Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in San Diego

This is the worst Habit I have ever been to, hands down. The staff here absolutely have no clue what customer service is.

A few weeks ago I ordered through the Habit mobile app for curbside pickup. The app then gave me my receipt and told me when it would be ready, along with an email confirmation of my order. I drove to the Habit Burger and waited in the curbside pickup parking spots. I pulled out my phone to pull up the text to notify them I was there, but for some reason I did not get a text. I figured, no big deal, I'll just wave someone down when they come out. After 15 minutes of trying to wave them down, I decided I better go in to get my order. I couldn't find my mask in the car, so I walked up to the door and started knocking and trying to wave them down (they were not very busy, this was well after the lunch rush) and they see me, but ignore. So I walk in and all of the sudden they decide to pay attention to me because I don't have a mask on my face, telling me I could not enter. So I said from the entrance that I am waiting for curbside pickup, can someone come out to address this. They shrugged and continued working, so I walked in and requested my money back. They told me they don't refund orders, so I asked to speak with the manager. The lady at the cash register claimed she was the manager (highly doubtful). I show her my receipt and then some other lady walks by telling me it is the wrong Habit, then I clearly pointed out to them that I was at the right one as the address was on the receipt. They said they received no such order. They then lied to me and told me I was going to have to call their phone order hotline and tell them to refund it there. I call and speak to 4 different reps, all of which told me the only thing they have access to is to place orders for us online, they cannot refund. Nobody would give me an alternate point of contact.

I check my bank account and confirmed I was charged. I reached out to their Facebook, Twitter, customer support email on their website, etc. They never responded. It was only until I left them a bad review on their Facebook page did they respond (obviously trying to save face, all of my DMs were not important apparently). They gave me an email address to email. I sent them an email and received a call from their corporate office a few days later. They apologized and refunded my money and sent me a few Char tickets to smooth over the situation.

That was a nice gesture by the corporate office, and I am a big fan of the Habit, but I WILL NEVER EAT AT THIS LOCATION AGAIN. The fact that I was a paying customer and they refused service and refused to refund my money shows how incredibly incompetent, rude and pathetic they are. Bad service is a reflection of bad leadership and the owner should be ashamed of their employees lack of training in customer service.

Not to mention, the 2 other times I ate here the portion sizes were smaller then other Habit locations I have eaten at. I asked for an extra cup of ranch with my onion rings and instead they gave me one cup only a quarter of the way full.

Combining all of that together, this was the worst customer experience I have had at a restaurant anywhere, in my entire life. All I wanted was what I paid for or my money back. Instead I wasted my whole lunch break, got ripped off and had to go without eating lunch that day.

With all of that said, the Habit burger in Escondido is particularly exceptional. They have a drive thru (huge plus) and the staff is extremely hospitable and accommodating to any requests. Plus their portions are better and their onion rings have always been fresh (not the case at the Genesee location).

If you're in this area looking to pickup some food, there are plenty of other options available with much better service. Across the street on Balboa there is a Dickey's BBQ, Blaze Pizza, Chipotle and Five Guys and have received excellent service at all of them.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this...

Today, I needed to find an old jewelry shop : I had used this shop decades ago, whenever I needed a replacement watch band for my Casio watch however, I decided that I would get a bit to eat first. The surrounding area has grown and has become a mega shopping complex, over the last two decades. The must be at least fifty different stores within this area nowadays and a plethora of new restaurants. I didn't feel like eating at any of my local favourites and all I wanted was a bloody cheeseburger. There were a number of places that served many types of American food however, the "Habit Burger Grill," was the one that immediately caught my attention/eye. I have seen a few television commercials that advertise this particular burger joint and an associate of mine told me that, I should give it a try...so I did just that! When I walked into the "Habit Burger Grill," and walked up to their front counter, and associate immediately greeted me ( This is an excellent.way to score extra points...Ooops! I need to stop here!). They have a large board with all their menu items posted right above the cashier's area, so you can decide to order whatever you'd like ; then you can pay for it right there and go and find a nice place to sit down and relax. Their decor was quite nice and I really liked the older rock n` roll music that they were playing. The tunes added some 60's style nostalgia to the whole restaurant's scenario and augmented the ambience✌. I liked their selection of myriad different hamburgers ; all quite simple and down to earth ( They specialize in char broiled hamburgers.). Although I'm really not a fan of " char burgers" - I've gotten few too many of them, "a little too charred," if you catch my gist? Anyhow, I ordered a BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger (American), with NO Mayonnaise. I'm glad that I asked, otherwise I would have had the taste "ah la deliciousness," ruined by that goop! Oh! American's? In Europe, we make our potato salad, using olive oil, vinegar and herbs! Now. Where was I? My BBQ Cheese Burger, with bacon, grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, plus with mustard and katchup, was a terrific match up.It was really "sweet" and definitely worth the $5.70 - including tax - that I paid for it. I doubt that I could have eaten two of them and I usually don't care for fries. The soft drinks were a bit expensive however, I was there to try out one of their char burgers and it was pretty darn good and "filling too..." I'd have to say that there is some credence to THEIR adage, "Respect the Burger." I'll drop by another time - when I'm really hungry - and try something a lot bigger. Their customer service was right up there and a young lady was going to bring my meal to my table but, I met her half way there. My only question is one, and always the same. Why don't more of these places give seniors "a free...

This restaurant is a 5 STAR. Listen closely, and I'll tell you why. My family and I came from Michigan and we were lost in the sense that we weren't familiar with San Diego and we were starving not knowing were to go or where to stop and eat. We went everywhere, we got to Balboa genesee and we were walking everywhere all day, around the mall and streets..we were exhausted and until this day it gives me pure joy, chills and happiness.. This young cashier with high energy, and enthusiasm looked at us walking outside while she was cleaning the patio. She smiled and said "have you guys tried the Habit?" My husband quickly answered "no, but now that you mention it why not we have nothing to lose right!?" She quickly opened the door for us, and said "right this way, I'll be right up to take your order at the register." Our family was going through so much. We were about to give up and go nuts.. We noticed the cashiers name was Ana. She had brown hair with blonde highlights in a high bun. She was adorable. She explained the whole menu to us and noticed we weren't from SD so she welcomed us. She also gave us directions to places near by, food, hotels, beaches etc. never have I ever experienced such GREAT SERVICE. These are the kinds of people that are able to change the world. People like her are reasons why the world is becoming better. Habit Genesee, you guys have a wonderful cashier. If I had my own business I'll definitely take her away! When we are on vacation, this is my absolute favorite place to bring my whole family for lunch and dinner. Thank you for the food but my family will always be thankful for the great service. Thank you Ana. Hope you read this! Yay...