BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger & Cheeseburger w/ Avocado & Bacon
Habit Burger is a newish chain of “upscale” fast food burger joints that is trying to spread throughout the Bay Area. One may be opening in San Leandro in a year or two, a fact that Mayor Stephen Cassidy considers a major accomplishment of his administration (I kid you not!). We were driving by Walnut Creek, and my husband decided we should stop by one of its restaurant and find out whether Cassidy’s characterization of the restaurant as “a hip, healthy and delicious” was accurate. It wasn’t, but then again, I can’t say I am surprised.
As far as fast-food chains go, Habit Burger is definitely a step up from McDonalds and their ilk. Its flavor profiles are closest to In-N-Out, but the restaurant is classier and it offers greater choices. The burgers ($3.50) were tasty, though the patties were small, thin and dry. They are charbroiled, which gives them a flavor similar to Burger King’s whoppers. My youngest daughter, who had hers with cheese & ketchup but nothing else, found it too small and too dry. This is a child that’s eaten her fair share of school cafeteria burgers, so criticism from her says somethings. I ordered my burger with guacamole and bacon ($1 extra each) and that made all the difference. The guacamole tasted fresh and vibrant and the bacon was crispy; the two combined completely redeemed the burger – but the patty was pathetic. My husband had the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger ($4.60) and he also thought the burger was just OK.
My 11-yo had the chicken sandwich ($5.75) . She found it “OK”. The chicken itself was dry and the sandwich was a bit too peppery. She wouldn’t return, even if we had one here.
Neither my husband nor kids liked the fries ($1.85). They had a hard/chewy outer part and had a strange flavor. To me, they tasted as if they’d been cooked with their peels, but that wasn’t actually the case. Still, they did remind me (flavor wise, not texture wise) of In-N-Out fries. The portion was generous, but we didn’t finish them between the four of us.
We had different opinions with respect to the shakes ($3), however. Hubby ordered the vanilla and he found it too thin and tasteless. I shared the mocha with my oldest, and we both enjoyed it. It had a nice flavor, and while it was thin, I guess you don’t expect mochas to be thicker.
The food was ready fast and, as I mentioned, the restaurant was quite nice and clean. It did smell horrible, though, like old, stale oil. Maybe that’s why their fries were so unappetizing.
In all, I’d say this place is marginally better than In-N-Out, but nowhere as good as Nation’s. It’s probably a good fit for those who like Burger King but want nicer surroundings. But if you want a burger that looks like it’s made of beef, then Habit Burger is not for you.
Chicken Sandwich
Closeup of beef patty
The Habit Burger Grill
1255 S California Blvd
Walnut Creek, CA
(925) 279-2286
http://www.habitburger.com/
I got these to serve as the last course of my 13-course Xmas Eve dinner and they were perfect. Indeed, these were very good lemon bars overall. They come frozen, and the curd is perhaps more cream-like and less sticky than that of a regular lemon bar, but it had the right degree of balance between sweetness and sourness, and they were the perfect size for an after dinner bite. All in all very satisfying for anyone who likes lemon bars.
I didn’t get a breadmaker for Christmas. Telling my husband “I want the 
they are selling at Grocery Outlet for $30″ apparently was not enough of a hint. He didn’t think I was serious, even after I told him “I’m serious, I want it”. So, after I failed to find the bread maker under the tree on Christmas morning, I sent him to GO to buy it anyway. I got it last night, but it didn’t come with bread flour or dry milk.
Last night, for our 
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