THE NATION’S STORY

A Man, A Buick, and a Hot Dog Stand

Yes, we did say “hot dog stand.” It’s certainly an odd way to begin telling the story of a company that’s famous for hamburgers.

Surprisingly, hot dogs is actually how Nation’s Giant Hamburgers got its start back in 1952. In San Pablo, California, Russ Harvey decided to trade in his 1948 Buick for the chance to make hot dogs at a 10-foot-wide counter with six stools. It turned out to be the best move he ever made. Well, that and the decision to expand his menu beyond hot dogs, of course.

From the moment Russ added extra large, tasty hamburgers to the grill, word of mouth spread like wildfire. People loved all the toppings and the price was just right, too. So, Harvey’s Original Giant Hamburger was born and the lines at his San Pablo stand grew longer.

Nation's Story
  • 1952

    1952

    In his travels, Russ would always look for a good hamburger place. “There was this one place...where they made a hamburger how I liked them. It had nice thick slices of onions in it, tomatoes and lettuce, the whole thing was pretty good.”

  • 1952
    Since

    1952

    Since 1952, our patties have been made of beef that’s specifically ground for Nation’s. We still use two local butchers for ⅓ lb. hamburgers made to our specifications from meat delivered fresh three times a week.

  • 1953

    1953

    Russ Harvey added a second hamburger stand and — for a brief time — a breakfast spot called “The Waffle Shop.”

    Russ Harvey and Dale Power, age 8, met as neighbors in Richmond.

  • 1960

    1960

    Dale is “ready to have a car and a license.” So, he went to Russ for a job. For the next 10 years, Dale was a maintenance person, a janitor, and a manager.

  • 1969

    1969

    Giant Hamburgers grew to six locations. Russ opted for partnerships over franchises.

  • 1970

    1970

    Dale purchased an unnamed restaurant in Oakland, and suggested to Russ, “Why don’t we build a little chain together?” They chose to call it Nation’s, now trademarked. Oakland was first to display the new signage as Nation’s Giant Hamburgers.

  • 1974

    1974

    Pies were on the menu from the beginning. When a bakery became available in Fremont, Dale brought fresh, homemade pies in-house as a daily menu item. Popular as ever, today there are 13 delicious flavors of quality pies.

  • 1976

    1976

    The city of San Pablo revitalized the area at San Pablo Avenue and San Pablo Dam Road where Nation’s has had a successful location ever since.

  • 1978

    1978

    Breakfast was offered for the first time at the San Pablo and Newark stores. By 1978, every store offered breakfast and most locations offer breakfast all day.

  • 1980

    1980

    For many years our workers made their own uniforms. It’s great to look back and see how the styles are so representative of the times.

  • 1984

    1984

    With so many stores, we needed more pies, so a second pie shop opened in El Cerrito. On a daily basis, we top nearly 800 pies.

  • 1984

    1984

    As our growth continued, Nation’s built a new home office and another pie shop in El Cerrito on a site that was originally the Golden Jersey Dairy that closed in the early 1970s when a BART station was built.

  • 1986

    1986

    The Power family: Dale, Danielle, Cara and Grant.

  • 1988

    1988

    Since 1952, we have had our produce delivered to us fresh from local farmers. Our lettuce, onions, and tomatoes are delivered to Nation’s stores every night along with our homemade pies.

  • 1989

    1989

    Toni and Fred Goozen used 250 Nation’s ice cream cartons to build the Pink Goose for the Milk Carton Boat Race at Clear Lake in July 1989.


    Our first store on the Peninsula opened in Daly City at the Westlake Mall.

  • 1989
    Since

    1989

    Strawberry tarts became very popular. We start producing them in April or May once prime strawberry season begins.

  • 1991

    1991

    We introduced the ever-popular Harvester sandwich.

  • 1994

    1994

    Dale Power became president of Nation’s Foodservice Inc. after Russ Harvey retired.

  • 2002

    2002

    We celebrated the opening of the Coffee Museum at Peerless Coffee’s home office. Peerless Coffee is our oldest vendor and we are their oldest customer.

  • 2004

    2004

    Our wild, ocean-caught Salmon Burger was added to our menu.

  • 2010

    2010

    Look how we’ve grown; our managers gathered for a training session in 2010.

  • 2011

    2011

    Citrus Heights opened in Sacramento County, as our first store in that area.

  • 2015

    2015

    Grant Power became the new president of Nation’s Foodservice Inc., while Dale Power transitioned to chairman of the board.

  • 2016

    2016

    We continued our expansion by opening a store in Stockton.

  • 2020

    2020

    Our Vallejo store received a makeover.

  • 2020

    2020

    Nation’s Natomas opened in Sacramento.

  • 2022

    Our 70th birthday is here, the legacy continues.

FUN FACTS

Since 1974, we’ve had our own fleet of pie trucks that make deliveries every night.
On a daily basis we top nearly 800 pies using our pie topping machine added in 2011.

From 1978 to 2000, we opened or relocated a store every year.

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