Habits Cafe—"Taking a Break from All Your Worries, Sure Would Help a Lot"

Dexter Waiting to be Served Outside of Habits

      Habits Cafe used to be on my list of regular establishments for eating.  Then Eric entered the picture and he felt their menu wasn't good enough to keep him going back.  Since he's my usual dining partner, I haven't been there for around
15 years until Jan and I were exploring Oakley one day.  She and her usual dining partner are frequent guests there so I thought it would make for an interesting food showdown.

Potato Rags

      She suggested we start with the Potato Rags, a favorite of theirs and the typical entrée for a couple they dine with.  They were crispy hash browns smothered with bacon, onions, tomatoes, 3 cheeses and ranch dressing.  Jan thought they were a little dry that day so we asked for more dressing to perk them up and that made them a good appetizer selection.  

      

Fried Alaskan Scrod Special

Pulled Pork Barbeque

      We couldn't decide on our main courses so we chose to share a couple of them.  The special was Fried Alaskan Scrod served with Mac & Cheese and Cole Slaw.  Versions of that were on the menu so it filled in nicely with the Pulled Pork Barbecue Sandwich with Slaw and one side (we went with the Baked Beans per our server's suggestion).  The standout from all of that was the pulled pork marinated in Sweet Baby Ray's tasty sauce and served on a nicely grilled bun.  Additional sauce on top made it a little sloppy, but still manageable as a sandwich.  The memorable baked beans were probably doctored with the same sauce and slices of bacon.  Mac and cheese comes in a thousand different varieties and this one tended to the no-frills, but yummy, side of the scale.  Cole slaw can end up in the same category of multiple varieties.  I like a creamy one and this one was a good rendition.  On the downside was the scrod—too dry all the way through leaving not much flavor inside or out.

Habits' Bar

Pool and Dining Room

      Habits has been updated a bit since my last visit making it appear brighter in its turn-of-the-last century digs.  They've also gained an outdoor dining area with the revamping of Oakley Square.  Inside, it's still warm and cozy with a Cheers-like atmosphere, and my guess is that if you live in Oakley it's "where everybody knows your name".

http://www.habitscafe.com