Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in Alhambra

I have a lot of bad habits, but this Habit I don't want to break.

Free charburger coupon

The Habit makes one hell of a burger. So good, it might possibly be better than the long revered SoCal institution, In N' Out. Being in the area for a dinner meetup later, I stopped by this location for lunch.

Even though it was raining, The Habit still remained busy, with a line 6 deep & all the indoor seating taken up. The line moved quickly, however, and I soon redeemed my coupon. Lucky for me, I managed to claim a table just as the party was leaving.

Charburger w/ cheese & raw onions substituted for the caramelized onions, lettuce-wrapped- Oh, yeah! A good, hefty burger, the charburger was thick, juicy & extremely delicious. I prefer the crunch of raw onions, the reason why I asked for the substitution over caramelized onions. The tomato slices were plump, the lettuce crisp & the cheese ooey gooey. The addition of Cholula helped kick the heat quotient, along with snacking on some of the peppers from the condiment bar.

Service was good. The cashiers sped thing along, the one helping me letting me know cheese is included with the coupon. A fair amount of indoor seating, with tables al fresco.

Parking is in a private lot at the Alhambra Place plaza. The Habit is located on the left Sprouts, to the right of Wingstop & Blaze.

The Habit delivers in the burger department, and I've enjoyed their fish sandwich & onion rings at other locations. I don't care for the typical fast food burger joints, however, The Habit tops them all. Even, dare I say, In N' Out? The Habit caters to the health conscious & not so health conscious, and I think the menu harbors no stinkers in the taste department. Would I come back? Fo sho!

Highly...

I like the food. Very flavorful hamburgers and fries. The employees are mostly friendly. The dining room is usually filthy. I normally come here on a weekday, during the 11:00 a.m. hour. There's often pieces of food and/or drink on the tables and seats. There's usually food on the floor, under the tables. The last time I was here, the woman who entered the store in front of me had a large dog with her. It was not a service dog. She sat at that booth seat across from the counter, where people wait for their to-go orders, with the dog laying there on the floor. Not only was the situation unsanitary, but I was sort of concerned about the dog biting me. Maybe it was just trying to be friendly, but it sort of lunged towards me when I walked past it. Then I go to sit at a booth, and a couple sitting near me have just sat down with their dog, who is in a stroller. Anyway, one of them is feeding the dog and the dog was sneezing. Pretty gross. I don't want a side of fleas with my hamburger and fries. And I look down and there's all this food on the floor, under my table. When I was here several months ago, a large white dog was laying on the floor by a booth where it's owners were eating. It was licking the floor. Just not a clean environment. If I'm going to pay $16.00 for a hamburger and fries, then I should be able to eat in a clean dining room. This place is owned by a large multinational corporation. They can afford to hire extra people whose sole job is to keep the dining room and drink area and bathrooms clean. Keeping this place clean is a full-time job. It's hard to eat this food without crumbs and pieces dropping on the table and floor.  Show some respect for your customers, and hire people to keep the place clean. Don't...

Food: 4.5/5 stars The double cheese charred burger looked on the smaller side until you bite into it and realized it was substantially thicker with meat patties. I was expecting the charbroiled flavor but it was just grilled flavor. Not bad but not what was expected. The meat was not as flavorful as InO but was juicy. The cheese was salty and the overall taste was on the salty side. The fries was nice and crunchy on the outside and soft inside, perfectly cooked. It looked overly oily though. Those who don't like InO soft fries will love the golden crunchy fries here. I gave it an extra boost in rating due to the condiments bar and drink bar. There were 4 different pickled peppers to choose from and they had good flavors. Those who don't drink soda will find something to like here with 3 different flavors of tea and a freshly made strawberry limenade. It was excellent.

Atmosphere: 5/5 stars Nice clean modern decorated. Comfortable booth seatings and a large "commune" table in the middle. The open kitchen was spotless. The drink and condiments area was well stocked and clean. It felt quieter than other busy fast food place because they don't yell out order. There's a buzzing paging system for you to pick up food when it's ready.

Service: 3.5/5 stars All the employees were busy body to assemble your orders quickly. They were not rude or unhappy like many places. I can't give a higher rating since this is a self serve place.

Expense: 3.5/5 stars It's more expensive than InO which is my benchmark. Some will argue that it is worth it and maybe it is.

Return: 4/5 stars Definitely when I want a clean tasting no non...