Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in Royal Palm Beach

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

That's not entirely fair. The Habit Burger in general was always expensive, messy, and had terrible fries. That being said, it always seemed a step up in quality, service and taste (besides the fries) from fast food. In the past, this location didn't give togo orders the same respect as dine in orders, and we don't often eat fast food on location. In effect this created a "special occasion" feel to dining here for my family and was our top choice when we did need to eat out. Burgers had a nice char to them, ingredients were fresh, the shakes and the sides were great... except the fries.

That's all gone now as of this most recent trip, and not on hiatus... gone gone. It started as soon as we walked in the door. Kiosk ordering only now. This dropped the premium feel down from "almost restaurant" to "rest stop on the turnpike" levels... except the turnpike machines don't ask for a 20% tip for their service. Self service plus tip shaming is popular amongst consumers, right?

We did end up flagging down an employee who was willing to hear us out and take our order in person, but this was only because the menu item we wanted wasn't available on the self serve machines. While we did get what we came for (impossible patties) the reason they weren't on the kiosk is because Habit is discontinuing this item. I am aware this product is expensive, which is why I was willing to pay $8 for a fast food hamburger from a kiosk that asks for a tip. The replacement will be a mashed up old frozen vegetables patty, also $8... Habit is done with vegetarians. BK still sells a larger impossible burger for $6 and I'm guessing they make a profit on that... so this seems greedy. Would omnivores like it if burgers cost the same price or more and the ground beef was replaced with meat loaf because the later is cheaper?

We got the bottom of the barrel Impossible. I'm guessing this quality shouldn't be surprising since the refrigerated shelf life of an Impossible burger is only a couple days and this item is off the menu. They were gray and rubbery with no char and kind of slimy inside and out. Probably not dangerous... I eat anything, so I ate mine, but I'm the only one who did.

I know, I know. I eat vegetarian food so I deserve to be treated worse than other paying customers. That wasn't the worst of the food, though. The tomato on the burger was mealy and sweet, kinda like a slice of pumpkin. banana pepper rings from the topping bar have been replaced by full sized pepperocicini - clearly a ploy to prevent people from enjoying them on their burgers. Onion rings, always the best part of Habit, looked burnt, but they weren't overcooked inside and they were overly greasy. Most likely refired from a previous order to save a dollar. The fries were excellent... honestly couldn't believe this. The soda switched from Coke to Pepsi... which is gross. Interestingly, the soda seemed brixed for coke and possibly cold carbonated. While “spicy” Diet Pepsi was interesting, the syrup lines clearly had some old residual diet coke... and some weird hint of mint... maybe it's Diet Dr Bob.

Some changes, mainly Pepsi products and pumpkin-spliced tomatoes, felt like the YUM! playbook. Yeah... apparently that is actually what happened. While some of my complaints are franchise specific they could be chalked up to a bad day. If YUM is supplying menu items and ingredients, then Habit is done.

Honestly I feel badly for the owners. I mean, restaurants have good days and bad days, and mitigating that is their responsibility. But when they sunk their money into a Habit Burger, I imagine that quality food and a unique experience - you know, pride - was more valuable than massive revenues, otherwise why not just open a Taco Bell or KFC... or Pizza Hut? So to work hard and buy into a dream that’s mutually beneficial for the owners, employees, and customers only to have YUM buy the whole thing and turn it into a Pizza Hut… that’s sad. That the anti-American Dream. Yum didn’t just ruin The Habit Burger, they disenfranchised...

Saturday January 8th, 2022 I had a fantastic experience at Habit Burger. I was getting dinner for my grandmother and myself - her 85th birthday was the next day. She absolutely loves the chocolate shakes from here! I placed a pick up order. The communication on the order was awesome - I got text messages that told me the status of my order. I also got an email communication. Impressive communication - fast and accurate. When I arrived, My boyfriend had just text me that he didn’t eat all day, so I wanted to grab him something so he could pick it up right after work which was ending soon. I got to habit burger 3 minutes after the text message I got communicating that my order was ready for pick up.

When I went inside I knew I had to place another order at the front corner. The young lady at the front counter was sooo so sweet. I explained the situation and that I would order separately and she was so nice about it, very accommodating, fast, accurate and compassionate.

I waited for only a few minutes and got my order for my boyfriend and the pick up order. I ordered a chocolate shake for my grandmother and, after waiting for a few minutes for my boyfriends order, the milkshake had gotten a little melted. It was entirely my fault because I had to place the second order and wait. My pick up order was already ready and perfect. I told the young taller man at the front counter that my shake was a little melted and I apologized because it was my fault and he made me a brand new milkshake. I am forever grateful. The young shorter man making the milkshakes was soo fast and made it so perfectly for me again. I really appreciate all the extra work and compassion. This all really made my night.

Thank you so much for your great business, Habit Burger. Thank you to all the amazing staff in the front end that really helped make my experience awesome. Much appreciated! And my grandmother loved the milkshake. ...

This location has inferior customer service! The heavy-weight Spanish night manager or head cook had the nerve to say in Spanish, “here they come,” with an attitude! The older Spanish women preparing food agreed and commented. Mind you; we walked into the location around 9:25 PM. THE LOCATION CLOSES AT 10 PM! Then the young Spanish cash register girl has more of the nerves to roll her eyes as we are placing our orders! Considering I let her slide by not completing my order and giving my son and husband irritated looks because they were not ordering quickly enough for her! Talk about customer service going down the drain with each passing day! On top of that, expect higher pay and respect! Seriously, this is what happens when hiring whoever walks through the door! Lack of quality all around, and it's unfortunate. I'm Hispanic, and I know better than to speak my language around others and boldly assume they won't understand! I say a warning is not enough. Maybe getting fire will be better; hopefully, they will learn to be better human beings! And no, we left; I returned the same energy! An eye for an eye!...