Battle of the Big Boys

Big Boy Restaurant Group (Southfield, Mich.) is looking to reopen 55 closed Frisch’s restaurants in Cincinnati and elsewhere by June 1, CEO Tamer Afrtold told The Enquirer. Looking to stop that from happening is Frisch’s (Cincinnati), which said it owns the rights to use the Big Boy name in the market.

While that fight makes its way through the courts (see below), Big Boy has reopened two former Frisch’s locales in the Cincinnati market as Dolly’s Burgers & Shakes — one in the northern suburb of Blue Ash, the other in Anderson Township on the city’s east side. (According to brand lore, Dolly was Big Boy’s boyfriend.)

Those openings came on the heels of a federal court issuing a temporary order barring the Michigan-based company from using the Big Boy name, after Frisch’s sued claiming it has “exclusive” rights to the moniker in most of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. Afr said the company would prefer to operate the eateries under the Big Boy name, but that depends on the outcome of the court case.

Both businesses began decades ago as early franchisees of the Big Boy chain famed for its double-decker hamburger that was founded in California. The Michigan company is descended from the Elias Brothers franchisee that eventually bought out the parent company. It now owns and operates 56 Big Boy restaurants and controls the brand nationwide.

Afr told The Enquirer that Big Boy began talks to take over old Frisch’s locations in October after its previous landlord, Orlando-based NNN Reit, had started the eviction process, claiming it was owed more than $4.5 million in back rent. That led to Frisch’s shuttering roughly 50 locales, leaving it with just over 30.