Habit Burger & Grill — Restaurant in Thousand Oaks

When I was a kid in the 60's there was one place you went to if you really wanted a hamburger and fries -- The Yellow Basket in Gardena. Out here in the Thousand Oaks neck of the woods, the place to go is The Habit.

The burgers and fries are lean and tasty. They are always exactly the same, cooked just right from good ingredients. I can cruise in brain dead from a whole day of driving and come out in half an hour fueled up and ready to go.

If I've been in there more than twice in a month, I get the Albacore burger on sourdough and sweet potato fries. If I've been in already that week, I get the chopped salad.

Now, I know what you're thinking -- who wants a dang salad when you're thinking about a burger and fries. The weird thing is that their salads are strangely satisfying. There's something more going on in them than can be accounted for -- they feel like a whole good meal. Add some chicken if you don't think the salad is going to fill you up enough.

I can't count the number of times I've gone there with somebody and we both come out saying "Boy, that really hit the spot" or "Man, I really...

On the 4th of July, my Husband placed a rather large order at the Hillcrest Habit at4:48PM (Chk 220, ID: 296146). When he placed the order I was standing right next to him so I knew exactly what he ordered. He even had the young lady who was taking the order repeat it. When we arrived, the order was ready and he picked it up, no problem. He was told his order was filled & all checked off. When we got it home the order was very wrong. We had ordered 2 Santa Barbara cobb salads, not in the order. We were not charged for them. We were grateful. We had ordered 2 teriyaki chicken sandwiches on wheat buns, instead we got teriyaki cheeseburgers on sourdough. The other 5 burgers, Fries & green beans were correct. We ordered 2 kids meals with sliced apples, instead we got applesauce. If certain items were out, I totally understand, but please tell us. Also, this isn't the first time our order was not correct, it has happened several times. I just felt so frustrated that I had to say something. I love The Habit, but I may just have to frequent the Westlake Habit or the Newbury Park Habit. So...

Friendly staff. Clean exterior/interior. Great ambiance (for a cookie-cutter chain). It's nice to be vindicated after singing the praises of a place that said praises were warranted.

One of my family members is particularly grouchy and uncooperative about trying new things, and after many months of encouraging him to try the Habit (which he thought was the "Hobbit"), a group of us went to this one in Thousand Oaks, CA after my nephew's football game. This franchise more than delivered, and I was pleased to see that my grouchy relative was actually enamored with the fact that this place serves REAL malt in its malt-shakes.

Of course, things (and experiences and people) invariably have a imperfections, and this Habit is no exception: the cook's burnt half the hamburger bun, and they forgot the raw onions I requested, but given we were staying in-store for dinner, those issues were easily and quickly resolved. Had I driven more than a few miles elsewhere, I would have a...