# Harveys (restaurant)
Harveys is the name of several unrelated restaurants, the best known of which are Harveys, the [Wandsworth](https://www.edgepedia.org/wandsworth) restaurant in London where [Marco Pierre White](https://www.edgepedia.org/marco-pierre-white) won two Michelin stars in the late 1980s, and Harvey's, the Canadian fast-food burger chain founded in 1959. Other restaurants of the same name have operated in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Falls Church, Kansas City, and Bristol.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Harveys, Wandsworth | Opened January 1987 by chef Marco Pierre White; described by The Good Food Guide as "the hottest restaurant in South London"[1](https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/editorial/GFG%20archive/1988-to-1993-marco-pierre-white-at-harveys--six-years-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-chefs) • [2](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/nigel-platts-martin-the-quiet-man) |
| Michelin stars | A second star in January 1990, making White, at 26, the youngest chef to win two stars[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/little-genius-comes-first-with-a-third-emily-green-casts-an-eye-over-the-latest-edition-of-the-gourmets-bible-michelin-s-guide-to-the-best-restaurants-in-britain-and-ireland-1402773.html) • [4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen) |
| Harveys closure | White left in July 1993 and the restaurant closed in 1993[2](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/nigel-platts-martin-the-quiet-man) • [5](https://wil-vincent.co.uk/perfection-is-a-lot-of-little-things-done-well/?pdf=11016) • [1](https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/editorial/GFG%20archive/1988-to-1993-marco-pierre-white-at-harveys--six-years-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-chefs) |
| Harvey's, Canada | Fast-food burger chain founded in 1959; burgers grilled over an open flame at 600 °F[6](https://www.harveys.ca/fr/our_story.html) |
| Chain ownership | Roughly eighty restaurants by the end of the 1970s under Foodcorp, then acquired by CARA[7](https://www.historicalbranding.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/CardinalMeats_Book_Full.pdf) |
| Harvey's, San Francisco | Castro bar and restaurant named for Supervisor Harvey Milk; closed January 2023 after decades in business[8](https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/harvey-s-gay-bar-at-the-heart-of-s-f-s-17734740.php) |
| Harvey's, Washington, D.C. | An establishment restaurant dating to at least 1874, known as "the restaurant of the Presidents"[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/06/at-the-restaurant-of-the-presidents/fd61e05e-94b0-48ee-b60d-efd43907a636/) |
## Harveys, Wandsworth
**Opening and acclaim.** Marco Pierre White, having trained at [Le Gavroche](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-gavroche), Chez Nico, La Tante Claire, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, opened Harveys as chef-patron in January 1987, in a former wine bar facing Wandsworth Common in south London[1](https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/editorial/GFG%20archive/1988-to-1993-marco-pierre-white-at-harveys--six-years-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-chefs) • [4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen). The Good Food Guide's 1988 entry called it the hottest restaurant in [South London](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-london) by quite a long street, noting a short menu written in English that had assimilated much from the great kitchens[1](https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/editorial/GFG%20archive/1988-to-1993-marco-pierre-white-at-harveys--six-years-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-chefs). The menu drew on the extremes of the classical French repertoire: pigeon de Bresse stuffed with foie gras and truffles and served in a pig's bladder, and a signature tagliatelle of oysters and caviar[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen). [The Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-times) critic Jonathan Meades, who ate brains en gelee followed by rabbit in langoustine sauce, compared the experience to first reading a sentence by Nabokov[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen).
**Stars and staff.** In January 1990 White was awarded his second Michelin star, making him, at 26, the youngest chef to win two stars[3](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/little-genius-comes-first-with-a-third-emily-green-casts-an-eye-over-the-latest-edition-of-the-gourmets-bible-michelin-s-guide-to-the-best-restaurants-in-britain-and-ireland-1402773.html) • [4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen). The kitchen was notoriously hard, with eighteen-hour days six days a week, and it trained a generation of chefs: [Gordon Ramsay](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-ramsay) worked there from 1988 under White, who became his first mentor, and former trainees included Philip Howard of The Square and Jean-Christophe Novelli[4](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen) • [10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/lifestyle/article/2024/10/11/gordon-ramsay-the-most-french-of-british-chefs_6729031_37.html). Restaurateur Nigel Platts-Martin later called it "a seminal restaurant and that was down to one man and that was Marco"[2](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/nigel-platts-martin-the-quiet-man).
**End of the restaurant.** White left Harveys in July 1993, with Platts-Martin buying him out that year, and opened Restaurant Marco Pierre White at the Hyde Park Hotel two months later[2](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/nigel-platts-martin-the-quiet-man) • [11](https://yamidmunoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Devil-in-the-Kitchen-Marco-Pierre-White.pdf). The Wandsworth Harveys itself closed in 1993[5](https://wil-vincent.co.uk/perfection-is-a-lot-of-little-things-done-well/?pdf=11016) • [1](https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/editorial/GFG%20archive/1988-to-1993-marco-pierre-white-at-harveys--six-years-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-chefs). In 1994 Platts-Martin asked Bruce Poole, later a Chef Award winner, to step into the Harveys kitchen[12](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/chef-award-bruce-poole).
## Harvey's, the Canadian chain
**Founding and method.** Harvey's is a Canadian fast-food burger chain founded in 1959, which describes itself as having offered [Canadians](https://www.edgepedia.org/canadians) flame-grilled burgers for more than 60 years; its grills cook each burger over an open flame at 600 °F, and customers choose toppings at a counter while the burger is prepared in view[6](https://www.harveys.ca/fr/our_story.html). The brand was owned by Foodcorp when it grew to roughly eighty restaurants by the end of the 1970s, at which point it was acquired by CARA[7](https://www.historicalbranding.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/CardinalMeats_Book_Full.pdf). It is now a trademark of Recipe Unlimited (Société de Recettes Illimitées)[6](https://www.harveys.ca/fr/our_story.html).
**Long-running locations.** [Individual](https://www.edgepedia.org/individual) locations can outlast decades: the Harvey's on Wyandotte Street West in [Windsor, Ontario](https://www.edgepedia.org/windsor-ontario), at the corner of Wyandotte and California near the [University of Windsor](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-windsor), opened in the late 1960s and closed in August 2026 after more than 50 years in business, with management posting a thank-you sign at the site[13](https://windsorite.ca/2026/08/west-windsor-harveys-closes-after-50-years/).
## Other restaurants named Harvey's
**Washington, D.C.** A Harvey's in downtown Washington dates to at least 1874, when the city directory listed about thirty restaurants; it was the only one of that group surviving into the late 1970s, and it invested twenty-five cents in an advertisement in the then-new Washington Post[14](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1977/12/18/harveys-1001-18th-st-nw-833-18580/7592d008-c555-459a-ac0f-a04820c23067/). Known as "the restaurant of the Presidents" and a favorite of [J. Edgar Hoover](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-edgar-hoover), it had declined before Alex Stuart and Seth Heartfield Jr. bought it about ten years before 1977 and moved it to K and 18th Streets NW on 16 December 1970[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/06/at-the-restaurant-of-the-presidents/fd61e05e-94b0-48ee-b60d-efd43907a636/).
**San Francisco.** Harvey's at 500 Castro Street, in the heart of the Castro, was established as the Elephant Walk in 1974, renovated after a 1988 fire, and rebranded in 1996 in memory of Supervisor Harvey Milk, whose former camera shop stood less than a block away; the restaurant displayed memorabilia celebrating Milk and the neighborhood's LGBTQ history. It closed in January 2023, with its manager citing the pandemic's toll on Bay Area businesses[8](https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/harvey-s-gay-bar-at-the-heart-of-s-f-s-17734740.php). The space has since undergone a $2 million renovation and was being marketed to new tenants in 2026[15](https://www.ebar.com/story/171245/News/Business/).
**Falls Church, Virginia.** Harvey's in Falls Church, named for chef and owner Thomas Harvey, opened when he was a few months shy of his 40th birthday, after he had cooked under Nathan Anda, Frank Ruta, and Fabio Trabocchi and served as corporate chef for the Tuskie's Restaurant Group; a 2023 Washington Post review praised its hearth-cooked half chicken and its Seven Hills pub burger[16](https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/01/17/harveys-restaurant-review-falls-church/). In September 2026 Harvey announced on social media that he had sold the restaurant after four years in business[17](https://www.fcnp.com/2026/09/30/harveys-sells-but-eateries-moving-in/).
**Kansas City.** Harvey's at Union Station is an open-air restaurant in the Grand Hall of Union Station in [Kansas City, Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-missouri), serving soups, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and desserts, with a Sunday brunch buffet and an adjacent grab-and-go market, the Whistle Stop Market[18](https://harveyskc.com/).
**Bristol.** Harveys in Bristol, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant under chef Daniel Galmiche, was operated by John Harvey & Sons from 1964 and closed by its owner, Allied Domecq, in March 2003 after a two-year search for a buyer failed; the closure made the chef and 16 full-time employees redundant[19](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/allied-domecq-closes-bristols-one-starred-harveys-restaurant).
## Distinguishing the namesakes
The shared name covers businesses of very different kinds. The London Harveys is remembered for its role in British haute cuisine and the careers it launched; the Canadian Harvey's is a national fast-food chain; the Washington and San Francisco restaurants were neighborhood institutions, one an expense-account dining room and the other a gay bar tied to [Harvey Milk](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-milk)'s memory. The Bristol restaurant was owned by a sherry house, John Harvey & Sons, which is unrelated to the other namesakes. Readers checking a specific Harvey's should confirm the location, since several of these businesses have closed in recent years.
## References
1. [1988 to 1993: Marco Pierre White at Harvey's, The Good Food Guide](https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/editorial/GFG%20archive/1988-to-1993-marco-pierre-white-at-harveys--six-years-that-inspired-a-new-generation-of-chefs)
2. [Nigel Platts-Martin: The quiet man?, The Caterer](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/nigel-platts-martin-the-quiet-man)
3. ['Little genius' comes first with a third, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/little-genius-comes-first-with-a-third-emily-green-casts-an-eye-over-the-latest-edition-of-the-gourmets-bible-michelin-s-guide-to-the-best-restaurants-in-britain-and-ireland-1402773.html)
4. [Bad Boy in the Kitchen, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/04/27/bad-boy-in-the-kitchen)
5. [Perfection Is a Lot of Little Things Done Well, wil-vincent.co.uk](https://wil-vincent.co.uk/perfection-is-a-lot-of-little-things-done-well/?pdf=11016)
6. [Harvey's Notre Histoire, harveys.ca](https://www.harveys.ca/fr/our_story.html)
7. [Cardinal Meats: The Book, historicalbranding.com](https://www.historicalbranding.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/CardinalMeats_Book_Full.pdf)
8. [Harvey's, gay bar at the heart of S.F.'s Castro district, closes, San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/harvey-s-gay-bar-at-the-heart-of-s-f-s-17734740.php)
9. [At 'The Restaurant Of the Presidents', The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/06/at-the-restaurant-of-the-presidents/fd61e05e-94b0-48ee-b60d-efd43907a636/)
10. [Gordon Ramsay, the most French of British chefs, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/lifestyle/article/2024/10/11/gordon-ramsay-the-most-french-of-british-chefs_6729031_37.html)
11. [The Devil in the Kitchen, Marco Pierre White](https://yamidmunoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Devil-in-the-Kitchen-Marco-Pierre-White.pdf)
12. [Chef Award – Bruce Poole, The Caterer](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/chef-award-bruce-poole)
13. [West Windsor Harvey's Closes After 50 Years, windsoriteDOTca News](https://windsorite.ca/2026/08/west-windsor-harveys-closes-after-50-years/)
14. [Harvey's, 1001 18th St. NW, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1977/12/18/harveys-1001-18th-st-nw-833-18580/7592d008-c555-459a-ac0f-a04820c23067/)
15. [Former Harvey's space in SF's Castro is renovated, ready for tenants, Bay Area Reporter](https://www.ebar.com/story/171245/News/Business/)
16. [Harvey's review: A testament to experience and family in Falls Church, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/01/17/harveys-restaurant-review-falls-church/)
17. [Harvey's Sells, But Eateries Moving In, Falls Church News-Press](https://www.fcnp.com/2026/09/30/harveys-sells-but-eateries-moving-in/)
18. [Harvey's Restaurant at Union Station, harveyskc.com](https://harveyskc.com/)
19. [Allied Domecq closes Bristol's one-starred Harveys restaurant, The Caterer](https://www.thecaterer.com/news/allied-domecq-closes-bristols-one-starred-harveys-restaurant)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Food, cooking and hospitality › Restaurants, chefs, and culinary practice › Named restaurants (individual venues) › Defunct restaurants*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license