The Habit

I love The Habit! Good price, great quality. It’s like In-​N-​Out but better, in my opinion. The sauces are all excellent. Fries are perfect, crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside!

GREAT cheeseburger! Fries were perfect.

For someone who does not frequent fast food places and is not a fan of burgers, why the five stars? It’s either I was really hungry or it was a good experience. But we’ve been here three times so maybe that speaks volumes about this place. Don’t expect fine dining! What you need to know is that this has that «backyard grill» feel. Fresh veggies, tender and juicy meat choices, a varied menu and excellent customer service. They serve salads, shakes (both healthy and unhealthy… haha), meal options for vegetarians and of course, very decent burgers.
Our favorite spot is outdoors, under the heaters. They have seats indoors but they are very limited. We only stop here whenever we go to Santa Barbara and neighboring towns. Or whenever the traffic situation is bad and we just need to stop and wait for the clogged highways to subside.

The habit is a local Santa Barbara burger place. It’s great spot for locals and tourists alike. Even my 5 year old liked her burger, and she rarely likes anything! The staff is friendly, the food is fast, and there is outdoor seating and plenty of parking.

Pleasantly surprised by this burger joint! Finding a decent veggie burger, especially at a fast food spot is so hard. I loved this burger and came twice in a row to eat it, once on sourdough and once on a wheat roll. The onions rings are a must as well!

Oh my god. The best hamburger ever and actually cheaper than McDonald. We ordered a double, a single burgers plus French fries, onion rings and batter fried string beans and 2 drinks Only 18.00. Unbelievable. Tried to go back the next day but the parking lot is so teenie tiny. Couldn’t park. Eat outside if u can. Best burgers ever and the salads looked luscious. They’ll also do a lettuce wrap burger. Beautiful. Great staff and great manager.

Great burger spot!!! Can’t go wrong and just minutes away from the beach! Good service!

Great service, afforadable, quick food, super tasty, plenty of seating. I’d definitely recommend this specific location. The burgers are wrapped nicely, healthy options, and easy to eat.

Fantastic burgers! Simple menu and almost in and out like which is a good thing. 3 number 1s and 1 number 2 full and happy. It was our last chance on our way back from SoCal running out of options glad we found it!

You can’t go wrong with Habit on Milpas. They just remodeled inside and its a bit cleaner now. Outside tables could use a good disinfecting wipe down. Food is always perfect. I have weekly cravings for the burger, fries and mocha shake! Oh, and with a few sides of ranch dressing to dip in!

One of the best burger places to go to
Great food and good prices
The staff was really nice
And service was fast
You have to try the Santa Barbara Burger
It’s not on the menu but as for it
The best of the best in Burgers

After visiting Habit burger for the first time, I’d say it was a decent experience. There was adequate space to sit inside, as well as some nice outdoor seating as well.
Food was decent. The burger was very good, but the fries were a bit of a disappointment. I paid extra for sweet potato fries, but was unimpressed. They didn’t have the powerful flavor I usually find when I order this form other places.
This location also uses the key at counter for restroom method, which I am not a fan of. I know this may sound silly, but it is something I heavily dislike. Never been a fan of carrying something others have taken into the bathroom with them.
Either way, I’d come back here if I wanted a cheap quick burger.

What’s not to love? Everything I ordered was good!!! The vanilla shake was yummy, my burger was juicy and exceptional, and the onion rings were bomb. Delicious. Go to hell In n Out and your two minute fries. Like, Eat within two minutes or they become chalk. I never get why they’re such a big deal.
Anywho. It was raining so the patio seating was closed but the few indoor booths opened up quickly.

The one thing consistent about this Habit and every Habit, is the food is ALWAYS delicious. All of the burgers, salads, fries, sweet potato fries… they hit the spot EVERY time.
We haven’t had the best experience here with the staff. 2 times we waited far too long for our food, because our order was handed out to the wrong people. The gentleman who made the error did not even apologize for the inconvenience, and honestly treated us like we were the inconvenience for having to have our food remade.
That being said, we still continue to go bad regardless, because the food is just so darn good.

What really is there to say about the habit that already has not been said. Good, fresh ingredients nice varied menu, fast service and bomb shakes. The pastrami sandwich is stupid good for a fresh fast-​casual joint. Can’t go wrong here. Every time is see that beautiful habit logo, my car pulls me in.
Good stuff.

A family favorite for many years. A consistently good burger– took a family of six tonight so quite a variety of food was ordered. Had a Teriyaki Burger Lettuce-​wrapped (so juicy she couldn’t let it «rest»), a Double Char with Bacon and another one of those with Bacon and Avocado — Rich! A Mahi Sandwich on Sourdough. If you ask for grilled onions they don’t blink an eye. All excellent and piping hot. I had a BBQ Chicken Salad that was excellent. It comes with a variety of lettuces and an entire breast sliced and warm on top with red onions. The Onion Rings are breaded, crispy and Hot. Sweet Potato Fries also hot with a slight crunch.
Our favorite sitting spot is outdoors, on the patio, and under the heaters. Not much seating inside but, hey, this is Santa Barbara! Merry Christmas!

Did you know that The Habit has an off-​the-​menu burger called The Laker Burger? Well… you do now… and it’s A-​mazing.
You may have heard that The Habit was voted best burger in America in 2014 from Consumer Reports, but most people in town do not know about this hidden gem of a burger. In fact, you may ask for it at the register and a new person may not know what you are talking about, but someone working there does. I’ve ordered it at the locations on State Street, on Milpas and in Goleta, and someone working always has the knowledge. I chose to write this review for the Milpas location because I can call in the burger and pick it up on the way to the beach (as long as they aren’t slammed).
This hidden burger has been available for at least 13 years and is named in honor of the LA Lakers.
What’s in this hush hush burger? It’s a bacon burger with both Swiss and American cheese, lettuce, onions, mustard and teriyaki sauce. I’ve also added grilled onions or substituted them instead of raw and like it better. But it’s the duel cheese and the sauce combo that brings it to the next level.
…and knowing is half the battle.

I was on vacation with my family and well the locals suggested we try the best burger in Santa Barbara and we did! It was very similar to In-​N-​Out burger. Maybe because I stopped eating fast food in the past year, I think this burger was melting in my mouth, it was that good. Not going to get into how healthy it is, but its ok to eat bad once in a while, just don’t overdue it.
So if you are ever passing thru California and you have already tried In-​N-​Out burger, try the Habit and see which one you prefer.

Decent burgers, but subpar in the turkey category.
Food: Came here after my friend couldn’t stop raving about the place. I tried to keep my expectations low, but apparently they weren’t low enough. I got the turkey burger (
) with a side of fries (
). The turkey was unfortunately super dry and tasteless. I enjoyed the fries but they weren’t anything you can’t get from the freezer aisle at the market. If I had to do it again I’d definitely spring for the beef patties. I did enjoy that it came with some citrus and greens on the side, but if the patty isn’t satisfying, it’s really just lipstick on a pig.
Atmosphere: This place is right around the corner from the fabulous Fess Parker Doubletree Hotel, so if you’d had it with all the splendor and free cookies, you can hop on over and shove your maw into a nice steamy burger. Aside from the clean interior, there’s a nice seating area outside where you can get some Santa Barbara sun.
Service: Your typical fast food joint.
Synopsis: Definitely won’t be getting the turkey burger here again, but I’ll have to try the beef to really get a handle on this place.

Bottom Line: High quality, good service, friendly people and consistency… what else could you possibly want from a Burger joint? This place rocks.
My wife and I live just a few blocks from this place and we go here way more than we will ever admit. Pretty much everything they do, they do well; burgers, sandwiches, salads, shakes — you name it.
The people that work here are always friendly and fast, the food is always good and that’s why this place’s parking lot is always a mess — it’s always packed.
Luckily we walk so we dont have to worry about it. In the morning we can smell them cooking up the bacon… bbaaaaaccccoooonnnnn…