Frisch's

Frisch's Big Boy is last regional restaurant chain from the Big Boy franchise. Today there are over 90 restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Frisch's also owns numerous Golden Corral restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

History

Frisch's probably has a more storied history than the original Big Boy itself. In 1905, Samuel Frisch opened the Frisch Cafe in Cincinnati, Ohio. He continued to operate the cafe until his death in 1922. Samuel's two sons, Rubuen and Irving continuing operating their father's cafe after his death. It wasn't until 1939 when expansion occurred with the opening of the Mainliner which was Cincinnati's first year round drive-in. The name came from an airplane flying into Lunken Airport.

Becoming a Big Boy Franchise

In 1946, Dave Frisch visited one of Bob Wian's Big Boy restaurants in California. He was so impressed with the double-decker sandwich, Dave decided to change the ingredient of the burger for his Boy Big restaurants from thousand island dressing to his homemade tarter sauce. This made Frisch's stand out from the rest of the Big Boy restaurants. This key ingredient was also implemented in other meals. In 1948, the first Frisch's Big Boy restaurant opened on Central Parkway.

Expansion

From the 1940s-1970s is considered to be Frisch's hey-day. In 1949, Frisch's opened its first restaurant in Kentucky. Early restaurants built during this time offered carhop services. With many opportunities, franchisees opened restaurants in the tri-state area which help Frisch's grow and expand. Frisch's released their famous tarter sauce to local grocery stores in 1960. However, times were changing. Frisch's faced competition from numerous restaurants either fast-food or local. McDonald's introduced the Filet-O-Fish in 1963 in an aggressive campaign against Frisch's. Some Frisch's did close in the 1970s and 1980s, but the company had to hold on in the remaining core market or they would die off.

Present

In 1982, Frisch's began to reinvent itself by adding drive-thur at many restaurants. They introduced the soup and salad bar which had began to be implentmented to many fast-food eateries. With these introductions, Frisch's had to remodel older restaurants or tear them down and build them from the ground up to stay in the game. With that, carhops were no longer a fixture at Frisch's, but some are still kept for the nostalgia factor at some Cincinnati locations. Frisch's also introduced the hot fudge cake, quickly becoming popular and one of Frisch's best selling items. While other Big Boy's died off, become separate eateries, or file for bankruptcy, Frisch's developed new concepts by introducing a retro theme to newer restaurants. In 2000, Frisch's could've bought the Big Boy chain which was in bankruptcy, but they declined the offer.

Frisch's Big Boy Hamburger

It is constructed as follows, from top to bottom:

Toasted plain top bun
Shredded lettuce
Frisch's Tartar Sauce
1/8 lb beef patty
Toasted plain center bun
Frisch's Tartar Sauce
Slice of American cheese
1/8 lb beef patty
Pickles
Toasted plain bottom bun

Commericals and Slogans

Radio and TV commercials for Frisch's (which operates Big Boy in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area) are considered by many locals to be a source of humor, even though many of these advertisements were intended to be serious. A notable example is an advertising jingle from the "Gotta be Frisch's Big Boy" campaign of the early 1980s. A common local joke is to incorporate a word, phrase, or song title into this jingle to mock Frisch's.

Frisch's present slogan today which is used in commericals is What's your favorite thing?

Websites

Frisch's Official Website