Nation's Giant Hamburgers (restaurant)

**Nation's Giant Hamburgers** is a restaurant chain held privately and directly in Northern California. The chain was founded in 1952 as the majority of the restaurants are focused around the Greater Eastern Bay, which includes counties like Solano, Alameda, and Contra Costa.

## Menu

The menu generally stays the same, with some choices on the menu changing depending on the grow time for the ingredients. An example being their strawberry products.

It consists of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese, hot dogs, pies, etc. They have plenty of breakfast dishes too, like french toast, eggs, omelettes, pancakes, hash browns, bacon, etc. with plenty of drink options, including shakes and soft drinks. Some of the more specific popular dishes are their Salmon Burger and Strawberry Tarts.

## History

Nation's Giant Hamburgers began as a hot dog vendor in 1952. Russ Harvey made the decision to trade in his 1948 Buick in San Pablo, California. Word of mouth travelled quickly after Russ put hamburgers to the grill which focused on larger portions, as a result, lines at Harvey's San Pablo stand became longer and Harvey's Original Giant Hamburger was formed.

Dale Power, a young man from the area who was employed as a janitor in 1961, remained working there while earning his high school diploma and bachelor's and master's degrees at the neighboring University of California, Berkeley. He bought his first restaurant in the Oakland neighborhood's Jack London Square District in 1970.

He gave it the moniker Nation's, based on the notion that they had the finest hamburgers in the country. As the two individuals joined forces under a single brand, Russ Harvey at this time changed the name of his eatery from Harvey's to Nation's. Over time, more foods were added to the menu, including award-winning pies, breakfast, lunch, and supper options.

Harvey has retired at the moment, leaving Power as the company's CEO and president. As of 2009, the business had 24 sites and restaurants spread over six counties.

## Locations

In Alameda County, the chain has eight locations: Alameda, Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Pleasanton, and San Leandro. In Solano County, there are four, with addresses in Benicia, Fairfield, Vacaville, and Vallejo.

In addition, there are eleven sites in Contra Costa County, including Tara Hills (an unincorporated region), Brentwood, which debuted in October 2010, Moraga, Orinda, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and San Pablo. In April 2014, the Castro Valley site opened. The present San Pablo Nation's is situated where the first restaurant was formerly situated, near the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and San Pablo Dam Road.

The only Nation's in the San Francisco Peninsula is located in Daly City in San Mateo County. Napa is also located in the same county, as are two restaurants in the Central Valley towns of Stockton and Tracy in San Joaquin County. The company moved to the Sacramento Valley as a result of expansion, leaving the Bay Area. In May 2012, a restaurant on Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights opened, and in May 2013, one in Folsom.

## References

1. ↑ Pdf of their most recent menu: Nations\_DigitalMenu\_5-10-2023
2. ↑  Page showing history timeline: Our Story | NATION'S Giant Hamburgers