So what can you find at some Home Depots in the GVRD? The newest Kohler facets? The latest Ralph Lauren paint colours? The new Weber stainless grills? Well, you probably will find these things; but you will also find the only locations of Harvey's in the lower mainland of Vancouver. Other than the YVR (Vancouver airport) location, Home Depots are the only home to Harvey's here. Some of you might wonder what is Harvey's, since it is mostly an Eastern Canada thing. I often wonder if the popularity of some places are due to their limited availability. This phenomena happened when Krispy Kreme was only available in the states. Everyone was flocking down to Burlington to pick up boxes of fried sweet dough. I was one of those people who would drive down there to do Krispy Kreme runs. I would show up at the border with 12 boxes of donuts. Imagine the border guard trying to understand that I just drove 45 minutes into the US to get donuts. Now that I have a Krispy Kreme within 5 minutes from where I work, I no longer eat them.
Does Harvey's benefit from this same phenomenon where you can only get their burgers when you decide to go buy some fertilizer or a compressor? It depends. I used to eat at Harvey's quite a bit when I was renovating our old house. It was so convenient and since I was at Home Depot anyways... I do a return visit to Harvey's in order to get a unbiased opinion about their food. Currently, there is this new Angus Mushroom Melt; but I really didn't want to eat that after I looked at the nutrition facts. Yes, after having the omelette bar at Horizon's, I was not going to take another cholesterol hit so soon. Rather, I went for the original burger with no cheese. Moreover, this way, I could taste the meat on it's own. I only went for a regular fries and a Diet Coke. One advantage Harvey's has over places like McDonald's and Wendy's is that they flame-broil their burgers. Yes, Burger King also does that; but don't get me started about the Whopper (ewww...).
For a fast-food joint, the burgers at Harvey's are pretty decent. In addition to being flame-broiled, the burgers are pretty simple along with the modest toppings. However, the toppings are proudly displayed in metal mixing bowls for you choose from. This is a Harvey's novelty since you can see your burger being made from start to finish. I like the fries from Harvey's as well. They are simple; yet crispy and plenty of potato-goodness. I guess this sums it up best about Harvey's - it's no non-sense burgers and fries that are pretty good for fast food.
The Good:
- Flame-broiled burgers
- You can get exactly what you want on your burger
- It's not McDonald's or the sort
The Bad:
- Only at Home Depot
- Being fast food, it doesn't compare to real burger joints
Harvey's
7350 120th Street
Surrey, B.C.
604-590-1353
www.harveys.ca
Harvey`s
Posted by
Sherman Chan
on Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Labels:
Burgers,
Kid Friendly,
North Delta,
Surrey,
Take Out
4 comments:
I love Harveys! They really need to have more locations other than just at HD. Great pics by the way.
Yes, they do really need more locations. Still don't understand why they're only in HD's. Actually their Angus burger is really good, but man are they high in fat!
Love Harvey's fried and burgers. Your photo of the big bowls of fix'ems brought happy thoughts back to me. Alas I haven't found one Harvey's in the USA I have wait for my twice yearly visit back home to Saint John, NB for a feed.
I was passing through Toronto and Ontario earlier this month (drove the whole way around Lake Superior, which is something that I had been itching to do since I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during the 1980s.) I saw Harvey's all over and wondered WTF?
Because I'm trying to cram as many uniquely Canadian dining experiences as I can (even lower-grade ones) into my time before I emigrate back to Australia, I went out of my way to grab a quick Harvburger and fries in T.O. even though I was going to have dinner with a friend there about an hour later. It was as you described (you have great ability to sum up a restaurant's zeitgeist, which is why you're the #1 blog in a town full of Asians who like to take pix of fudz) -- kinda like Burger King was decades ago before it got all corporatized.
Thanks for providing some context to the Harvey's back story, too. As an itinerant American, I see chains like this that have pop-cult significance to Canajuns (Swiss Chalet is another) but which are ciphers to me. I'd like to grok your country more before I bail on it. Reading your blog has been like adding broken tile pieces to the munchie mosaic of my mind.
Post a Comment