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Real Ingredients. I probably have spent over $5000 dollars at Habenaros since it has been open. I go once or twice a week. I am not exaggerating. This place is lives up to the name. If you like spicy food, try a burrito with the Habenaro Salsa. I get it all the time. Thanks to being a locally owned restaurant the spice level of the salsa varies every time I go, which keeps me guessing and coming back. There are times that is excellent and other times it is remarkable. If you like spicy foods give it a try. Also, the meat quality is far superior to Chipotle's. The steak and chicken are my usual and tasty every time, and they do have fish and pork. The chips are excellent and I crave the mild sauce to go along with them (Something needs to cool off the Habenaro Salsa). Beer selections are always rotating and have been good picks. The variety of quality menu items other than burritos are plus. The quesadillas, salads, and open face bowls are wonderful. I highly recommend this place.…
Riding on the coattails of Chipotle.... I'm sure Habanero's would like to distance themselves from the burrito king, and they have done a decent job in doing so. Of course the food is very similar, but there is more flare in the ingredients that sets them apart. The signature burritos are unique to say the least. The chips and salsa were very good. Atmosphere is very lade (I have to spell that wrong cause citysearch thinks I'm looking for a date) back and friendly and not limited to the college crowd that seem to flock to it.…
Habanero still rockin'. I used to go to Habanero all the time when I was a student at UC; not only did I love supporting a local instead of a chain but I thought Habanero rocked. The food was awesome, the people were always super kind and I could always count on getting a good, solid meal that didn't break my bank. I recently went back with my wife last week and am glad to report, this place still rocks. It was a busy Friday nite with a line out the door, but the staff was great and accomodating to my wife and our 1 yr old son. I had my ever-favorite the Mad Max burrito; the chips were just as good as I remember and the hot sauce is still kickin'! My wife had the Chicken Quesadilla which was so huge it barely fit on the plate, and when she asked for a side of sour cream and tried to pay for it the girl behind the counter said, "we don't charge you for things like that". How cool is that in today's day and age where it seems everyone is nickel and diming you? I thought the place still looked great with the local artwork; the music was still different than the average muzak track, and it seemed everyone working there was having a pretty good time. It's nice to know that Habanero is still throwing down good, affordable food after all these years; I guess there's a reason they made it work when every other place in that space couldn't.…
Formerly Good, Now A Has-Been.
I used to eat at Habanero everyday. I loved their burritos and quesadillas. Recently I noticed that they were losing employees, and thought nothing of it until my orders became consistently wrong. I
would order no onions, stating to the employee that they made me sick, and then there would always be onions on my food. This never happened before Habaneros lost many of their good employees, and now -- in the past month or so -- it has happened every single time. Today I got onions on my quesadilla for the fifth time in a row even after asking for none and after making it clear that onions made me sick.
Another recent negative trend there is the food preparation. It used to be very good and even aesthetically pleasing. Now the food feels and tastes more like a mishmash of unsavory, unclean gunk wrapped in a burnt pita.
I highly recommend that you stay away from Habanero until the owner decides to pay good employees enough so they'll stay instead of leaving for better paying jobs. Eight dollars an hour is what I hear they make there, and so I don't blame the good employees for leaving. You pay for what you get, and that is more true in the service industry than in any other. So sad to see a good restaurant lose its quality so fast.…
Still better than average, but....... Still good, but lacking some of the personal touch it had in the past. This was my first visit in over a year; used to visit weekly. The chips are still homemade, but weren't cooked thoroughly. The tacos were hands down better than your average fast food, but the flour tortillas were served cold and the chicken was overcooked. Some of the personal touches I loved at Habanero seemed to be missing. Even the salsa tasted different. Wish they would wind the clock back and refocus their efforts; Habanero was always the best deal going with consistently great food and good atmosphere. Today the food just seemed better than average for fast food.…
