When Executive Chef Jason Triail joined Habit Burger & Grill as director of culinary innovation in 2024, the burger chain had no official place for him to trial new foods.
So, he set up his own small test kitchen at the back of the company’s restaurant on Barranca Parkway in Irvine, located between a Panda Express and a Taco Bell and next to a Walmart Supercenter.
Nowadays, the Barranca store is where the chain is “constantly” testing new products and new operational processes.
Habit Burger is headquartered in Irvine under the same roof as its sister chain Taco Bell, both owned by Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM). Triail now invites executives from both Habit and Yum to try his new dishes.
“This is my space where I get to play,” he told the Business Journal during a recent visit to the test kitchen.
Habit, which Yum acquired for $320 million in 2020, is under the gun to improve its sales. In April, Yum reported Habit’s first quarter system sales grew less than 1% to $155 million; same store sales fell 3%. In 2024, it reported system sales climbed 2.4% to $713 million; its same stores sales have declined for three straight years.
For a more detailed look at restaurant chains in Orange County, see the Business Journal’s annual list that begins on page 25.
LTOs: Taking a Step Back
Triail’s main role is to focus on the core menu while spreading out what the industry calls the limited time offers (LTOs).
“I think historically, we were LTO heavy. So right now, we’re just taking a step back,” he said. “We’re known for our charburger, but we’re known for anything that comes off that char grill. That’s our secret sauce.”
However, he’s not banishing such offers to the back broiler.
For example, Habit’s latest innovation is tempura-fried avocado wedges, thought up by Chef Triail about two years ago. After a year of working on the recipe, the avocado wedges were tested in late 2024 across 10 restaurants before the company approved rolling them out in March to the company’s nearly 400 restaurants. A few weeks after the rollout, Triail said the avocado wedges were performing well, about 21 wedge orders daily at each restaurant. They will be on the menu until the end of May.
Habit marks Triail’s first time at a fast-casual restaurant chain. While he didn’t attend culinary school, Triail’s career includes roles at Yard House and Cadence Kitchen. He also co-founded a meal kit business called Chef’d.
“I look at the last 13 years when I left the restaurants; I was technically in school learning all about manufacturing, food industry and everything else, that when I came to the Habit, I was able to apply all that knowledge,” he said.
While food quality is important, he and his culinary team “look at the financials out of the gates” to ensure the back-of-the house can execute without impacting wait times.
“We look at it from a training piece, from an ops piece, from a marketing piece—all the above,” he said.
Finding Trends
While operational execution is important to bringing a new item to the menu, Triail also looks at what excites customers—what kinds of foods will draw them into stores.
“Marketing may come to us with a brief and say, ‘Hey, we want you guys to explore this. We see this is a trend,’” he explained.
To do that, he often turns to his own personal Instagram account, where he showcases his own cooking at home, which includes remaking some Habit dishes like the classic char burger with cheese. In 2022, he competed on The Food Network’s “Supermarket Stakeout.”
“I’m active on social media,” he added. “I’m constantly looking and trying to learn, ‘Okay, what is going on out there? Has someone started a trend, or, more importantly, how can we start a trend?’”
