaurant Group changed hands a couple of times after a bankruptcy, and the current owner, Robert Liggett, struck a deal with Frisch’s allowing for concurrent use of the Big Boy trademark.

The question currently facing Michigan Big Boy, Frisch’s 2.0, and us consumers is: Will Michigan Big Boy be able to call itself Big Boy here? The group is already in Ohio, as it controls the two Cleveland-area locations.

Right now, the two locations that have “re”-opened, both former Frisch’s locations, are going as “Dolly’s” with a female cartoon instead of your typical Big Boy. I’m curious what Area Twins will make of the branding, as it even resembles them a little.

Peekaboo, poppin' out, you better not smut my name

The spat isn’t just over the trademark, which Michigan Big Boy is cleverly avoiding while the court sorts out the concurrent use issues, but also over what is called “Frisch’s Core Territory.” Basically, whether or not Michigan Big Boy can even come here to compete against them.

The first location of Dolly’s opened yesterday in Blue Ash, and the Anderson one, which has been busy with hiring activity, opened today. I had some errands that brought me down Beechmont this AM, so I popped by, thinking it wasn’t yet open.

I was going to try it eventually, but this guy sold me. And I told him that personally when he greeted me at Dolly’s.

The burger-themed giveaway and festivities wouldn’t start until later, but in I went. I wasn’t living here during Frisch’s peak, but their menu is still hobbled by COVID. Michigan Big Boy’s is more expansive.

They do not do the “Cherry Coke” with the grenadine syrup, but they do have Wild Cherry Pepsi on draft. I’ll take it.

Some menu items have to take on a different name, obviously they’re avoiding “Big Boy” until the lawsuits are settled, but the Brawny Lad, a burger on a rye bun with an onion, remains on both menus. The Michigan “Big Boys” are called “Signatures”… at least for now.

Another different thing is the seasoning salt. Frisch’s used Lawry’s (which is a fine seasoning salt). Big Boys outside of Ohio have their own, and that is now here. It is very good, too.

A lawyer obviously suggested they cover up anything Big Boy branded, so little ad hoc labels cover the seasoning that the stores normally sell to take home. The ketchup was covered, too.

Michigan Big Boy has smart lawyers.

I am eager to try the burgers, but haven’t, so I have no ruling on the famed “Fry Test™”… yet. I never liked tartar sauce (or any white sauce on a burger) so while I appreciate that the sauce matters to some, I am not one of them. Soon there will be a burger review in these pages.

For breakfast, I went with the country fried steak and eggs. It was more than I could eat and I knew that, but it was good. The service was excellent, and on a restaurant’s opening day, it better be.

Michigan Big Boy sent down some ringers from Southfield, as was obvious by the multiple managerial table visits, and the Michigan license plates in the parking lot. They’re calling the Beechmont store Dolly’s #501, but this is all placeholder theater. There aren’t 500 other Dolly’s. I don’t even think that Michigan Big Boy has 60 restaurants total.

They want to reopen 55 closed Frisch’s locations by June of this year, effectively doubling in size. That’s bold. And if this quick start is any indication, they just might be able to pull it off.

I’m not a lawyer, but New Frisch’s argument that Old Frisch’s trademark / non-compete agreement still holds seems, at least to me, to not likely prevail in the end.

What remains unknown is whether or not the regionally famous Cincinnati Parochialism will allow it. I suspect people will welcome the competition.

BONUS: A local walkthrough of our local Dolly’s with Brian Hamrick.