Fine Dining - Joel McHale Voices Our Review of Bob's Big Boy's Famous Chili Spaghetti feat. Joel McHale & Michael's Mom

Episode Date: December 14, 2022

Michael & Garrett annoint their friend Steven as their Cheese Correspondent Steven's jaw isn't working so Joel McHale reads Steven's review for him (around the 47 minute mark) More You-Must Bowl shenanigans ensued as Michael recruits his mom to make a painting of Bob's Big Boy Michael's mom tells her side of the story when Michael was pulled over by Officer Hot Dog (hear the original story in episode 8!) The boys have truly bad service JUB works inside of the Big Boy statue Garrett takes on Michael's mom in this week's Headline Game   Get our 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send us your Bob's Big Boy stories at [e-mail].   Follow us on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast   Let us know where we should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts. We read every one!   Next time on Fine Dining: Waffle House! If you have ever worked for Waffle House and have a story to share, or if you’d like us to hear your child’s review of the Waffle House kids menu, send it to [e-mail].

Hello everybody and welcome back to the fine dining podcast the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America pause for eagle I am your host Michael or Nellis. I'm your host Garrett's work and we are on a journey together to find you the most mediocre restaurant in America the perfect five point Zero zero. Why are we doing it Garrett? We're doing it because we are rusty boys originally from the Midwest and this was the fanciest thing we had available I'm a midwestie, texty rusty boy. Yeah. Yeah, and we we just want to find you that litmus test that bar that you can Compare all other restaurants against if it's better than Olive Garden, you know, it's pretty good If it's worse than Olive Garden, it's not up to snuff. That's what we're trying to find for you

We are doing it. So you don't have to we are gaining weight and blood pressure So you don't have to yeah, but hey, it's a fun experience and we love you guys we do actually we really do We've been getting our feedback since we have launched and it has been stellar. Thank you guys for tuning in for downloading our episodes For leaving us reviews. Keep them coming. You know, we want to climb those charts We want to be the number one podcast Despite being a five out of ten in the beginning I was mentioning how my goal was to become mediocre and thanks to you guys out there You're getting close. Yeah, I'm okay. Just a notch below. Yeah, I see potential in there

Maybe I'm like a 4.9 out of 10 right now. You're getting there. We do these restaurant reviews for you based on Three criteria. Yeah, the atmosphere the service and the food You know food obviously a gamey, but a server can make or break an experience which you will hear yes quite a bit about today The atmosphere I mean last week rainforest cafe Crazy atmosphere very fun ever so, you know, it is more than just the food so this week we went to Bob's big boy and There were there were a couple couple interesting tidbits about it about our experience there But most importantly we had a guest with us. Yes, and that is because of

What we had to do before I was even allowed to walk in I recruited some help But we will get into that after a quick break because our table is ready theme song Oh first impressions okay Garrett so our first impressions started hours before our meal yeah it was about an hour and forty minutes before we sat down yes okay so if you listen last week or if

you're unfamiliar with the podcast if this is your first time tuning in we have a bowl the you must bowl and the you must bowl tells us things that we must do for failing on our mission to find mediocrity if we pick a place that deviates too far from the perfect five point double zero that is one point in

either direction then there is a consequence drawn at random out of a bowl last week rainforest cafe who highest rated place ever eight point five seven which I still think is an insane take for a place whose food isn't that great but you know it is what it is it is the the average of both of our opinion so I

can't be salty about your steak that would have taken my rating down yeah but as a result of rainforest cafe being so astronomically high scoring I had to draw from the you must bowl and had to do something at our next place which is Bob's big boy which is where we went this week but what I had to do beforehand

was paint the exterior of the restaurant which everyone tells me that phrasing made it sound like I had to do some graffiti not what we meant it was by a canvas and literally paint you know a painting of the restaurant and we only have so much space to write on a piece of paper to put it in the you must bowl

yeah and honestly paint a painting of the restaurant probably would have been more concise yeah but you know we're learning as we go words I am not a good painter and I enlisted the help of the most pervasive artist in my life my own mother I hear her laughing are you here I am Michael I really am excited to be

here and I think perhaps the reason that I have become such an involved artist is helping you with all of your school projects you did so many assignments for me where I was just like yeah I don't have the it was one of those things where I like said I can't but it wasn't necessarily that I wasn't able to it was

like I have a safety net yeah you can cover it so I did that once again on my as an adult podcast to be like hey I don't know how to paint very well you you know you do paintings every so often for funsies so why not help me yeah because the whole process ended up taking an hour and a half with two people yeah

imagine Michael alone doing that would have either taken forever or the half of it would have just been finger paints just me splashing paint on the board that's close enough yeah Jackson Pollock big boy it's okay but like I said you you're not the best artist I know but you're the artist I know best and I

think that's a fair way to put it so I am certainly the one that was the most available yeah you were the most available so thank you thank you for coming and helping you we had our little artist mustaches on and our berets and our little aprons and you can view this on our social media if

you go over to our Instagram and our tiktok at fine dining podcast you can actually see the video of my mom and I standing next to each other painting that's right we're on Instagram at fine dining podcast we're on tiktok at fine dining podcast and you can email us whatever you want fine dining podcast at

gmail.com we might regret that but I don't know maybe we won't this was such a fun experience it was a blast it got us noticed by pastor but like there were people literally walking out of big boy saw us across the street and like ran over to see what we were doing I saw a lady I think run in front of a car she

was so excited to get across the street to see what was going on and then the best reaction we got yeah the pastor like I'll let you take the honors he walks by turns and then abruptly says wow this is a lot more awful than I expected it to be I was like oh thanks for your honesty yeah what a crazy thing

I mean we live in a city where it's like everyone's chasing a dream and everyone's an artist and you kind of expect a level of competence he did not get that level of competence when he turned around and saw my Bob's pig boy sign because making letters with oil or acrylic paints was not easy and your

pig boy looked like an anime villain yes he looks like he's scheming I'm pretty proud of how it turned out it's not good you can see it on our Instagram and tell us hey that's a lot worse than I thought it would be pig boy serves human meat what but then I mean kind of a cool thing happened is

like I took so long on my half of the painting because you were done probably 20 minutes before me if not if not a little bit more and had a cup of coffee so you painted your half of the restaurant we broke it up into half so my mom took the right side of the restaurant which admittedly is kind of

the less exciting side and then I got the side that had the big Bob's big boy sign and it had the statue of Bob and by the time I finished the neon lights were on so I actually made adjustments so we actually have like a half night half day photo or painting that I think it's pretty neat it's a cool effect it looks

better than like your child did it but not by much I mean your child literally did do it it's accurate yeah very close but I making the lettering was very difficult for me so I definitely had a point before the neon turned on where it said pig boy instead of big boy and it might

be the hardest I've ever seen my mom laugh when I pointed it out I was like this is pig boy and she like laughs so hard I think she farted it was like oh that's just what I heard I don't know that could have been the wind I don't know that was absolutely hysterical because he tried so hard to get his lettering

correct but it was a lot of fun Michael yeah it was a good time and it got us you know a couple a couple followers a couple people noticed looked at the podcast so we walk inside in front of the restaurant there is the large Bob's big boy classic sign perfect photo opportunity yeah we're countless people

taking photos they're crowding around it and looking at us it's like we got more attention than then the tourists are tourists to try so alright so there's one first impression I was really hoping we had and we didn't what was that classic car show we missed it by a night have you driven by big boy on on

classic car night you've like yeah it's all just like you know 50s Chevy's and like stuff like that yeah it's a neat little vibe they're very much known for it so but hey you know what we didn't get classic car night you know what we did get what gift shop right on the left hand side when we walked in merch right

there you know what Garrett speaking of merch you can get our t-shirts it's in our outro song our t-shirts then put them on they're not at the literal t-shirts that we wear unless that's something you want to email us by dining podcast we've also got a lot of water that we can sell if you really want I'm really happy with

these shirt designs the only reason I'm pushing them so hard is because they're really good we're currently wearing our Pizza Hut lookout shirt yeah it's fabulous our artist Brandon Gully he is a Disney background artist it's an awesome shirt design it references our Pizza Hut episode where we just kept

finding all these incidents of cars crashing into Pizza Hut that was Pizza Hut episode number six go back have a listen and then we've also got the juicy he's my son shirt by the incredible Andrea Tuttrup she works at Nickelodeon she made us like two versions of juicy you can get an embroidered one if you

don't know who juicy is he's my son he literally is go back to the old spaghetti factory episode and you can hear all about juicy he is a pineapple with googly eyes and sideburns that match the way I looked at the time takes just after his dad and he's not haunted or possessed or if you just want to rock

our logo we've got that shirt for you and we'll have more to come in the future and back to the episode do you think that the merch is warranted the merchant baked good counter is a thing that set every big boy this one baked goods didn't look fresh no I'm they didn't look bad but they just look

like oh those have been sitting there while to full pies because they're famous for their pies yeah I'm used to having a large display case of beautiful pies but the question is I mean specifically with like the shirts and hats and mugs is it warranted of course it is it's a tourist attraction I agree it felt like

a shameless shill not that I'm above a shameless shill but also like if rainforest cafe can do it why can't they rainforest cafe the gump can do it makes total oh yeah I guess public gump also did it okay I I yield mom you were a sucker for the store you ended up buying something I sure was I just love those nostalgic

t-shirts yep they have to offer so well that's a big part of why we picked this restaurant as well because I knew you were coming on nostalgia is a big part of this restaurant for you right so many memories with my family and it's just an endearing place to go yeah it makes you think of your dad who is one of my

favorite people right take you on road trips yeah smash all of you into the back of like a five kids inside of a five-seater but like there's still two adults it's just like there's too many people in this car and go to go to a Bob's big boy was it Bob's big boy or just big boy when I was just big boy but

across the country I was kind of little on that long trip so I don't quite remember if I had been to a Bob's before I actually kind of had to rush in because I was like cleaning up all the painting supplies moving stuff to my car and all that while you guys put our name on the list and by the time I walked in I didn't

really get to take the lay of the land I had to walk straight to the table yeah it started off really well first they said 25 minute wait we got in five minutes early that's that's a good thing except for Michael getting his first impressions so I actually had to make a point to go back and kind of take in

that because I like seeing what's in like the entryway what are you greeted by on the ceiling behind you when you walk in kind of tough to see there's a bunch of headshots one spoke to me personally there's David Lynch one of my favorite directors Jay Leno's up there you've got like a neon clock a lot

of neon everywhere yeah it's like an art deco style diner yeah it looks great very 50s style I dig it I yeah it's a very specific vibe yeah it is it's everything we expected it to be yeah it is definitely a theme that I wouldn't call unique in any way like this is most diners have this theme oh yeah it this

looked very much like a diner yeah had just the beige and yellow hazy walls the ceiling by the vents was starting to fall apart it was just dilapidated and in a nice way enough to feel like I don't know a 3 a.m. diner scene in a movie sure you're meeting your PI to find out information about the illicit affair

your husband is having something like that throwing you a manila envelope full of black and white photos yeah did you not have color it's 2022 like why are these in black and white I don't understand because we're at a diner and it fits the environment yeah it has to be a black and white photo or else is

your wife really having an affair yeah yeah yeah we'll get it why don't you tell us some more facts we'll jump into this week's rusty fact roundup Bob's big boy was founded on August 6th 1936 in not Orlando not Tampa wow we have a non-florid base chain where they from in Glendale California oh wow the city

that I'm 300 yards away from yeah if that wow and it was originally named Bob's pantry huh yeah what was it like a grocery store was it like kind of the same just kind of the same as just pantry that's weird big-boy restaurant group now owns 71 remaining big boys okay the vast majority of those are in

Michigan oh that's your story that's my ground yeah like that's why I grew up with this okay makes sense and there are only four left in California that have the name Bob's big boy are there non-Bob big boys in California no okay but all the ones in California are Bob's okay in other states now they are just big

boy they used to be Elias brothers big boy manners big boy and mcdowell's big boy basically Bob's big boy as a restaurant group bought out these other franchises so now all Bob's are under one umbrella except for Frisch's big boy Frisch's big boy owns the big boy trademark in Indiana Kentucky and most

of Ohio and Tennessee I don't know how that happened interesting yeah that is what we got atmosphere very crowded in here we're on a Saturday night it is definitely a tourist trap so you know it's part of the vibe I guess you know when you go to a tourist trap you expect a crowd it was almost it wasn't

overwhelming it wasn't it felt like it was set up like an attraction there were two separate hosts hostess booths there's one at the front of the restaurant there was one at the back of the restaurant two hosts and there was a the back restaurant host had a headset and was announcing tables as if he was

the operator of a carnival right you might be misinterpreting it there's a drive-thru window oh there's a drive-thru window I didn't they were operating no idea that's what that was why there's a drive-thru window out back I did not know that that's really neat one of the things that I noticed about the

atmosphere that I couldn't tell if I found it annoying or kind of cool was the sound of sizzling like I could literally hear the frying echoing and I think there was like a concentrated part of the meal where I noticed it more or it just kind of became white noise and I stopped noticing it but it's very

distracting at first I've it felt like someone was putting in sound effects of kitchen noise over the speaker system yeah kitchen noise sound effects I feel attacked because I do that for part of this isn't that exactly what it sounded like though the volume at the table yeah it was really mixed yeah it was one of

those things I was like this doesn't seem real like I was I was looking around for a speaker I was like what is this coming from we also might have been in one of those weird sound tunnels where like just something reverberates off a wall perfectly and just hits you and not of anyone else in the area so I

don't know there was another cool thing we noticed there was a Bob's big boy inside there was a little little Bob's big boy there were lots of paintings on the walls there will there was another painting of Bob's big boy there were a lot of certificates that made me laugh like to the right of our of my vantage

point when I looked over just a bunch of certificates there was a certificate of recognition there was a certificate of appreciation I'm like of what I don't know but a lot of like just managers names and like stuff to I don't know if it was to look official or if they were awards from local publications or not

I didn't take the time to read through all of them but just lots of like like when someone clearly displays their diploma in the back of a zoom yeah it's like okay we get it we know what you're trying to do so you made a met you mentioned a note about the specific style of tables that you remembered yeah those

are the diner tables there you know wrapped in metal and rounded edges and booths I don't know I still request booths when I go in restaurants and I don't know if that's a nostalgia thing for me how seven of us said to me it allows I prefer booths because they're more conducive to gold blooming you

should explain gold blooming to your mom yeah so gold blooming is a it's a reference to the iconic Jurassic Park scene where Jeff Goldblum is I don't remember the monologue is that the life finds a way I always think I don't know that life finds a way with that yeah

but it's basically Jeff Goldblum kind of in like a sexy loose flowy black shirt just leaning like this golden and bronze just a chest hair poking out and he just looks so casual and and I end up gold blooming all the time but because I need the space for my stomach to like expand after a big meal so if I overeat

at a restaurant I like a booth so that I can gold bloom against the wall and put my put my leg up on the booth it is not classy in any way it is embarrassing to be seen with me but it is gold blooming and I do it often and I think when I was growing up with a large family that it was a way for the parents

to keep all their kids controlled well yeah back then like you never knew if like a coyote was going to pull one of you out of the stagecoach or something right so you got to keep them all together exactly yeah yeah it's like I've got a dog at home one of the most peaceful moments is after he's fed so

I raising children is like the same thing yeah yeah yeah exactly but you don't have to worry about your other children if one coyote is fed you're like oh that the weak one can be taken off and that'll fend off the back or you just like want the one that gets dropped on his head won't survive

Michael has survived to adulthood I did I did thank you mom for not dropping me on my head or for sacrificing the others from the litter to the coyotes or like lighting a flaming tree branch and like waving them away if you needed to good mom thanks I tried hard Mike this is so dumb you know oh you know we noticed

well one of the first comments you made was those the lights light fixtures I really like those I did too I took like a weird selfie oh by the way as part of the painting thing yeah I had a disgusting mustache and I got like a selfie of just me with my mustache with this really it is just a really neat

light fixture I have no idea how to describe it like it's not a chandelier but it was like pronged in many directions yeah felt a little very symmetrical yeah just big it provided a lot of light for a diner which I think comes along with a diner yeah it felt very art deco too it was within the theme

of the diner so they had a bar area like a diner bar not like a alcohol bar yeah and like like the the other side like the bar back side of it is pies basically and like little Bob figurines and above it there was like a countdown timer I mean it didn't not a timer timer is probably the wrong word it was digits yeah it was

a bar that hung down like an emergency exit sign but it just had the numbers 10 going down to one huh what's going on over there what's going on over there what's going on over there what's going on over there what's going on over there should I wear a shirt I can't

what's going on over there what is going on over there Garrett I think they are posting nuclear codes because this is a nuclear fallout shelter okay I think you're half right okay the numbers are not codes but yes it is a nuclear fallout shelter you know what that bar reminded me of what you

know when you get into an elevator and you look up and it tells you what floor you're on we're on the 10th floor the entire restaurant just descends underground 10 stories in the case of nuclear war we want to be at a Bob's big boy yes we want to ride that elevator down to the crust down to the fault

lines in earthquake prone Los Angeles get beneath them and be safe from everything so this is the tastiest fallout shelter ever it's self sustaining it's like its own little town they've got cars so you can get around they've got food so you have stuff to eat they've got everything you

could ever want they've got clothing options they've got booths so you can sleep yeah you can change your clothes you can have dignity they have their own bathrooms Bob's big boy is the place to go in case of nuclear war it is I now know what is going on over there so you had an explanation for the numbers

at the table but you said you're gonna wait to tell us but you said you had a suspicion I have a suspicion and I think that you your your explanations are set so much more interesting this might be a little boring patronize me keep it coming keep it coming but in the day I believe it's how the kitchen let the

waitresses know their order was ready so so like might be waitress number two oh the server not the like hey order number two is ready it would be like waitress number two come and get this that's right your order is interesting okay that feels demeaning like hey you're just a num I mean it but it's also it

may it's actually very visible from the entire restaurant interesting I how certain are you of that I'm pretty certain like you you've been to a place where that was a thing yes and you're just suspecting that that's what that was here exactly gotcha and I've seen the same numbers before too I've never

noticed that before in any restaurant you guys have your your thumbs ready to rate this this atmosphere yes I do hit me overall this big boy was I guess you're expected yellow dimly lit somewhat dingy diner complete with art deco decoration mm-hmm merch I'm gonna give it one thumb up okay it was what I

expected it to be and it succeeded at that but it didn't do anything to impress me okay mom Garrett I'm gonna also chime in with a one thumbs up it definitely gave me the warm nostalgic feeling in the atmosphere and that's what you were going for you want you wanted exactly what I I mean that is why we picked it

it was really your nostalgia so I'm glad to hear that you got that out of I did I don't have the same nostalgia for this place specifically I do love a diner feel but I almost love diners that aren't chains I like one-off diners that that is where I get my nostalgia from that is where I get excited when I when

I'm in the mood for a diner I almost never think of a chain unless it maybe has like two or three locations so the nostalgia factor wasn't there for me I do you know I like the like classic car vibe of it and maybe if we had been there on classic car night this score be different but I'm just gonna go no

thumbs I thought it was pretty like right down the middle didn't impress didn't disappoint it was just kind of there so I'm going zero thumbs on my atmosphere rating we'll be back after a short break okay so mom we told a story a couple episodes episode 8 our Bubba Gump shrimp episode and I talked

about getting pulled over when I was in Alabama my friend Herbert was driving the car we got pulled over by a couple of cops in like a Ford f-250 like the one that's bigger than the f-150 f-150 is not big enough for these gents they pulled you know right on our asses put their sirens on pulled us over officer we call

him officer hot dog because he just looked and sounded like I imagine a hot dog would walk up to you over like it was very I was just like wow this man's doing great I love hot dogs yes but he didn't seem smarter than one and he looked like one you can go back and listen to the to the story so you're

caught up to date but basically cop pulls me over and my friend who is a little bit darker complexion than I am who's driving and random County in Alabama we don't know what's going on he didn't really have a reason he ended up telling us that like we can't have a frame around our license plate despite

the fact that his Ford f-250 had a frame around its license plate but like was apparently trying to like do a drug bust or something because he saw a California license plate in Alabama and it didn't make sense for him for a Californian to be driving on the highway that we happen to be driving on but you

mom you mama birded mama bird mama bear mama bear you did not feed you regurgitated food oh yeah yeah you were a great mama bear in that you called and asked to speak to the manager can you tell me your side of this yeah well I was shocked number one that Michael was pulled over he's extremely obedient when

it comes to driving obnoxiously so I don't know why you guys are lying but just was a bit concerned that they were pulled over for no apparent reason and with the flow of traffic I was curious as to if it was a valid police officer that is what was weird about it because again no patch that said what county he

was from he just had like a little metal like bought at a target sheriff's badge that said task force exactly yeah so mama bear asked Michael where he was located figured out the county made a phone call to the sheriff of the county to inquire about why they might pull over a car for no valid reason yeah and yes

ma'am we occasionally do that but I was literally like we sometimes do that we sometimes just with no cause we throw shit at the wall and see what sticks that's our policing style here yeah really didn't have a comforting feeling after speaking with him but of course as a mama bear I worried for

them traveling you know through that area I admire your commitment and follow-through to trying to make heads roll I know that if we had ended up in a jail that you would have been there in less than five hours yeah this is basically just an appreciation segment thank you mom for being willing to

bust me and Herbert out of jail if need be but since you didn't need to you took names and and verbally kicked ass awesome your mama oh sears the hot dogs didn't you boil hot dogs growing up isn't that how you made hot dogs for me yes okay thanks officer hot dog boiled so we have a tragic announcement to make

we now have a worst server I don't know how I feel about this mom you agree well I mean you've only been with us to one place but like I felt like he might have almost been avoiding yeah and I didn't understand it maybe my mustache made him uncomfortable I don't know maybe your mustache made him uncomfortable could

have been the berets yeah could have been the painting could have been the fact that we were out for an hour and a half across the street painting the restaurant and filming it I don't think he would have noticed that really from inside I mean maybe but I don't think it would have been a focus of his I guess he

wasn't very good at noticing human beans roasted even like five feet away from us just completely ignoring us look people are busy they have a lot going on he may have just been having a bad day but when you also are seeing like the treatment other tables are getting yeah he gave complete full

service to everyone else personal and I don't know why like other than like we looked kind of silly like we're we're always nice I don't think we're more demanding than any other table or anything like that like honestly the only thing I ever really want is like the occasional eye contact and like check in

like hey you good I think I'm even less picky about like refills oh yeah this was my biggest thing with this guy our basic needs were not met we didn't get a single refill like you're sounding you're not gonna say it's unjustified but you're sounding fussy we'll get into some of the food later there was one

item that was really good but it was dry and I would have liked some water after it hmm I don't know it was disappointing like I don't know I he had a very pleasant demeanor yes he was he seemed he was very nice he was very nice smiley looks like he looked like your friendly uncle he did yeah he looked like

that uncle that you expect to smell good like just smells like fresh laundry or aftershave or something like he just he had that vibe of like and I didn't smell this guy I just want to put that on the record Michael did not smell the waiter at Bob's big boy let it be on the record let the record show I did not sniff our

waiter how did we get to this point clip this mom don't laugh away from the mic if you're having a good time my mom leaving away having a ball and you would never know well maybe she's leaning away from her son that's random strangers the whole point of why this is on the record is I didn't

sniff them but you sniff everyone else no I just noticed pleasant sense when I'm around them I don't make conscious how did we get to this point this is brought it up that's how he had a welcome hello and then it just went downhill from there and like as soon as he came to the table we're like hey we

made a painting and he was like oh that's cool I don't know if he even looked at it but like literally the painting we had just made was like propped up on the the table on like the up against the glass like yeah it was kind of like the backboard of our of our booth yeah our focal point I don't know what it was I

mean yeah you and I did look a little ridiculous we were wearing paint smeared aprons and berets and fake my well you had a fake mustache drawn on my mustache I don't know yeah I don't know there was just a very noticeable difference in attention compared to the other tables because all the all his other tables

were directly around us so we saw them yeah it was a bummer it kind of feels nice for once that this wasn't our fault normally if we request to move tables into someone else's section I get it we just overloaded this poor fellow but no we were properly seated here he was prepared for us no excuses there was a

very specific moment in the meal where I was like I guess where it dawned on me how inattentive he had been because usually I'm I'm not the first one to pick up on on bad service no unless it's like I'm very used to being seated and then no one comes and talks to me for like seven or eight minutes which was

that the case here I don't think we waited that long for the first check no no it wasn't it was strong with that but like that's what I'm used to and that'll get me to notice something but but other than that I'm it's usually pretty far into the meal where I'm like you know my drinks been empty for a

while or like I've had this question like can I get a thing of ketchup or like whatever that just that's when I start to notice or like when I order pasta and I want crushed red pepper flakes and I don't start my meal until the ten minutes later and it's now starting to get lukewarm and stuff just because they

took so long to like check in that's usually the point where I noticed to me this guy made it very far along before I noticed you guys noticed before me yes I asked to see a dessert menu you brought me a dessert menu dropped it off I look through it figure out what we want close the dessert menu as to you know indicate

like hey we're ready and I am not kidding you when I say I see the table kind of across the aisle to our right get their drinks get their order in get their salads brought to them in the 15 minutes the amount of time that it took for us to get a dessert order now you counted the exact amount of times that he

passed by how many was that I feel so petty you know what the answer is way too much so I'm going to give it this week's this is way too much award our server passed by us eleven times with no eye contact and it was one of those very deliberate I'm looking over you and then we realized we only ever got service when

we flagged them down the entire meal but that is way too much I agree yes I could see you starting to my blood was and I have to admit I finally said sir yeah stop this madness yeah put an end to our you're getting agitated I well I was being agitated largely for the bit and y'all's entertainment it was a little

annoying to me you know obviously to him I didn't make a scene I was just a little vein starting there was no vein I'm not a hot dog I still think the fact that you counted every single time and every time he passed you added to the count yeah this week Michael you are a fussy little boy Michael is a fussy little boy Michael is a fussy little boy

baby Michael is a fussy little boy Michael is a fussy little boy yeah I gotta I gotta give two thumbs down for this service I hate doing it I I feel like an asshole talking about servers like I do like I don't want to be that guy who's complaining but it is part of the dining experience it just objectively is a good server can make a meal we have

had meals that were made by great service Bubba gum shrimp company was so fun it really was I look back at that experience fondly despite I wouldn't recommend the food really but I had a fun time there and I would go back because the service was such a good time it's just inevitably part of the dining experience

so we have to talk about it yeah but I gotta go to thumbs down here and I that's completely legit I agree to I'm going to thumbs down because simply because our basic needs were not met yeah I want plates removed I want refills given in a timely manner and when you walk by just say hi yeah acknowledges that's all and

and I will say like that I know I'm going to thumbs down there is worse service out there yeah totally wasn't mean no he wasn't like insulting so I again he's not like the world's worst server but we're restaurant reviewers and I would like to take our goal seriously I do to know I agree the results I agree I agree I think

it is very fair to give this information even if it makes us sound picky which I mean I don't think our expected I think our expectations have been reasonable yeah I restaurant we've gone I have very low expectations give me my food refill my drinks just I'm not even like I don't even get bought and I

say this is someone who has had to like ask for the cheese to be taken off many many times I'm like if someone brings something and the item is incorrect I am used to that way not and that didn't happen here I'm just I want to say that but that's not even a thing I dock points for on service that's usually the

kitchen mm-hmm and at the end of the day I'm used to it you know you get a modification to an item it's not the way they normally do it maybe they went into autopilot when they made it whatever I never hold that against service or even the restaurant really I'm used to it it's okay but I do have principles and

they largely just have to do with hey just check in with us so I feel like we're trying to justify giving an honest review right now and I know we nothing is ever personal I've worked in the service industry so like I know the struggle I worked as a hotel Bellman I gave tours for a while so you know I've

worked at a grocery store like I know what the what the face-to-face customer interaction life is like it's not always easy but like there has to be a standard that that you can talk about on the receiving end yeah so anyways mom yeah well I do have a theory we were wonderful customers wanting to try a lot

of dishes and I think in order for him to take the dessert order he had to commit to removing all the empty plates and I'm guessing interesting there wasn't room for the dessert on the table right well yeah so and speaking of room for dessert you can check out the great rap song on our Olive Garden musical

episode room for dessert I hope you save room for dessert because my creamy black tie mousse cake will have you losing your shirt and the strawberry cream cake with ice cream is oozing the melt so treat yourself boo and loosen your belt look here's what we'll do I bring some tiramisu a pair of these

spoons and let you love birds tear it into weight y'all look like you smoked a pound of the ganja and we'll probably be fond of the chocolate brownie lasagna all right mom continue I I believe that in the commitment to taking your dessert order yeah was he had not even considered that way that's not a fair thing to do

because usually restaurants will like as plates are and becoming empty they'll take them away so it shouldn't pile up like that to begin with I don't think we didn't feel like we had a busser so yeah yeah that's right yeah I mean I think that's an interesting theory I don't know if I agree with it but I can't

fully say that I disagree with it because again he was nice I wouldn't anticipate a reason to get attitude from him other than maybe he's sick of tiktokers coming in we're interesting not tiktokers we have a tiktok we were also taking pictures of all of our food and filming shenanigans across the street walking

around the restaurant taking pictures but this is the paradigm for a tourist trap true so he should be used to that regardless of where we're posting it yeah you know I'm trying to defend this guy this is more of I you're well you're trying to hypothesize why what happened happened this is actually hey audience

how do you guys feel are we the assholes are we the assholes like we're gonna keep talking about service because again I love talking like when we have a good server it's so fun to talk about yeah all we're gonna do is call it like we see it yeah is that wrong servers out there are we being polite enough are we being

impolite like feedback please yeah all right so mom if you had to put a thumb rating on the service overall for the service aspect of it I would get a give it a two thumbs down okay yeah no I know it's tragic but luckily they had the nostalgia in the food that you like so that that bumped it up you know well

we'll get into that and now a word from our totally not made up sponsor oh hi there it's job jubb and I'm back employed in a whole new way I had to take some time off taming the animatronics at the rainforest cafe because I developed a tranquilizer addiction but don't worry about me I've got my own

little personal rehab inside of the Bob's big boy statue not the big one outside the little one on the indoors because I like the sentence of flap jacks I will not be using anymore because I am inside my own personal rigid PVC and HCFC blown urethane foam rehab but while I'm in here other than playing one man

P-knuckle I can double as an air traffic controller that's right are you a waiter who's trying to avoid certain customers I'll look through the high holes like an old school you painting and I'll tell you when they're not looking I'll just put my lips up to the eye hole afterwards and I'll just go go ahead but I'll be

really screwed about it I'll do it in a frequency that only servers can hear like a dog whistle don't worry about me getting uncomfortable I've won awards for how long I can hold still because of all the sleeping beauty cosplay contests I've entered and one if you want jubs air traffic control just call me if you

happen to be inside of a Bob's big boy now with your phone just go over and whisper in the ear and I will help you dodge those annoying customers okay bye food we got to try a lot of things as has kind of become customary for us where we're splitting each other's dishes often or at least taking a bite

here and there inviting friends with us so we can kind of sneak bites off their plates for the things that have eluded things we would be insane to order as only two people chili spaghetti chili spaghetti yeah why don't we why don't we start with that instead of going in order let's just go with the craziest

menu item they have that just chili but it's just a combination of words that bothers me chili spaghetti what are you doing ugh onions and cheese and chili on top of spaghetti my friend Stephen was with us he had the chili spaghetti you and I both grabbed a fork full of it pre-cheese

pre-cheese uh and then we also did you try the toast I did not try the toast a little too buttery it was like a Texas toast I I usually love me a good Texas toast mom you can vouch for that I can um there's been nothing that I've just eaten by the box more in my life than than a good Texas toast garlic bread

the bread was like a four out of ten it was it was not great oh that's sad like it is sad it's such a layup growing up for me was always so good I mean I don't know if they changed the recipe if I got a bad corner of it or if I just think our tastes are different but I didn't love it I didn't get to taste it but it

looked like they put a lot of parmesan on it was it a little cheesy for you maybe maybe yeah maybe that's why I didn't like it maybe that's the taste that was standing out to me because I'm just like no I'm not a cheese fan sorry I know it it it invalidates all of my reviews as well as Garrett's

except it doesn't because we here at the fine dining podcast want to provide you our loyal listeners with the most complete food reviews that you can get and that includes bringing you a cheese review so even though it's not going to be from me it's not going to be from Garrett we have put things in place so

that our friend Steven who was with us at Bob's big boy has been promoted that's right Steven is now our cheese correspondent but because we don't like cheese we're still only giving it one minute now to make matters worse Steven hurt his jaw so we need someone else to fill in for him who we got oh

hi it's me Joel McHale I'm filling in for Steven today as you guys know Steven had a jaw injury might have been from a rogue bean or piece of con carne I'm not sure anyway Steven get better it's Joel McHale I will be doing the review of Bob's famous chili spaghetti from Bob's big boy these are Steven's

words so I actually did not taste it yet but pretend that I have here we go hi it's me Steven Joel McHale and here's the thing about Bob's famous chili spaghetti I guess it's famous first of all that's great I haven't heard of it but that doesn't mean it's not maybe I don't know it's famous for

something else maybe it was got a bronze metal and snowboard I don't know here's the thing about Bob's famous chili spaghetti from Bob's big boy noodles a little too big okay just a little too big the chili was pureed now I'm okay with that but it was pureed the cheddar was enjoyable but didn't add

that much so maybe maybe a little more flavorful cheddar I could tell that it was freshly grated which was good because it melted that way you can tell usually that and you can also you know flavor comes out a little bit more but it became one with the chili which some people love and some people don't love

so it's not overall the famous chili spaghetti was nice and it was there I give it a 6.5 out of 10 this has been Joel McHale Steven I've got a working job Steven again I hope you get better Michael and Garrett thanks and I hope the cheesy dishes section of the podcast goes well cheers to you guys thanks for having

me mom you didn't try it right I did not try it the color was a little off-putting oh yeah brown not appetizing to you no lots of browns and grays in this meal yeah the two healthiest colors so now we'll jump to the the stuff that we like ordered for ourselves and for the table we got the chicken fingers for the

appetizer I thought they were okay didn't set I guess I'm gonna say it a lot this episode didn't set my world on fire there's a lot of things my world is not burning right now I thought they needed more seasoning I think I think with just a couple more spices these chicken fingers really could have popped 5 out of

10 to me for the chicken fingers I've really enjoyed these chicken fingers they tasted great crispy crunchy like I like the salt flavor you know it was just enough but still these were deep fried frozen chicken tenders thrown out of a bag I'm giving it a 6 out of 10 I can't go any higher for deep fried food

like this I think my 5 comes from the potential I saw in them I thought the texture was so well done that with like the right spice and a better sauce would have taken them quite a bit higher like all they needed to do was just take the chicken breast slices and hand batter them and do the same thing yeah they

could have been an 8 out of 10 yeah I enjoyed the chicken fingers I am not a connoisseur of chicken fingers regularly I honestly thought they were great with the sauce I tried them in which was did you have the ranch or the barbecue it was the ranch okay and I enjoyed them I'm going for a 7 you're going for a 7

all right yeah respect I mean hey we're good we can all have our different palettes you boil hot dogs so you know I mean oh no no I'm not invalidating you at all no no no no no no not at all how dare you invalidate the woman that chose to save your life she didn't do anything she just checked in she was like

well at least I'll know he's in jail we also got onion rings for the table plus one fry we got one bonus fry inside of our onion ring order instantly I claim I called dibs I'm a big fan of bagglers which technically it's not a baggler you know a straggler that's left in the bottom of the bag when you order

fast food it's like you the same thing happens when you get burger king onion rings yes you eat the ones from the bag first and then you remove the box from the bag and you have to remove the fries first and eat them before you get to the onion rings yes I thought they were good they weren't anything special but

they were a very solid entry into the onion ring family I wouldn't go to Bob's because of the onion rings but I think I would regularly order the onion rings if I went to Bob's I'm going seven out of ten on the onion rings I'm not going to explain anything about these onion rings I'm going to give you the rating six out

of ten on those the thing that caught my eye our friend Stephen doubts oh no that's right ring no no no he did it like a steering wheel oh god he put that he dunked the onion ring oh my god why did you bring this up I forgot about it and it's so upsetting he's an onion ring rose douser he's a

douser we haven't had a douser since episode three the salad douser old spaghetti factory episode number three Stephen is a ranch steward is he related to milk steve the cream lord that's a thing he would do might be he does like creamy foods I see he is in my d&d group and he brings a Tupperware of cream every

week oh well of cream creamy foods not straight-up cream yeah oh my god I blocked that out I had to get rid of it so I believe he didn't want to double tip so his solution was to dip once but the entire onion ring well it made him look like a crazy person

I appreciate the consideration but Stephen you're getting called out for your truly insane approach to turning your onion ring like a steering wheel inside of a cup of ranch did you try them you think of them yeah do you like them I'm going with the five onion rings right in the middle yeah I think I like the

larger thicker onion rings oh like the tempura batter yeah those are good yeah those to me are where like you get the eights nines and ten ratings yeah but I you know I think the standard type of onion ring the mediocre yeah yeah um and I still think there's room on the scale for it to be called good but it's

not gonna be great it's not gonna be like oh my god there was that one piece of lettuce the bed of lettuce that the onion rings were served on but no one ate that because of course not oh man so what was I was hoping Stephen would have just dipped that in the ranch and gone to town just looking at us like it's

not an insane thing to do I contact with us just just like yeah I'm having a salad in my stop covering your laughter mom it was a snort you don't have to cover your laughter mom it's okay pig boy what did you call me we'll start with you mom what was your

order the original big boy cheeseburger classic with french fries what'd you think amazing really for me yes very nostalgic the french fries in particular uh-huh oh i've got a thought on the fries were I'm I'm going to 10 you're going oh wow wow going with the big dog rating so one of my first big boy

memories was my very first french fry dipping into my shake oh that's right yeah milkshake how was your milkshake the combo the combo is the 10 oh yeah our scale does not exceed okay mom respect the scale okay I'll try okay so so my mother introduced me to the fries that get

dipped in the shake yeah yeah which you introduced me but via Wendy's but I believe it yeah I believe it started at big boys for you and those fries were so crisp they completely held up to the dipping yeah swirling the bottom of my shake and they still were crisp yeah 10 10 wow is that a 10 for

fries and 10 for milkshake yes okay great a strong entry into the kind of your your stereotypical fast food items from bobs yeah and what did you give your burger a score no but I I have a thought on my burger so I believe that mcdonald's big mac actually stole was the inspiration for sure from big boys you're

getting us into legal trouble with these accusations you're whipping around the thousand island dressing you know and to this day if I have a big mac it kind of triggers the the the thought of big boy yeah did you give that a number uh I'm gonna go with a nine on the burger out of all the burgers you've had in your life

for what I was expecting from my big boy burger I'm giving it a nine well all right Garrett you also got a big boy I got the exact same thing you gave me the first bite because I did not order one but I got mine without cheese and without mayo now does mayo remove the thousand island no there was it was

still there you still had everything is still there okay so you offered me your first bite and I bit into the side and it was I got none of the sauce I got a fully dry bite oh four out of ten ouch I feel like it's a not informed bite it does not factor too heavily into my overall bobs rating once I got into a

bite that had all elements of the burger it was a very strong big boy burger it was still juicy the buns stayed a little crispy on the edges too buttery still tender flavorful burger but I still can only give it a six out of ten because within the realm of burgers like when we're up against an islands when we're

up against an outback it just to me yeah just like like this doesn't this is nowhere near like the foreman's whiskey tavern burger oh my gosh me too yeah so this was an amazing which is right down the street from bobs yeah and I wish we would have gone it can only be a six out of ten but the fries I agree with you

completely on every element of that they were firm they were crisp they held up they were tender on the inside they were perfectly salted that's got to be a strong eight point five out of ten fry all right I oh what you're not done you got another entree yes the Belgian waffle with strawberries

and whipped cream this is a food I get every single time I visit big boy yeah my entire life I've always gotten this I always associate diners with breakfast food I almost exclusively get breakfast dishes which actually wasn't the case here today but I'm glad that we had a breakfast entry into our food discussion

you also gave me a bite of your your strawberry Belgian waffle but the floor is yours to talk about it you ordered it there was slightly more vanilla in the waffle batter than I'm used to which I thought that was an improvement it was crisp on the outside still warm and tender on the inside the whipped cream

didn't melt at all the strawberries were just tart enough this may have been one of the best big boy Belgian waffles with strawberry that I've ever had saying that I can only give it a six point five out of ten because no matter how much I love these things nostalgia can't win over the fact that

this is pre-packaged corn syrup filled artificial strawberry sauce and strawberries that come in a bag that are just piped on to the waffle like yeah unless this is homemade strawberry sauce I can't score it higher I had this bite kind of at the end of the meal so I didn't get it hot I thought it

was about a six out of ten maybe I don't know yeah it wasn't warm but like I don't know the process nature of it I've just come to accept that that's that's what food is these days especially at a chain like all the restaurants we're going to we're not in homemade kitchens you can say that about literally any place we have

gone to and are going to other than the ones that we know are going to be like really highly rated which would be silly for us to go there in the search for mediocrity but we're still gonna do it we want to get all the chains so yeah it it doesn't bug me too much uh yeah

would I say six mm-hmm I'll go six yeah it was it was good it was you know what I'm gonna go seven I'm gonna go seven for my not warm bite I also didn't even have syrup on it which I didn't I didn't either because I never do you don't need it I didn't even notice the thing otherwise I would have

yeah and then my meal I ended up getting the Bob's now famous pulled pork sandwich as it's called also came with fries I didn't think the fries were like perfection the way that you did mom I didn't think the fries were like I can already think of at least a few examples that I'm like these places

easily better fries so it's not the best of conversation for me but it was a solid hand it was a strong worker seven and a half good fries very good fries yeah I wanted to keep eating them it wasn't like oh well I'll eat them because they're there no I wanted more of that taste throughout the meal kept

going back to them very good texturally and you keep wanting more my pulled pork sandwich came with coleslaw I took one bite tasted it wrote down a score of five out of ten barely registered on my radar the sandwich itself I looked at it I know what I'm about to describe is going to sound unappetizing

it but immediately to me I was like oh so it looks like they had like a patty shaped mold that they put it in like a jello mold or something it it was just like weirdly patty shaped but it's pulled pork like pulled pork is usually if you like look at it it's kind of got little pieces jutting out and

what not like yeah this looked like they like pulled it out of a bag that it shipped in heated it the way that they're supposed to eat it put it on a bun and hand it to you the bun was good I looked at it no sauce there's nothing on there and it was the

best thing I had it was really good I was shocked it was really good it's an eight out of ten but not on like a standard barbecue scale it's eight out of ten on like a diner scale but it was the best thing I had at this meal I was like this is in its own special way delicious

I got a bite of this I almost when you offered me I said yeah before I eat this if I put this in my mouth my rating is going to drop that is literally what you said and me knowing better because I was like I know this tastes pretty good it was just like okay

challenge accepted go ahead enjoy your bite tank your rating and then I took a bite wow it was good this was extremely smoky flavorful yeah it was good it was really good pulled pork and it did feel like you know whatever package they got it out of because we're gonna just assume and

if you didn't get out of if you didn't cut it out of a package Bob's big boy prove us wrong show us the receipts we're willing to be corrected on this yeah I'm giving this a seven out of ten and I would go higher if it wasn't dry and I wasn't missing water to drink

after it it uh it didn't have a sauce like there was no sauce on the bun it did feel like whatever package it came out of had some sauce in there not a lot not a heavy sauce but it definitely felt like there was something maybe like a lighter or a less viscous vinegar based sauce maybe yeah and I

wouldn't even say it tasted too strongly but it definitely gave it a moisture that you didn't expect and then lastly we got dessert Bob's famous hot fudge cake if you can't tell we pointed at the menu at all the things that they were like hey best foot forward anything that had Bob's

famous next to it or Bob's in front of it were kind of our first choices for what to get this was also a very good part of the meal but largely I felt that the meal was very average

and then we had a solid dessert and uh the pulled pork sandwich I liked a lot actually I want to interject something there was a question that came up during the meal that I just saw oh yeah how wet does dairy need to be to be considered a drink you could phrase that in any way you

want and that's the way you chose to phrase it I just want to point that out yeah I have to honor our friend milk steve the cream lord the way that I wrote this down was milkshake drinker food let's figure out the math mom milkshake

drinker food food you think food you told me drink last night were you trying to prevent me from drinking a milkshake were you trying to deprive me trying to help you my doll from what

your health put it to words mom help me from what actually to be fair you yourself during the meal said man I hope this doesn't count as a drink because I only have a few months left this year and I don't want to get started I made a new year's resolution that for

2022 the only beverage I'm allowing myself is water we are recording this in late October and I have not broken that that resolution yet it's crazy but this man has done it I mean I've had a lot of like seltzer water and like flavored water

but nothing with sugar you know I've I've stuck to you've done great yeah so it was more for like yeah if we open the floodgates on defining a milkshake as a drink that means for the rest of the year I'm gonna have a lot of

milkshakes and undo some of my weight loss progress which has already kind of been on like a slow backslide and I need to get back on it so do you think it is a drink or a food I think there is a transition point I think when you eat it with a spoon

it is a food I think when you drink it through a straw it is a drink however I think just the mere fact that it's served in a cup kind of makes it a drink so I'm kind of leaning towards it's mostly a drink which is why I've

abstained from milks milkshakes but yeah I mean I desperately want them to be a food I'm gonna have to go 50-50 on that yeah the milkshake in the metal container is ice cream that's ice cream that is a food

the milkshake in a glass is a drink gotcha and I'm gonna agree with the it starts as a food turns into a drink but does ice cream do the same like would you ever call ice cream a drink even when like once it's become soupy

you would just say that's melted ice cream you wouldn't say that's an ice cream drink right but I interjected french fries oh so you're so all right so you have a different part of your equation that you're including

I don't know well this is the debate listeners chime in send us an email find dining podcast at gmail.com if we like your argument we'll read it on the show you don't have to agree with us you can be in a fiery rage over these opinions

that we have and if we find it entertaining to discuss we will bring it back yeah wet dairy now that we are out of that we gotta we gotta rate the food oh well we gotta talk about the

dessert the dessert the hot fudge cake the Bob's famous hot fudge cake I give an eight out of ten very solid spoonful all the way down I know that's something you like yes that was great good taste

it was an eight out of ten with the caveat of like I don't know this whole place had like a lowered expectation for me I just haven't carried a ton of respect for the food at Bob so it's like an eight out of ten because it surpassed

my expectations I don't know how I would compare it to maybe another place where I have something at me that I'll do that for you I'll give it a six out of ten because it wasn't bad it was consistent you could take the spoon down through

the entire dish yeah they're leaning into their strengths which are like sauces you can't screw up chocolate sauce unless you're olive garden ice cream you can't screw up ice cream a moist chocolate cake

you really can't screw that up so they put consistent food on our plate yeah it's not gourmet but it's fine it's solid it's satisfying

I would go with an eight it was a solid last bite of my meal and I love chocolate fair did you get the cherry yeah cherry was good cherry was a little added bonus I think that might be why I'm at the eight

because I do I do like me a cherry on top despite food being the best part of the whole night for me if I'm comparing it to the atmosphere in the service I'm still going zero thumbs on food the fries were strong the pulled pork sandwich was strong for what I expected

the dessert was strong for what I expected but even still I think I just came in with a lower expectation of bobs that it like kind of impressed on in a couple aspects you know the chicken fingers I wanted more the chili spaghetti was insanity the bite I had of the big boy

you know the things they hang their hat on didn't do a lot for me so zero thumbs mediocre I'm also going to go zero thumbs it's I was completely satisfied through the entire meal nothing offended me

at the same time nothing impressed me it was basically sixes across the board yeah so it was this is a friendly zero thumbs yeah and I I agree with that it is a strong zero thumbs

yes like this was almost one thumb up yes I agree I'm going with the one thumb up okay I did not taste the chili spaghetti I'm sorry I didn't take a bite of your pork

honestly oh yeah but of everything that I had I was very pleased one thumb okay okay final rating

mom how'd you feel I came up with a six point two across the board six point two zero across the board I'm guessing the food and the nostalgia are what factored in heavily for you right yes exactly I wish I could say that I had even that high of an opinion of this experience I had fun

I had fun everywhere we go even even a quote-unquote bad experience or subpar experience usually it's about the company and kind of the way we spin it and the stuff that we can get out of it the service really bugged me and the atmosphere and the food were just they were just okay

so you know honestly if service had been better this would have been very close to my perfect five but that wasn't the case I'm going four point two two ooh now for me the food was fine

the atmosphere was fine and entertaining and frankly the service was abysmal so I'm overall going to have to give this a four point three four with the caveat of I'm totally coming back to this place I love Bob's big boy like one poor service experience the same for me

did bring this rating down but it didn't break the place it didn't break the place for me at all my experience last night is not going to change how I feel about this chain at all yeah so you went four point three four I went four point two two

mom you went six point two zero that averages out two four point nine two let's throw it up on the chachki of mediocrity we have a new most mediocre restaurant wow we are point zero eight away once we factor in all those scores

from the perfect five but you know what that means we got to keep looking yeah the search will continue we are still going but there is no you must bowl this week no

we get a little break so finally you know no one needs to stand outside of a restaurant and paint next week because we are safely within the bounds of four to six however

we do always want suggestions from you guys so go ahead and email us find diningpodcast at gmail.com your suggestions for the you must bowl these are the things we must do if one of us picks a place that falls outside of that four to six score range make sure it's something where

the only people that look silly are us we're not there to mess with any other patrons or anything like that but we are willing to look pretty dumb yeah we want to add to the dining experience of people around us even if they're just laughing at us

yes but since our search continues that means we need to play a little game the rules of the headline game are as follows Michael will present three headlines to Garrett that include this week's restaurant they can be made up or they can be actual headlines

if Garrett can correctly guess if at least two out of three are real or fake he will get to select next week's restaurant however if Michael stumps him he'll select again are you ready to play fellas yeah I'm ready

I'm ready all right so because we have you as a guest mom this week's gonna run a little bit differently you have the opportunity to potentially win the right to pick our next restaurant I'm going to present the headlines because I am the one who picked Bob's big boy for us and if either of you get two correct

you get to pick if both of you get the same score there will be a tiebreaker so great first headline big boy rings an 85th anniversary with double decker burger eating competition true true

second headline iconic big boy restaurant mascot has been replaced by a girl named Dolly false I'm gonna go true because I bet that was just like a month long promotion or something it sounds like a PR stunt

big boy puts iconic face on Christmas that's so bland I guess let's go true big boy rings an 85th anniversary with double decker burger eating competition you both said true I made that up but it sounds convincing

it sounds very convincing that's the thing they would do iconic big boy restaurant mascot has been replaced by a girl named Dolly mom you said false Garrett you said true that one was true now lastly

big boy puts iconic face on Christmas that one sounded bland yeah it's true I know it's a bland headline but the article itself is very interesting Christmas tree holiday tree

Christmas tree holiday the squabble over what to call this tinseled time honored symbol has been a rat dropping in the egg nog for good many folks this season not so for Karen and Rob Rickard who have tossed the whole tree tradition like an unwanted fruit cake

there's no mistaking what now occupies the spot where the family fur once stood the photograph doesn't lie that there's a big boy I've known the Rickards for years these are fine sensible Spokane residents so when I heard my friends had replaced their tree with a genuine five foot

tall advertising fixture from a national burger chain well there's only one course of action I hurried to their South Hills home to get a look before the white coach for mental health showed up Karen met me at the front door she led me into the living room

where big boy beamed at me from a piece of prime real estate in front of the picture window oh come let us adore him I haven't eaten at a big boy since I was a kid according to the restaurant website both Washington and Idaho

are devoid of big boy franchises California is the closest state with one yet the company trademark with his exaggerated hair curl and red and white checkerboard overalls is still one of America's instantly recognizable advertising icons with no disrespect to Santa

this jolly fat lad is pretty festive Karen adored their big boy with a strand of multicolored bulbs she topped his hoisted burger with an artificial tree she wrapped a tree skirt around his base and loaded it with presents and poinsettias I know what some of you are thinking

a big boy a Bob's big boy instead of a tree oh lord what's happening to Christmas there's more to it it's a very entertaining article it's uh by Doug Clark from the spokesman review in December 22nd 2005

just a very entertaining article to me very very pleasantly written yeah but Garrett you got two out of three correct that means you get to pick where we are going next week I'm in the mood for some chaos all right what does that mean

Waffle House you're from Austin right yeah there's one there can we come to Austin can we come over mom absolutely thank you

all right um cool well we are on the road next week we're gonna go to Waffle House I think I've been to one Waffle House on like a road trip through the south growing up like this might be an adventure oh it's gonna be an adventure

the fact that there's a thing called the Waffle House index oh no that gauges right how bad a storm is yeah based on the amount of Waffle Houses

that are actually closed interesting yeah they will stay open through anything will they stay open through us find out thanks everyone for listening to the fine dining podcast

the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America we will be back next week from the Waffle House but in the meantime send us your stories from Waffle House if you used to work at a Waffle House boy do I bet you have some stories oh yes please

send those our way find dining podcast at gmail.com go ahead follow us on all our socials at find dining podcast on instagram on tiktok as well and the search continues

until next time have a fine day she did it the search continues we still need the perfect five the search continues like and subscribe the search continues

our journey did not conclude the motherhood and search continues write us an iTunes review and hey while you're at it why don't you go ahead and make it five stars come on follow us on tiktok

the same on Instagram all the socials at find dining podcast we have a website find dining podcast.com buy our t-shirts then put them on and don't forget

you can always suggest where we go next okay we're going to find it mediocrity the search continues see you next week heard my throat a little

have a fine day