Lex Local: The Habit in Rockville

Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to check out The Habit in Rockville, Maryland — the first location in Maryland.  When I first saw the signs pop up, I thought that it was some monk/nun-theme restaurant. When I first stepped foot in the door, I realized that this was ridiculous and incorrect.

I was so happy to try The Habit with some of my fellow Maryland bloggers! We had a good mix of people with varying diets and food allergies/preferences, so we got to test out a pretty good range of menu options.

I’m not usually one to head out to a burger joint — but not because I hate burgers! Most burger spots don’t have many – if any – options for folks who don’t eat red meat. (I very rarely eat red meat.) I love a good turkey burger, but I usually have to make them myself. Some places offer vegetarian options that are just the same, bland, rock-hard veggie burger patty. Blech. Fortunately for me, The Habit was not that!

The Habit has a lot of different options for the non red meat eaters out there. They have different types of chicken sandwiches, a veggie burger, and even a tuna filet sandwich. Additionally, they had some gluten free options and salads. I also appreciated their tempura green beans, which were cooked perfectly! I often find that different styles of green bean fries can be greasy or heavily breaded – so much so that you can’t even tell that they started out as green beans! They served us a side of sweet potato fries as well, which our table also enjoyed.

I’m not a big soda drinker, so I liked that they had different iced teas and limeade to quench my thirst. For those with a sweet tooth, they have amazing milkshakes! I had this delicious mocha milkshake which totally made my day. Their shakes were a great consistency — not too runny or too thick — and the flavor options were great!

The restaurant itself was very clean and well lit, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. It’s a fast casual, family friendly restaurant, and there was ample seating for families, groups of friends, and chatty bloggers. The prices were surprisingly low, especially when compared to some of the other large burger chains in the area. Most meal combinations were $10 or less! I would definitely recommend checking out this new restaurant on the Pike. If you want to see if there’s The Habit in your area, be sure to check out their store locator!