The Habit Burger Grill To Open in Early June in Rockville

Restaurant will be California chain's first Maryland location

By Andrew Metcalf

The Habit Burger Grill on Instagram

The burger chain that Consumer Reports readers voted as the best tasting fast-food burgers in the country is set to open a location June 1 on Rockville Pike.

The Habit Burger Grill is opening a 2,800-square-foot space at Wintergreen Plaza and will give free burgers to the public at 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and on Tuesday, May 31, the restaurant will offer the full menu for free starting at 11:30 a.m. for the first 200 guests.

On Sunday, Habit will hold a fundraiser from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. to benefit Girls on the Run of Montgomery County, and a second one from 5 to 7 p.m. to benefit the Bethesda Lacrosse Association. All proceeds will go to the local nonprofits.

The new location is part of a Mid-Atlantic expansion for the Irvine, California-based chain, which got its start in Santa Barbara in 1969. The company opened its first restaurant in the D.C. area in Ashburn in December and the Rockville restaurant will be its first in Maryland. Habit has more than 130 restaurants in California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, Utah, Idaho and Washington.

The restaurant is known for its “charburgers” that are cooked over an open flame. It also offers albacore tuna filet, chicken and tri-tip steak sandwiches as well as sides such as salads, fries and onion rings.

The Habit Burger Grill beat out In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, Smashburger and 65 other chains to take the best burger title in the 2014 Consumer Reports survey, which was the publication’s most recent review of fast-food burger chains.

The Rockville restaurant at 895 Rockville Pike has 45 employees.