[1][2] Harper discovered his love of cooking in his early teens and earned a culinary degree at Johnson & Wales University (JWU).

[3] After his year at Terra Verde he then worked as the executive chef of Ben's Next Door and The Carlyle Club.

[12][13] The restaurant is known for duck-fat brined fried chicken that was featured on TV shows such as Hell’s Kitchen and Sherri.

[14] In the early fall of 2023, Queen Mother's opened a new location at the National Landing Water Park in Arlington, Virginia.

[15] In 2023, Harper became the owner of Hill Prince Bar, a neighborhood bar and event venue located in the H Street Corridor in Northeast, Washington, D.C.[16] In 2020 and 2021, Queen Mother’s was nominated as a RAMMY Award finalist presented by Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) in the category of “Hottest New Sandwich Shop.”[17][18] The Annual RAMMY Awards honors the hard-working individuals and organizations and restaurants in Washington DC's foodservice community.