Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in Solana Beach

A friend of mine ruined In N Out for me by telling me to order a plain double. It was gross. It was that moment when the whole flame grilled aspect of places really set in. I went form 2-3 days a week In N Out eater to maybe 2 times a year (those animal style fries well done). I’ve been a Habit man for years and despite my 6.3 mile drive here from work (thank god for online ordering) I decided to try the rest of the menu.

I hate the parking in this lot, sure it’s newly painted, but it’s cramped and people drive around scared here. The location is on the small side despite it’s large corner presence. The kitchen is always cranking, but also small. The staff is great. The manager is a tornado, touching every aspect of this place and you can see how it’s a bit of a well oiled machine.

The burger patties are excellent, cheese on the melty side, lettuce too thinly chopped, fresh tomatoes, briney pickles, sauces are on the bland side, but the real downfall here is their fall apart buns. Even with the Japanese burger eating method they do not hold up. Look that one up people it’s a game changer if the burger is sturdy.

That Golden fried chicken is perfectly cooked, but not brined, the window for overcooking it is much smaller than on the grill, which is better than most. I no longer get the combo’s here because $2 for fries, $2 for a drink. That makes a $6.50 sandwich a $10.50 combo. Not with their weak sauces. It doesn’t have a fast food feel, it’s clean, it’s fresh, but for me I get a double char, no lettuce, extra tomato, santa Barbara style and I’m good. The char grilled chicken sandwiches are very good and I’m not opposed to the Albacore tuna fillet either. Their chicken salads all use freshly grilled chicken, that warmth really sets it apart from some places where they chop pre-cooked on there, but again those sauces need bite. There is a reason you should get everything on sourdough or just Santa Barbara style. The portabello sandwich needs work. I think the tri-tip is ok. Onion rings are legit, fries are good, sweet potato fries are good, fried green beans, nah, give me Chinese style green beans anyday.

Habit has sort of done everything that In N Out doesn’t/hasn’t, and there is a reason they too have...

I went here on a Sunday lunch time. I ordered in store and waited for my meal to be prepared. There was no synchronization between the staff making the burgers and fries etc. So the result was a meal where the burgers were cold as they were waiting on fries. I ordered this as take out I literally live 1 min from the store but could not be bothered to take it back. While in the store I mentioned my food had been sat waiting for the fries and was probably cold but the staff were not interested. Will never go here again.

Update: I responded to the response from Habit and they went Radio Silent

Further update. They finally reached out and sent me two Char burger vouchers. I will try it one more time but not at the same location as a cold burger is never good even if it is free.

Further update 3/15/23. Ordered online told me it would be ready in 10mins. Drive to the store and instead of it being ready they had just received the order. Had to wait in the store for 20+mins while they made the order, pointless ordering on the App. App told me order was ready. Last visit I have given this place enough tries. Shame as I normally love the habit but...

Ordered a pickup order for lunch - but did not receive my Korean burger with the order. Called the Habit store on Lomas Santa Fe in North County San Diego to report the missing item and requested that they either deliver the missing burger (99 cents to deliver) or credit back the cost of the whole meal. Was told to go online and fill out a form (?!?!?) and maybe someone would get back to me. I have been a constant and loyal customer at this store since the day it opened. My husband and I eat there more than once a week. A simple act of courtesy and customer service would have gone far in this situation. Instead of requiring me to drive 15 miles back to the store, they could call a delivery service for 99 cents and made it right. Or credit back the cost of the meal upon request. Or offer a coupon for a free meal on a subsequent visit. This is NOT how you treat your best customers!

Very disappointed and also very hungry.

Susan...