Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in San Clemente

We've been to the Habit Burger 4 or 5 times and the first 2 times in December had long lines, great food, and superior help with clearing tables and asking about service and if they could help you with anything else. The decor is nice and a complete change from the Carls Jr. The last 2 times we've gone there, it's been one thing after another. I took my sons to this "new place" to try it out and the order was messed up and I had to go back and order another drink and fries which should have been a combination but wasn't ordered in that way. The girl that was at the counter when that happened was not at all customer friendly. Today we went there again, and my chicken sandwich was lacking the BBQ sauce that had been ordered. It was so bland, no taste at all. My husband's salad was bland with (very thin) ceasar dressing. We even had to ask to have the table cleared when we got there and it was not busy. Others working there were having some sort of a meeting. No more asking around if you need anything or if everything is ok. I don't think they will last if they don't change back to what they were in the first few weeks. Right now, I don't plan on going back there. Also today the music was terrible. Sounded like somebody's garage band way...

There's a reason this Habit doesn't have 5 stars. Every time I eat here I have a bad experience. A few months back, my son asked for more ketchup and the girl who works there, scooped up about 30 packets, slammed them on his tray and walked away. Half the packets fell off of his tray and onto the floor. It was quite the scene. During another visit, I forgot to put my mask on when I entered the restaurant and an employee told me to put it on. I apologized and quickly took the mask out of my pocket to put it on. The employee said, "a lot of good it does there". Today was the last straw. Not only did I order 45 min in advance and end of waiting curbside for a long time but the employee who brought out the food had an attitude, gave me a dirty look and said something under her breath. To add insult to injury, the fries were lukewarm and soggy. The burgers were cold, the buns were squashed and they hardly had any lettuce in them. On top of that, I ordered online and they also got the order wrong. You can tell the order was rushed. That was my very last visit. After many years of being a loyal customer, I will no longer be eating at the Habit. I'll just drive a few more miles out and go...

I made an order for pick up today at 2 pm, which was ready quickly as usual. The gentleman who gets the orders ready is a total pro. However, I'm sad to say that the food today sucked today.

I ordered 2 charburgers with cheese, 1 french fries, 1 sweet potato fries, and 1 chicken bites. The paties on both burgers were burned, to the point where i had to remove part of mine cause it was that bad. Not sure if paties & chicken bites come pre-seasoned or seasoning gets added at the restaurant, but both the burger paties & chicken had way too much pepper. The regular fries tasted pretty stale as well.

I order from this Habit about once a month, same order for the past 6 years. The last time we ordered the food was also not as good, but at least it wasn't burned. This is not a common thing at this location. So I'm not sure if it's new kitchen staff or whatever, but today it was pretty bad. Bad enough for me to wanna write a review.

I don't want anyone to lose their jobs, and I will order again in the future. But please, guys, make sure u don't burn the paties and over spice the food. That's...