Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in Palmdale

Well this may be a 1 off or wrong place wrong time. But I can say this for sure: i went in to order some food for me and my daughter. I did have to drop her off about an hour later, but the time frame should have been fine. I was asked to wait outside and I was asked for my phone number so they could call me when ready. We went next door to yogurt land and my son had a small portion. I understand the stress levels at this time in 2020 and definitely get my fair share. We stood outside while he ate his yogurt and hoping for the text from habbit which never came. My timeline was getting closer and closer to when I needed to drop off my kids so I went back in after waiting 45min for 2 burgers and fries. I explained I couldn't wait any longer for the food and would probably need to cancel the order. The checked my order number and said they went outside and called for me in person. First all they didnt ask my name or a name for the order. Just a mobile number. I told the lady you stated you would text when the order is ready. Being it's in the low 40s and damp outside you think they would have some compassion...nope not this store. So yeah waiting for a text I took my kids in the car where it was warm and dry. Now that I had my order I left probably with a blunt edge and I'm sure they felt that and hoped I was gone ASAP. I can definitely understand that feeling working in retail myself. Rushing to get my daughter to where she needed to go I attempted to eat this burger which the bread was hard and almost stale like. That means it had been just sitting there. Fries super cold and almost un palatable. My daughter didn't even eat any of the food. The only thing on my order that was decent was the soda. My burger had been sitting so long the dressing lost all of its emulsification and just dropped all over me when I tried to eat it. I'm sorry to say I'm not grading the food fairly being it was not fresh. But for the service I received and the product I unfortunately purchased my post is extremely fair. This wasnt my first time to habbit but my first time to Palmdales habbit. And now sad to say will be my last...I hope if you are reading my post and experience you didnt have these issues and your meal was as expected...

I looked on their website and they are proclaiming victory that their burger ranked just one tenth of a point (0.1) over In-N-Out Burger in a Consumer Reports review?

The first time I have eaten at The Habit, I visited the newly opened store in Palmdale and here’s my assessment: (Oh, and a couple of comments made by the person taking my order after I mention In-N-Out…”We aren’t trying to compete with them” (If CR ranked their establishment’s burger among all the other fast food burgers and they use the results to promote their business, then, yes, they are in direct competition with them!), and “You get what you pay for”.

The price difference: a. In-N-Out’s Combo meal #1, Double-Double: $6.60 b. The Habit’s #2 The Original: $8.05 Winner: In-N-Out

Composition of the burger: a. In-N-Out: Meat, cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato and their proprietary sauce b. The Habit: Meat, cheese, grilled onions, chopped lettuce and mayo-tasting sauce, some remnant of a slice of tomato (not sure, but certainly not a full slice) and I think a pickle Winner: In-N-Out, although I did notice that the lettuce-sauce mixture was quite cold and in contrast to the meat, which was quite hot.

French Fries: a. In-N-Out: 100% potato, fresh cut thin style, no seasoning or preservative added; not even salt, they give you the salt to add if you want. b. The Habit: Frozen, larger cut, grease-ladened, salt added and perhaps other taste enhancers or seasonings plus the preservatives added by manufacturer Winner: In-N-Out

My wife had the Santa Barbara style burger, which, in itself was a good deal, it tasted great and no added charges for cheese and avocado, but the price nearly doubled to make it a combo meal.

As for the order-taker’s second comment, “You get what you pay for”? $18.91 bill for two combo meals… No, I did not get what I paid for.

As far as I’m concerned, on the CR burger ranking, The Habit should be ranked just between Wendy’s and...

The Good: People go the extra mile to help The Bad: Undercooked hamburger The Ugly: Screwed up my plans for the day

My wife and I have eaten at the Habit in Canyon Country for several years and enjoyed it immensely. We live in Lancaster, so when we heard that they were coming to Palmdale, we thought "Great! Now we can go any time we want". Well, the first time we went, a couple weeks after they opened, I ordered a Double Char and she a pastrami on sourdough. We had ordered this combination many times at the Canyon Country location. I thought my hamburger was OK, but her pastrami came on white bread, not the sourdough she ordered. A few days later, we ordered the same thing, with the same results. Today, we both ordered Double Char burgers. After driving back from Palmdale to Lancaster, I gave her the burger as she ordered it. She ate about half, then looked at it...the meat was only half cooked. With hamburger, this is not good. So...had to drive back there (about 8-10 miles) to get the burger replaced.

What keeps this from being a one-star review is that the people were really nice about making things right, even honoring my request to have the burger cut in half so I could see how well it was cooked. The first replacement burger was also underdone, so they made a second, which was fine. However, she is now scared of the place, so we probably...