The Habit Burger Grill is an American
fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in charbroiled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare.
Its headquarters are in
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...
.
In March 2020,
Yum! Brands, the parent company of
KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
,
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...
,
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
and
Wingstreet
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international Franchising, franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and ...
, acquired The Habit Burger Grill.
History
The Habit Burger Grill was founded on November 15, 1969, in
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Santa Barba ...
as a family-owned business.
In 1980, Brent and Bruce Reichard purchased the original location in
Goleta
Goleta or La Goleta may refer to:
* ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus
* Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County
* La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette
La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...
. A second location opened in
Ventura in 1996 and they gradually grew the chain to twenty-four units in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
.
In 2007, KarpReilly, a private equity firm, acquired a majority ownership in the company and began to rapidly expand the chain, including franchising. Not included in the sale were the eight locations in
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Santa Barba ...
, which remained under the ownership of the Reichard brothers.
In 2014, Habit had 109 locations either open for business or under construction, including an expansion into
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. At that time, the company was one of the fastest-growing fast food chains in the United States, with a 40% sales increase from 2012 to 2013. In November 2014, the company raised $83.7 million in an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
. The share price immediately doubled. By 2016, growth had slowed significantly, in line with the burger business.
In 2017, the company announced plans to expand into the United Kingdom with 30 restaurants.
In March 2020,
Yum! Brands, the parent company of
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
and
KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
, acquired Habit. The brothers decided to retire and sell their remaining restaurants to Yum! Brands in 2020. The operations shifted in March 2022.
Locations
As of September 2021, Habit Burger Grill currently has over 300 locations,
mostly in California, as follows:
The company also has a fleet of nine
food truck
A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...
s.
Reception
In mid-2014, The Habit's "Charburger" was named the best burger in America by
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy.
Founded ...
, a nonprofit organization dedicated to unbiased product testing, scoring an 8.1 out of 10 among 53,745 participants.
See also
*
List of hamburger restaurants
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habit Burger Grill
Yum! Brands
1969 establishments in California
Companies based in Irvine, California
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
Cuisine of the Western United States
Restaurants established in 1969
2007 mergers and acquisitions
2020 mergers and acquisitions
Economy of the Southwestern United States
Fast-food chains of the United States
Fast-food franchises
Fast-food hamburger restaurants
Regional restaurant chains in the United States
Restaurants in California
2014 initial public offerings