New Bob's Big Boy locations prepare to open in Farmington, Plymouth Twp.

FARMINGTON — Two new Bob’s Big Boy eateries are coming to metro Detroit and will feature all the classic favorites in a smaller, faster version of the iconic restaurant.

 In Farmington, franchise owner Al Baydoun said he is hiring and training staff and putting the finishing touches in place at the new Bob’s Big Boy at 32704 Grand River Ave. In Plymouth Township, his nephew, Habib Baydoun, plans to open a Bob's Big Boy at 40835 Ann Arbor Road sometime this fall.

Get a Slim Jim in the drive-thru

If everything goes according to plan, the welcome mat will go out at the Farmington location within the next two weeks.

“Every minute, there’s a car going through the drive thru,” said Al Baydoun, who also owns the full-service Big Boy restaurant in Garden City.  “Every minute somebody walks to my door: ‘When you gonna open? We can’t wait anymore.’ The feedback I’m getting is amazing, I think we should do really well here.”

The restaurant, he said, will feature a limited menu of Big Boy favorites such as the Big Boy Classic, the Slim Jim and the Brawny Lad. Customers will order at the counter, receive a number and find a spot in the 60-seat dining area, if they wish to eat in.

“We’ll have a fish sandwich, a good chicken sandwich with real chicken breast breaded to order, chicken tenders breaded to order,” he said, noting other popular items will be available as well.

The building, which formerly housed a Burger King and later, briefly, Detroit Eatz, also features a drive-thru, which Baydoun says will allow staff to serve customers faster.

“We are the first (Bob’s Big Boy) with a drive-thru, the only one,” he said. “The drive thru menu will be under two minutes. We don’t want nobody waiting.”  

The scaled-down concept, he said, was developed in response to the pandemic and will require less staffing and overhead.

“I believe in the Big Boy brand,” Al Baydoun said. “I grew up working for them in the '70s and '80s. It was a dream for me to actually own my own Big Boy and live the American dream. It was a goal I set early in life.

'Customers love our food'

In Plymouth Township, Habib Baydoun also plans to open an "express" Bob’s Big Boy, located in a 2,800-square-foot storefront in the retail plaza at the southeast corner of Ann Arbor and Haggerty roads, near the new Henry Ford Medical Center.

Like his uncle, Habib Baydoun is well acquainted with the Big Boy brand. He owns Big Boy restaurants in Woodhaven and Wyandotte.

“There was a Big Boy location in Plymouth before, and I knew the community would love a Big Boy again,” he said. “It’s a great location.”

The Plymouth Township location will open sometime this fall.

“It will be a fast casual concept where customers can come in and have an option to sit down,” Al Baydoun said, noting orders will be served in carryout packaging for customer convenience. The location will feature all the classic favorites, he said, and will also offer some new options designed to cater to hospital employees.

“We’ll have some delicious fresh packaged salads and other items to-go in our coolers,“ he said, noting the menu will also feature new burgers and wraps, for example.

Habib Baydoun said he and his family plan to open other similar smaller-concept drive-thru locations in the future.

“We love the Big Boy brand,” he said.  “Customers love our food.”  

Contact reporter Laura Colvin at lcolvin@hometownlife.com or 248-221-8143.

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