14900 east 14th Street, San Leandro | website
This is one of the most popular restaurants in San Leandro – you can tell because the parking lot is always full. According to their website, they are a family owned chain of 4 restaurants in the area.
I had heard that the mashed potatoes and gravy alone were worth coming here for, so we stopped by on a recent weekend, weary from working on the interminable bathroom tiling project and were hungry.
The first thing you see as you walk up to the entrance is a turkey revolving on a rotisserie under the red glare of a heat lamp. It’s hard to tell if it is actually cooking, or just resting or real for that matter…
Once inside, you enter the dark, wood paneled interior with lots of booths lining the perimeter of the large dining areas. The decor is 70’s smorgasboard…
If you aren’t hungry, I think you will be while you stand in the line to order. The main attraction are the roasts. They serve carved plates of roast turkey, beef, porkloin, baked ham, corned beef, rotisserie chicken, with your choice of sides with lots of healthy looking salads and vegetables. They also have a lot of daily specials of old school international classics like enchiladas, lasagna, meatloaf, stroganoff, spaghetti and meatballs….
It a very efficient assembly line. You place your order and the server cuts the meat onto your plate and covers it with a plastic domed top then puts it on a plastic tray on the stainless steel railing on top of the counter and your tray gets pushed along through the side dishes, veggies, salads and desserts. You pay and then you take your tray to your choice of plush vinyl booths.
Mr. K lamented that he didn’t ask for the gravy on the side as his potatoes were swimming in a deep lake, and I lamented that I didn’t get the potatoes because the steamed veggies were overcooked and mushy… We had quite a pile of food, some of it was pretty good, a lot of it was bland, but there was lots of it. Harry’s fully embraces the concept of late 20th century American cuisine and is the perfect place for big comfort food – there’s something for everybody.
