21-02-2025
Frisch's ex-landlord: 28 former Big Boys rented to new restaurant
Could Greater Cincinnati recoup more than two dozen of its lost Big Boy restaurants this spring?
The former landlord of Frisch's Big Boy, a Florida real estate company indicated last week in a corporate filing that it was still in the eviction process for 64 properties for the beleaguered diner operator. But the company, Orlando-based NNN Reit, added it had taken back possession of more than half those locations, '28 of which properties have been re-leased to another restaurant operator with rent commencing May 1.'
The filing appears to confirm a claim by Frisch's last week that Michigan-based Big Boy plans to reopen dozens of its restaurants shuttered via eviction since October. The date in the filing indicates the restaurants could open this spring.
In a lawsuit filed last week, Frisch's objected to those plans, claiming they would violate its 2001 contract with Southfield, Michigan-headquartered Big Boy that gives it 'exclusive, perpetual, and irrevocable rights to operate restaurants under the name 'Big Boy,'' in Kentucky, Indiana and most of Ohio and Tennessee.
Frisch's has asked for an emergency court order to stop Big Boy from opening the rival restaurants in its 'exclusive territory,' according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
Officials with NNN Reit, Frisch's and Big Boy did not return messages seeking comment.
The Feb. 11 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission doesn't name the incoming concept. But the lawsuit said Frisch's discovered the Michigan company's plans after looking into the venture that was originally advertised for workers as 'Dolly's Burgers and Shakes." An investigator for Frisch's applied for one of the jobs and was told the new restaurants would actually be Big Boys, according to the lawsuit.
The court battle pits Frisch's against Big Boy Restaurant Group, the successor of the famed Elias Brothers Big Boy franchise that also acquired the original Big Boy brand founded in California.
The Michigan-based Big Boy menu features breakfast, burgers and shakes, just like Frisch's, but there are variations: its hot fudge cake is served with ice cream; and its signature hamburger has "Big Boy" sauce, not tartar sauce. The menu also has items not featured at Frisch's, such as veal parmesan, chicken stir-fry and a pot roast dinner. One big omission: no goetta.
As of late December, NNN Reit succeeded in forcing Frisch's to close more than 65 locations throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, including more than half of the locations in Greater Cincinnati. As of Friday, Frisch's Big Boy listed 31 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana on its 'Here to Stay' website that originally listed more than 50 stores when it was posted in December.
Early last year, Frisch's had more than 80 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana before trimming five restaurants in spring. As recently as 2015, Frisch's Big Boy had 121 locations when it was acquired by the Atlanta-based investment firm for $175 million.
Since October, Frisch's has seen a wave of closures in its dispute with NNN Reit. On Oct. 23, Frisch's disclosed it would close an unspecified number of restaurants due to "unforeseen circumstances." Court records revealed Frisch's faced eviction from "more than 20" properties in Southwest Ohio alone. Records also showed NNN Reit claims Frisch's owed more than $4.5 million in rent.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: New restaurant operators takes over 28 old Frisch's Big Boy locations
