........"Johnies
Update Aug 09".......
091509- Officials were on hand
during a ceremony inveigling Bob's Big Boy
at the former heavily damaged Johnie's
Broiler in Downey. The famous restaurant is
now a Bob's Big Boy and is slated to open in
mid October. Stephen Carr/ Press-Telegram
DOWNEY - The illegal demolition of Johnie's
Broiler on the first days of 2007 drew a record number
of protesters to City Hall.
"We like our burgers in Downey," City
Manager Gerald Caton said of a city that can back up
that claim as home of the world's oldest McDonald's.
Constituents' enthusiasm for ground patties
served with a side of mid-century nostalgia, brought the
City Council and city management to a Tuesday
walk-through of what will soon reopen as a Bob's Big Boy
on Firestone Boulevard near Old River School Road.
This is no Johnie's-come-lately. Built from
the original 1958 plans of Harvey's Broiler, the
predecessor to Johnie's, the 185-seat Big Boy will
closely resemble the Googie restaurant Downey residents
loved, albeit it serving a new menu.
Jim Louder, who holds the diner's franchise,
hopes to open the restaurant in mid-October. He has
hired 185 employees to cover 6,500 square feet inside,
as well as the parking lot carhop.
City Hall committed about $900,000 in
redevelopment money, which came from a federal grant, to
help cover some of the costs over a number of years,
said Gilbert Livas, deputy city manager.
The new owner used as much of the old
materials as could be salvaged from Johnie's, including
decorative rock walls, red support beams and some
original signage.
Other touches resurrected from the poodle
skirt era, but not the demolition site, include
"popcorn" ceilings, linoleum floors and red-and-white
checkerboard wall tiles.
The red cursive "Broiler" sign remains
visible. It will advertise Bob's Big Boy instead of
Johnie's.
Big Boy's familiar logo - a chubby chef in
suspenders hoisting a burger on a plate - was unveiled
Tuesday by Louder and the council.
Though steeped in nostalgia, there are
plenty of modern touches, including a stainless steel
kitchen, where a worker's dust-covered radio blared "The
Logical Song" by Supertramp.
It is unlikely future diners will hear the
1979 hit when the greasy spoon reopens.
"I've got a jukebox coming, a 1958 jukebox,"
said Louder, who also owns a Big Boy in Torrance. "It
plays records."
Louder has a tall order in restoring a
beloved fixture that dates to Downey's Space Age heyday,
making it an authentic setting in "Pulp Fiction" and
other films.
The restaurant, which had tall windows
allowing diners a great view of Firestone, closed in
2002 and later became a used car lot.
Then, in 2007, Ardas Yanik, who leased the
2-acre property from owner Christos Smyrniotis - a cook
at the original Harvey's - demolished most of the
building before the city stepped in and forced the
workers to stop.
Lucky thing. The demolition crew failed to
turn off the power, said Mario Guerra, the current
mayor.
Yanik pleaded no contest to three
misdemeanor charges.
Louder signed a lease agreement with
Smyrniotis to rebuild Johnie's as a Bob's Big Boy,
incorporating Johnie's surviving architectural elements.
Preservationists, as well as classic car
buffs who loved gathering at the diner, lauded the
decision.
Fans are going to have to idle a bit longer.
Still a work in progress, there is plenty to do before
next month's opening.
For one thing, the tables haven't been
installed. Even so, Guerra has already picked a corner
spot by the door.
"This is going to be the City Council booth,
right here," he said.