The Habit Burger Grill is a California-based fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in chargrilled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare.[3] It was founded in 1969 at Santa Barbara, California, and its headquarters are in Irvine, California.[2]
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Fast casual restaurant |
Founded | November 15, 1969 Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
Headquarters | Irvine, California, U.S. |
Number of locations | 372[1] |
Area served | United States, Cambodia, China, United Arab Emirates |
Key people | Russell W. Bendel, CEO Ira Fils, CFO |
Products |
|
Revenue | US$402 million (2021) |
Number of employees | 6,093 (2021) |
Parent | Yum! Brands |
Website | habitburger |
In March 2020, Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Wingstreet, acquired The Habit Burger Grill.[4][5][6]
The Habit Burger Grill was founded on November 15, 1969, in Santa Barbara County, California, as a family-owned business.[3][7]
In 1980, Brent and Bruce Reichard purchased the original location in Goleta, and a second location opened in Ventura in 1995. They gradually grew the chain to twenty-four units in Southern California.[8]
In 2007, KarpReilly, a private equity firm, acquired a majority ownership in the company and began to rapidly expand the chain, including franchising.[9] Not included in the sale were the eight locations in Santa Barbara County, California, which remained under the ownership of the Reichard brothers.[8]
In 2014, Habit had 109 locations either open for business or under construction, including an expansion into Seattle.[10] 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.[11] In November 2014, the company raised $83.7 million in an initial public offering. [1] [12][13][14] The share price immediately doubled.[15] By 2016, growth had slowed significantly, in line with the burger business.[16]
In 2017, the company announced plans to expand into the United Kingdom with 30 restaurants.[17]
In March 2020, Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Wingstreet, acquired Habit.[18] The brothers decided to retire and sell their remaining restaurants to Yum! Brands in 2021.[19] The operations shifted in March 2022.[20]
As of May 2024, Habit Burger Grill had 372 locations,[1] mostly in California, as follows:[1]
Location | # of locations |
---|---|
Arizona | 20 |
California | 250 |
Florida | 10 |
Idaho | 3 |
Maryland | 6 |
Massachusetts | 1[21] |
Nevada | 11 |
New Jersey | 16 |
North Carolina | 7 |
Pennsylvania | 1 |
South Carolina | 6 |
Utah | 15 |
Virginia | 3 |
Washington | 13 |
Cambodia | 5[22][23] |
China | 5 |
The company also has a fleet of nine food trucks.[24]
In mid-2014, The Habit's "Charburger" was named the best burger in America by Consumer Reports, a nonprofit organization dedicated to independent product testing, scoring an 8.1 out of 10 among 53,745 participants.[25][26][27]