BURGER BASH; BOB'S BIG BOY CUSTOMERS LOOK BACK AT 50 YEARS OF GOOD EATING.

Byline: Douglas Haberman Daily News Staff Writer

Serving up equal portions of nostalgia and fried red meat on buns, the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy restaurant in the United States celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday with a beach party and classic car show.

The MacDonald family, owners of the coffee shop at the corner of Riverside Drive and Rose Street, trucked in 200 tons of white sand to create a ``beach'' in the back parking lot.

A disc jockey spun popular tunes from the '50s, '60s and '70s, as people sat on blankets and beach chairs under umbrellas, munching on hamburgers. Celebrants watched people sculpt sand castles, gyrate with Hula Hoops and toss softballs at a dunk tank, hoping to soak a muscle man or bikini-clad woman.

Hundreds of people attended.

Jonathan Malden's 2-1/2-year-old son Spencer adored the Bob's Big Boy statue but ran crying from a costumed version who greeted diners. Malden, 29 - a lifelong Burbank resident - reminisced about visits to Bob's for dinner after high school football games and, as he grew older, stops for the sustenance of solid food after a night of liquid indulgence.

He said he hopes the restaurant will still be busy in another 50 years. ``Everybody can agree on it'' when figuring out where to eat, he said.

The party and yet another chance to consume the famous burgers lured 13 members of the DiBene family of Sylmar, who eat at the restaurant once a month, said Norma DiBene.

``They're the best,'' she said of the burgers.

At one point, ``Tonight Show'' host Jay Leno drove a Stanley Steamer down an alleyway between the restaurant and back parking lot, passing all the hubbub and stirring up his own as people rushed to see him go by.

Philip MacDonald, who runs the coffee shop for his family, said it draws patrons from across Southern California, including car club types who drive from as far away as San Diego and San Luis Obispo to gather in the back parking lot Friday nights.

``We're just tickled pink that people like it so much,'' he said.

MacDonald's father, Scott MacDonald, built the restaurant in 1949 at the corner of Riverside Drive and Rose Street. Ever since, the rotund little mascot in red- and white-checked overalls has stood sentry out front.

Scott MacDonald was a friend of Bob Wian, the man who started the Bob's Big Boy chain with his first restaurant in Glendale in 1937, said Philip MacDonald.

The MacDonald family owned the Burbank coffee shop but didn't operate it until 1993. The family took over that year in part to wage a campaign against historic site designation of the restaurant by the city.

Business was lackluster at the time, and the family thought the restaurant could be torn down and a more profitable retail center possibly put in its place, MacDonald said.

Despite hiring an expensive downtown law firm and an expensive public relations firm, the family lost its nine-month fight. The City Council voted 5-0 in favor of the designation.

``They want hamburgers, we'll give them hamburgers,'' MacDonald said the family decided.

Not only did the family bring back all fresh food, it also spruced up the building, which mixes 1940s streamline moderne with the free-form look of 1950s coffee shops.

They added an outdoor patio, shored up the landmark tower sign and remodeled the dining room. They also reintroduced carhop service on Saturday and Sunday nights, which MacDonald said no other Southern California restaurant offers.

The changes worked, and customers returned in droves, MacDonald said.

``There's nothing we could put here that could compete with the business we're doing now,'' he said as people waited outside the restaurant for a table inside.

The party was a way to thank all the patrons, MacDonald said.

Now there are only about five Bob's Big Boys left in the region, out of 125 that once dotted the landscape. Most were sold off to Carrow's and Coco's, MacDonald said.

If the restaurant remains popular, the next generation of MacDonalds is ready to take over. ``It'd be easy to just step in,'' said 15-year-old Chad MacDonald, Philip's youngest son.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Phil MacDonald of Bob's Big Boy in Burbank poses with the kid.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(2 -- 3) These photos of uniformed employees were shot at the historic Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake.

(4 -- color) Jay Leno and a friend cruised through the restaurant's parking lot during its 50th anniversary party.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer