Doing an update for this location since it's been 5+ years since my last visit / review. One thing…read morethat hasn't changed, was the smoke and overwhelmingly mouthwatering smell of fresh grilled burgers permeating throughout the entire corner of the shopping center.
While most other things are the same, there are some differences. As many places have, they've geared more towards the self-service kiosk approach to ordering. As soon as you enter, there are two kiosks to the left, then one more to the right on the counter instead of one of the registers. They still have a place where you can order from a human being if you prefer that (or like me, have customizations that can't be accommodated via the kiosk)...lol.
All jokes aside, I ended up having to order through a person. It's not my fault though, they're promoting this delicious looking new toasted Parmesan-crusted sourdough, but only on a Chicken Club sandwich. Being that we hadn't been to Habit in a while, we were craving a burger specifically. After having to bring a manager over to approve the request and figure out how to enter it into the system, we were able to get the special new bread on our Double Char and Santa Barbara Char for an additional charge of ~$1 each (WORTH IT!).
The other new items that came (I assume) around the same time as the Parmesan bread, are Garlic Parmesan Fries, and a Garlic Parmesan Ranch. Both the fries and the ranch were surprisingly good. The fries were a little oily/greasy, but the flavor on them was very rich. The Parm ranch was bold and flavorful, and honestly paired well with everything. By everything, I mean the fries, onion rings, tempura green beans, sweet potato fries, and most especially poured on my Santa Barbara Char. It also paired perfectly with the new bread, and made each bite one of the best I've had in recent history.
Another big difference is that they now charge for all sauces (aside from ketchup & hot sauce). Back when we were coming here more regularly, ranch was free. You would just ask them at the counter, and they'd give you one, or a few, at no charge. While they do have a solid sauce selection (BBQ, sweet mustard, teriyaki, ranch, spicy ranch, avocado ranch, and the new garlic parm ranch), they charge $0.60 each.
They still have Pepsi products at the fountain, in addition to unsweetened regular and tropical iced tea, and both fresh strawberry and cucumber limeades. Two public, gender neutral bathrooms are in the back with no passcode.
It was steadily busy on a Saturday evening around 5:30pm. Most of the tables were full, but there was some turnover with people finishing and leaving and lots of to-go orders. Thank you again to the patient woman who took our order, dealing with all the changes and additions.
The food was all very tasty, and we especially loved the new Garlic Parmesan items. We're already talking about making another trip to Habit to get it again...