John Harris and Harris Ranch Restaurant to Receive
Lifetime Achievement Award
One of California’s original “farm to fork” restaurants and its owner are about to be lauded for a lifetime of success. Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant has been welcoming hungry travelers, notable dignitaries, and customers in search of California’s freshest cuisine since 1977. Owner John Harris, who not only oversees the Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant, but also several thousand acres of fruits and vegetables, and one of the largest beef production facilities in the West. On March 7th, The Central California Restaurant Association will honor John and Carole Harris and their Harris Ranch Restaurant with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
“We are proud to be part of the food business as restaurateurs, producers of beef, and growers of fruits and vegetables in the fertile San Joaquin Valley,” says John Harris. “We have been in a number of types of business over the years, but running a restaurant has to be the most challenging. It takes a lot of things going right and not much going wrong to make it. We are successful because of our customers, our employees, our suppliers, and our community.”
Harris will receive the award at the “Best of the Valley Restaurant Awards” ceremony and dinner, considered to be the “Oscars” for the Central Valley restaurant industry. Harris Ranch Restaurant is also proud to serve their signature prime rib, to the approximately 650 attendees. A local board of 20 representatives from the restaurant and foodservice industries selected Harris as this year’s recipient of the prestigious award.
“We feel this award is well-deserved,” says Gary Honeycutt, owner of BJ’s Kountry Kitchen, and board member for the Fresno chapter of the California Restaurant Association.“For so many years John Harris has run a successful restaurant, hotel, beef company and farming business. He does so much good for the industry, and he also does a lot of good in the local community.”
The Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant is located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco and features multiple restaurant venues, a full bar and Country Store. For generations guests have made Harris Ranch a culinary destination, whether they drive or even fly, using the restaurant’s private landing strip. The reward is some of the most tender, juicy cuts of beef produced by Harris Ranch, just a few miles away. Menus also feature produce grown on neighboring acres, including almonds, pistachios, oranges, grapes, tomatoes, winter vegetables and more. The Harris Ranch Restaurant is one of California’s original “farm to fork” restaurants, and today it serves an average of 1,500 entrées per day, making it one of California’s highest volume, independently owned restaurants.
Although it has grown a great deal over the years, Harris Ranch remains a family operation at heart. It is a company that has been built over multiple generations of hard work, dedicated leadership, and innovation. Everything about the interiors, from the custom made wool carpets and fabrics, to the booths that look like they are in horse stalls in the Jockey Club room, and the old shipping labels in the Farm House room, express different facets of this very colorful company. Carole and John Harris are always looking forward to the next decorating project!
About Harris Ranch Beef Company
For over 50 years, Harris Ranch Beef Company has strived to produce the highest quality beef in the world. Located in California’s Central Valley, the company has built a uniquely integrated beef production system where cattle are sourced, fed and humanely processed exclusively by Harris Ranch. Few, if any, beef companies – other than Harris Ranch – can claim they control all aspects of production. Still family owned and operated, the Harris family takes great pride in raising its beef to be as pure and great tasting as nature intended. For more information please visit www.harrisranchbeef.com.
