Why was Bob’s Big Boy important to David Lynch? Connection explored as fans flock to the restaurant to pay tribute
As the world mourns the death of legendary American filmmaker David Lynch, his fans flocked to casual dining restaurant Bob's Big Boy in Los Angeles County to pay homage to the late director. Lynch died at the age of 78 on January 15, 2025.
The Blue Velvet and Elephant Man director was battling a chronic lung disease called emphysema before he died.
A couple of days after he passed away, local Lynch fans went to Bob's Big Boy in Burbank which is believed to be Lynch's favorite diner.
Lynch revealed back in 2015, in a video shared by Bob's Big Boy on YouTube, that he ordered their chocolate milkshake with coffee "for seven years every day at 2:30" after lunch and wrote notes on the diner's napkins. Besides being Lynch's favorite American diner, it also plays a significant role in the Lynch lore.
It was at Bob's Big Boy that the idea for Dennis Hopper's character Frank Booth in Blue Velvet was created, per the diner's website, and that is where David Lynch invited Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan for a "chemistry lunch."
Laura Dern spoke about this meeting in an interview with W Magazine in October 2019. She recalled that they ordered "malts and French Fries" and that Lynch was doing what he always did— doodling on the napkins.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, David Lynch recalled how he found inspiration for Blue Velvet's Frank Booth and said,
"One day though in Bob's I saw a man come in, and he came in to the counter, and that's all I remember of this man. But seeing him came a feeling, and that's where Frank Booth came from."
Also read: Who was David Lynch married to?
David Lynch devotees raised coffee and chocolate milkshakes in honor of the late filmmaker
Following the news of Lynch's passing, fans flocked to Bob's Big Boy in Burbank on Thursday, January 16, to pay tribute to David Lynch. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Lynch fans raised the late director's quintessential diner menu orders—coffee and chocolate milkshake—in his honor.
The five-foot-tall Big Boy statue made of fiberglass reportedly became the impromptu altar where fans left red roses, unlit candles, unsmoked cigars, Coca-Cola bottles, coffee mugs, and other memorabilia in honor of the Inland Empire director. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the burger joint from the 1950s chain, which has a 166-person capacity was filled with the bustle of Lynch superfans on Thursday night, with many of them dressing up for the occasion.
Fans were reportedly wearing T-shirts or hats inspired by some of Lynch's hit projects, including Eraserhead and Twin Peaks. Besides fans, employees of Walt Disney Studios, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros. Studios, which are located nearby, also went to the diner on Thursday night to pay their respects.
Anonymous art project Diva Corp also organized a vigil on Thursday evening, which further drew hundreds to the diner to remember the late David Lynch and his lasting legacy as a filmmaker.
