Nation's Giant Hamburgers

Harvey's Giant Hamburgers

Russ Harvey bought a six-stool hot dog stand on San Pablo Ave, where it meets with the end of San Pablo Dam Rd. in 1952 with money he obtained through the sale of his 1948 Buick. He subsequently added hamburgers to the menu of the hot dog restaurant with a focus on large portions. This gastronomic decision proved successful with the clientele. The restaurant's name was changed to Harvey's Giant Hamburgers.

Dale Power

In 1961 local teenager Dale Power was hired as a janitor and continued his employment from high school to bachelor's and master's degrees at the nearby University of California, Berkeley. In 1970 he purchased his first restaurant in the Jack London Square District in neighboring Oakland.

Partnership and expansion

He christened it Nation's; the name was decided upon under the belief that they sold the best hamburgers in the nation. At this point Russ Harvey changed the name of his restaurant to Nation's as the two men became partners under a unified brand.

More items were added to the menu over time including breakfast, lunch, and dinner items and award winning pies.

Currently Power remains with the company as CEO and president, while Harvey has retired. The company has expanded to 24 locations as of 2009 with eateries in six counties.

Locations

The chain has eight locations in Alameda County with branches in: Alameda, Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Pleasanton and San Leandro. There are four in Solano County with branches in Benicia, Fairfield, Vacaville and Vallejo.

Furthermore, there are ten locations in Contra Costa County including: Concord, El Cerrito, Moraga, Orinda, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, San Pablo, Tara Hills (an unincorporated area), and Brentwood, which opened in October 2010. The Castro Valley location was opened in April 2014. The original San Pablo location is no longer standing, and the current San Pablo Nation's is located at San Pablo Avenue and San Pablo Dam Road. on the same site as the original restaurant.

There are single store locations in three other Bay Area counties: Daly City in San Mateo County, which is the only Nation's in the San Francisco Peninsula, Napa in the county by the same name, and a distant restaurant in the Central Valley city of Tracy in San Joaquin County.

Expansion has brought the chain out of the Bay Area and into the Sacramento Valley. Opening a location on Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights in May 2012, followed by a location in Folsom, which opened in May 2013.

Menu

The "giant" burgers although credited for weighing 3/4 pounds (0.34 kg) have been criticized for most of their 3/4 lbs. coming from the vegetable toppings. These burgers offer toppings including, cheese, beef, salmon, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, onions, and Miracle Whip. Other sandwiches include BLTs, hot dogs, grilled cheese, salmon burgers, vegetarian 'Harvester' burgers and variants such as chili dogs. Nation's also serves full breakfasts. Most stores end breakfast service mid-day, but there are some stores which serve breakfast all day. Cooked to order breakfast menu items include egg, sausage, bacon, ham, linguica, pancakes, & French toast. The chain also offers sodas, coffee, tea, milkshakes, and about a dozen types of pie. Pies are baked in Nations' own bakery in El Cerrito, CA.