Bob's: History, Key Facts and Reviews

1952-1974: Bob Falkenburg brings fast food to Copacabana

Bob’s is the first fast-food chain created in Brazil. Bob Falkenburg, an American tennis player who won Wimbledon in 1948, married a Brazilian in 1947, settled in Rio and opened the first Bob’s on the Copacabana beachfront in 1952 (Exame). He could not find the hamburgers and milkshakes he knew from the United States. The counter sold hamburgers, hot dogs, sundaes and shakes. By 1974 there were 13 Bob’s restaurants, all in the Rio area, when Falkenburg sold the business to Libby, McNeill & Libby and returned to the United States (Encyclopedia.com). The Big Bob, the chain’s answer to the Big Mac, arrived the following year, in 1975.

1976-1996: Nestlé, Vendex and the first franchise

Bob’s passed through several foreign owners before becoming a franchise network. Libby merged into Nestlé in 1976, and the chain reached 29 units by 1981. Bob’s sold its first franchise in 1984, in Vitória, Espírito Santo (Wikipedia). In 1985 it served food at the first Rock in Rio festival, a link it still keeps. Nestlé sold the chain to the Dutch group Vendex in 1987. In 1990 Bob’s had 69 outlets, 10 of them franchised. In 1996 the chain was sold for $19.2 million to Trinity Americas, which became Brazil Fast Food Corp.

1996-2021: franchising at scale and a short stay abroad

Under Brazil Fast Food Corp, franchising drove growth. Bob’s had 173 outlets in August 1999, 108 of them franchised, and 388 points of sale in 23 states by 2004 (Encyclopedia.com). The chain also tried other markets: Portugal from 2001, as well as Chile and Angola. Those stores had closed by 2021. Its best-known product, the Ovomaltine milkshake, changed hands in 2016, when Bob’s did not renew the exclusive deal signed in 2005 and McDonald’s Brazil took the name (Wikipedia).

2022-2026: 1,054 units and a push into smaller cities

Today Bob’s is a Brazil-only franchise network expanding into mid-sized and small cities. Falkenburg died in California on January 12, 2022, at 95. The Brazilian Franchising Association ranked Bob’s 17th among the country’s franchises, with 1,054 units at the end of 2025 (Portal do Franchising). That year the network opened 95 locations, entered more than 30 new municipalities and reported R$1.6 billion in revenue. It is present in every Brazilian state and targets R$1.8 billion and more than 150 openings in 2026 (O Imparcial). For the São Paulo burger scene beyond the chains, see our guide to the best burgers in São Paulo.

Key dates

• 1952: Bob Falkenburg opens the first Bob’s on the Copacabana beachfront in Rio de Janeiro.
• 1974: Falkenburg sells the 13-restaurant chain to Libby, McNeill & Libby.
• 1975: launch of the Big Bob burger.
• 1984: first franchise, in Vitória, Espírito Santo.
• 1996: Trinity Americas, later Brazil Fast Food Corp, buys Bob’s for $19.2 million.
• 2016: Bob’s loses the Ovomaltine milkshake name to McDonald’s.
• 2025: 1,054 units in Brazil and R$1.6 billion in revenue.