Where Does the Beef From the Habit Come From
The Untold Truth Of The Habit Burger Grill
Regional fast nutrient burger chains can exist found all over the U.s.a.. They're locally cherished, if not necessarily universally known. That's the case for i small California chain that has slowly built up a loyal client base and has raked in numerous fan favorite awards: The Habit Burger Grill. From its roots in Santa Barbara, California, this fast-casual burger joint tries to bring West Declension flavors and ingredients to every society.
While The Habit Burger Grill doesn't accept the name recognition of a identify like In-Due north-Out, there's a good adventure that won't be the instance for long thanks to some big proper noun investors and a large reputation for craveable burgers, fries, and sandwiches. But what is it about The Addiction Burger Grill that makes information technology all likewise easy for eating at that place to get, well, a addiction? This is everything you demand to know about the chain, including what to club off the in one case secret carte du jour, and why you'll probable be seeing more locations beyond the land and effectually the globe.
The Habit Burger Grill used to have a secret menu
Pretty much anybody likes to feel like they're in on a clandestine. Information technology'due south no dissimilar at restaurants and fast food chains, where locals and regulars always seem to know the best orders to go despite those meals not existence listed on the official bill of fare. The Habit Burger Grill once had a couple of these secret options and kept its menu relatively lean, only in Apr of 2012 the chain decided to take the secrecy away from what the kitchen can really do.
In an declaration on their website, The Habit Burger Grill said some burger and fry variations that had get client and employee favorites over the past 40 years would be officially put on the menu. Two of the biggest added hits were the now standard Santa Barbara Char (a double cheeseburger with cheese and avocado on grilled sourdough staff of life) and the One-half & Half (an lodge of half fries and one-half onion rings). While making these orders public knowledge hurt the absurd factor a just little bit, information technology was great for people unaware of the full number of choices they accept.
For anyone who still wants to society with inside cognition, however, The Habit Burger Grill included some welcome news in the announcement of its no-longer-secret menu: you can still create your own personalized favorites past asking for additions and substitutions.
The Habit Burger Grill was in one case named the best tasting fast food burger
In 2014, The Habit Burger Grill only had around 100 locations and was rarely found outside of California, but it was all the same well-loved. A survey from the industry publication Consumer Reports asked people to rate fast food chains on a scale of 1 to 10. It was a close race to be labeled the king of burgers (not the Burger Rex, which was 3rd from concluding in the ranking with a six.6 rating), but The Habit Burger Grill pulled through. The Addiction Burger Grill garnered an 8.i, putting it at the top of the listing and 0.1 points to a higher place In-Northward-Out, 0.ii points higher up Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and a whopping ii.iii points ahead of McDonald'due south, which landed in the unenviable position of last in the ranking.
"Nosotros are across elated," Russ Bendel, CEO The Habit Burger Grill, said in a press release at the fourth dimension. "Consumer Reports validates what we already knew: guests dear the quality and bill of fare variety we offer, from our signature Charbuger to our fresh grilled albacore sandwich and Cobb salad."
The accolades didn't stop in 2014. The Habit Burger Grill was named the best regional fast food chain in 2019 by U.s. Today's 10 Best.
The Habit Burger Grill has some familiar siblings
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
In March of 2020, The Habit Burger Grill officially joined the large leagues of fast food. Yum! Brands, which owns the likes of Taco Bong, KFC, and Pizza Hut, finalized the purchase of the California burger chain for around $375 million. Information technology's the start fast coincidental chain in the Yum! Brands portfolio. The Habit Burger Grill had less than 300 restaurants around the world at the time of purchase, and Yum! Make bought information technology with an eye on both national and international growth, according to a printing release at the time.
"The Habit Burger Grill is a sweet spot within fast-casual considering of its delicious California-inspired carte du jour with premium ingredients at a QSR-like [quick-serve-restaurant] value, strong unit economics, and tremendous untapped growth potential in the U.South. and internationally," David Gibbs, Yum! Brands CEO, said at the time. "We couldn't be more excited about what the future holds for The Habit Burger Grill and believe our acquisition of this tendency-forward brand is a 'win-win-win' all effectually."
The Habit Burger Grill, which remains headquartered in Irvine, California, was already quickly growing. Information technology went from 26 locations in California in 2009 to an international reach with more 250 locations globally in 2019. Yum! Brands, based in Louisville, Kentucky, is no stranger to growth — it's 3 cadre restaurant chains accept more than 50,000 locations in more than than 150 countries and opens an average of ix restaurants a day worldwide.
The original Santa Barbara locations of The Habit Burger Grill are all the same family-owned
When The Habit Burger Grill sold, information technology didn't sell in its entirety. Five locations in the chain'due south original dwelling house of Santa Barbara County remain owned by the same family that'due south been in accuse for the past four decades. That means, despite The Habit Burger Grill every bit a whole existence owned past Yum! Brands, Santa Barbara county's locations won't be making any changes dictated from upward top.
The reason why is due to a few dorsum and along buying changes. Brent and Bruce Reichard first bought the Hamburger Habit in Goleta (the original Habit location) in 1980. The co-founders are responsible for turning that one spot into a concatenation of restaurants, including 6 other The Habit Burger Grill locations around Santa Barbara. The Reichard brothers sold the concatenation in 2007 to an investment group called KarpReilly with one exception: Santa Barbara County'due south The Habit Burger Grill locations stayed in the family. That provision stayed when Yum! Brands purchased it from KarpReilly.
"The eight Santa Barbara County Habit locations are still locally owned, by our family unit, as they have been for decades," Brent Reichard told the Santa Barbara Independent. "At that place will be no changes to our operations, carte du jour, or workforce. We remain committed equally a local family concern to our original motto, 'There is no substitute for quality,' and we capeesh your continued loyal support."
Every burger from The Habit Burger Grill is char grilled
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If at that place's one thing you'll notice correct away when you get to The Habit Burger Grill, it's that the burgers all include the word "char" in the name. At that place'south the traditional Charburger, the Barbecue Bacon Charburger, and the Santa Barbara Char. Information technology's all because of the cooking method, as all of the burgers at The Addiction Burger Grill are flame cooked over charcoal. Equally the company says on its website,"it's non the aforementioned without the flame."
Though "char" isn't in the proper name of the other menu items, some others, similar the ahi tuna sandwich and the grilled chicken, are as well cooked over an open flame. Larger chains similar Burger Rex tout flame-grilled burgers as well, but The Habit Burger Grill has one main thing that sets it apart.
"We only serve fresh proteins, beef and craven," Bendel told Forbes in 2019. "Burger Male monarch cooks its meals on a flame but it's on a conveyer belt. Ours is chargrilled with briquettes."
The Habit Burger Grill is not just most burgers
Burgers are right there in the proper noun for The Habit Burger Grill, but information technology'due south not all that the chain has to offer. As Bendel put it to Forbes, burgers make upwardly the majority of the sales, simply are only 60 pct of the options on the card.
There's the ahi sandwich made with line-caught, sushi-course tuna, for example. In a nod to a popular regional cut of steak, The Habit Burger Grill serves tri-tip sandwiches also. Tri-tip is a cut of beef taken from around the same region as top sirloin, and it was popularized past Santa Maria style charcoal-broil from the urban center of the same proper name a couple hours north of Santa Barbara. For sides, in that location are options like tempura greenish beans. The option to customize your order doesn't end at the register. The restaurants feature a complimentary pepper bar where you tin self-serve jalapeños, assistant peppers, hot sauces, lemons, and limes.
Vegetarian options are increasing every bit well. In June of 2020, The Habit Burger Grill appear a partnership with Impossible Foods to sell found-based burgers done, as principal make officer Iwona Alter put it in a press release, "The Habit way." The found-based burgers will come in two options: the Original Impossible Burger made with caramelized onion, American cheese, lettuce, and tomato on a sesame bun; and the Impossible Bistro Burger made with caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce, love apple, and a cloak-and-dagger sauce on a brioche bun.
The Habit Burger Grill ordinarily opts for fresh, never frozen ingredients
When the Reichard brothers purchased The Addiction Burger Grill in 1980, they looked at upping the freshness gene right away. On the company'south virtually page, it describes how fresh ingredients became a priority. First there were the buns, which were originally sourced from a local bakery. Then there was the produce. They sprung for California tomatoes and lettuce, as well as fresh ahi tuna from the South Pacific for the sandwiches.
The Habit Burger Grill has expanded far beyond that first pocket-size outpost near Santa Barbara, as has its food supply needs. You'll still find that, outside of the made-to-order malts and shakes, the only affair previously frozen is the fries, according to the Times-Abet. The ahi tuna, tri-tip, and the lettuce for the salads are all mitt cutting. When it comes to the most popular options, the burgers, The Habit Burger Grill promises 100 percent ground beefiness patties without additives, preservatives, or fillers.
The Habit Burger Grill can only exist establish in 13 states, for at present
For almost of The Addiction Burger Grill's history, it was available only in California. Things started to modify in the 2000s after the investment group KarpReilly acquired the company. Between 2007 and 2014, The Habit Burger Grill nearly quadrupled its stores to 109 locations. That was just the start. Today, you can find ane of the more than 265 outposts in California, Arizona, Utah, New Jersey, Florida, Idaho, Virginia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington, Maryland, and North Carolina.
Growth was front of listen during the purchase by Yum! Brands. The CEOs of both Yum! Brands and The Addiction Burger Grill mentioned in a press release the increased franchising opportunities after the Yum! Brands finalized the purchase. Still, the western half of the United states of america is where y'all're most probable to find The Habit Burger Grill. In that location were only 26 locations on the E Coast as of 2019.
So if you desire to try one of the Charburgers, you lot'll have to keep an center out when you're in the regions it operates. The company is miniscule compared to the bigger national chains found beyond the country like McDonald'southward, Burger Rex, and Five Guys. It is, however, like to its other California burger rival, In-N-Out, which has more than 330 stores in six states (California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, and Oregon).
But The Habit Burger Grill is also available internationally
While you may be out of luck if you lot want a Charburger in say, New York, y'all may take ameliorate luck in a different country. The Habit Burger Grill has seven international locations every bit of March 2020. The first international eatery opened in 2016 in Dubai, which was one of 50 originally planned for the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf region.
The Middle Eastward isn't the but function of the earth that could meet more Charburgers in the future. South Korea locations were announced in 2019, and they were billed every bit part of a larger international expansion plan into the Asia-Pacific region. Kingdom of cambodia is another country where expansion plans for The Addiction Burger Grill got going in 2019, according to Yahoo. More than expansion is to come, and this time with the strong international experience of Yum! Brands behind the visitor.
"Being part of Yum! will take The Addiction Burger Grill to the next level by leveraging Yum!'due south global calibration, resources and franchising capabilities to strengthen and significantly grow our honey brand for many years to come," Bendel said in a press release.
The Habit Burger Grill also has a fleet of roving food trucks
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Nutrient trucks have become a fixture of the modern dining landscape. Amid the taco trucks and mobile grilled cheese purveyors, there's a fleet of The Habit Burger Grill trucks dishing out Charburgers and chicken sandwiches. It's nearly as close as you can get to the in-person experience thanks to a kitchen with a stainless steel charbroiler and total set up.
The Addiction Burger Grill has long been focused on being a more upscale choice than typical fast food. Over the by one-half decade, nevertheless, new locations have focused on to-go options and bulldoze-thrus, Bendel told Nation'southward Eatery News in 2017. That twelvemonth, around 30 percent of the sites had drive-thrus, while it was expected to top fifty pct from 2018 forward. Food trucks are just another way to easily get Charburgers from the restaurants to the customer and position The Habit Burger Grill as something more than an on-premise food purveyor.
"We believe these are nifty vehicles for brand sensation as well as catering and are excited to have our 10th truck in production for Northern California," Bendel told Nation's Restaurant News.
Just don't expect to see 1 parked outside your office. The food trucks are primarily for events and catering.
Source: https://www.mashed.com/239976/the-untold-truth-of-the-habit-burger-grill/
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