Good food. Good service. Quiet ambiance -- much quieter than the First Watch at the Arboretum.

Yes, it's a national chain (537 locations in 29 states at last count), but First Watch is one of the go-to breakfast places in Austin for my wife and me. The coffee is always good, if not great (we always ask for actual half-and-half in a little pitcher in lieu of the standard International Delight cups o'whiteout on the table), the choices of breakfast-related items are varied and plentiful, and the portions are ample, with a good protein-to-carb ratio. I heart the "Chickichanga" (per FW's website, "whipped cage-free eggs with spicy, all-natural chicken breast, chorizo, green chiles, Cheddar and Monterey Jack, onions and avocado rolled in a flour tortilla. Topped with Vera Cruz sauce and all-natural sour cream. Served with fresh, seasoned potatoes") and the Frittata Rustica ("A classic Italian-style omelet with kale, house-roasted Crimini mushrooms, onions and tomatoes topped with Mozzarella and Parmesan. Served with ciabatta toast and lemon-dressed organic mixed greens"). But really, you can't go wrong with any of the breakfast items. I'd stay away from the lunch-type sandwiches and soups on offer; there's nothing wrong with them, but they pale in comparison to the breakfast/brunch plates. Our problem today was the service (I must add that this FW, in a busy North Central hood, was not our usual location). Our waiter was a guy in his early twenties who seemed to be in a big hurry to be somewhere else and disappear, which he did for long stretches, although the restaurant wasn't at all crowded (we visited on a normal Wednesday between noon and 1 p.m.). I requested a glass of water and he never returned with one; a bit later, I requested a take-home box and he...never returned with one (we eventually caught the eye of a friendly young waitress who brought both items in our nominal waiter's stead; we were left wishing she had been our waitress from the start. Our actual waiter did, however, slap the check down on our table without our asking for it). Aside from the waitron issue, we'd gladly return, preferably to one of our favored FW locations in Northwest Austin or Cedar Park where the customers are made to feel welcome and appreciated, not a nuisance to be tolerated and ignored. read more

Discovered this chain in Knoxville, TN, a few years ago. Was excited to discover that there is one in Austin! It's not easy to find.. but worth it! We had a SASSY server named Lynnessa. She was SO much fun! We ENJOYED Chicken Pesto Hash, Blueberry pancakes & AM Superfood Bowl (chia pudding!) Everything was DELICIOUS! (Utterly CONSISTENT...as expected from previous visits in TN) We were given a POT of coffee, which we love because we drink a lot of coffee & it saved Lynnessa a LOT of trips! ;) My FAVORITE THING was the HOMEMADE SYRUP for the pancakes! NO HFCS! I took a few packets home. It tastes like what my grandmother used to make me! OBVIOUSLY, we'll be back! read more

I hate writing bad reviews but I'm livid. I ordered biscuits and gravy through door dash and even paid an extra 2.50 for green chilis in my gravy. I received dry biscuits with absolutely NO turkey gravy and chilis all over my eggs. I paid a total of $17 for a dish that petty much was tossed in the garbage and doordash refused to issue credits. I'm so upset. During times like these, I don't have $17 to just trash. The whole point of biscuits and gravy is the GRAVY. Please tell your staff to be on top of things like this. I don't blame doordash. I wouldnt have had to contact them if you would have put my whole meal together. I'm at work and have nothing to put on the biscuits so they went in the trash because dry biscuits are not appealing. Literally my whole meal is not edible. This is so disappointing. I will not be ordering from you again. read more

First Watch - NO GRAVY - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

The food was good. I ordered the farmhouse hash, it had plenty of bacon and the strawberry preserves for the toast was tasty. The service was good too, my waiter was kind and checked on me often. The ambiance is casual. It can get a bit loud depending on how busy it is. Definitely worth trying out if you're in the area like I was. read more

First Watch - Biodegradable straw - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Love their seasonal menu. Never disappointing! Really enjoyed this green chili pork taco. I always get the Morning Meditation to drink but tho a time I finally tried the butterfly pea lemonade, it's so good! Not too sour nor sweet. read more

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A classic breakfast and brunch spot with a twist of exotic drinks. Hip fun vibe that serves classic breakfast. Just exactly what I needed. Definitely will not be forgotten this is a must try. read more

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Food was great, service was fast. Very helpful waitress who was also the host! Very satisfied and will be coming back!!

So delicious!! The food is so fresh and the restaurant is so cute. Our waitress was very kind but for some reason the host that day was so rude... I could tell they were very busy but no need to be so cold to guests. I ordered the bagel Lox, highly recommend. The line can get very very long so make sure you download their app and get yourself in the line probably an hour before you actually want to go. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

I have been to the First Watch around DC so I was curious if this one could stand up to that one and it did very well. The place was packed for brunch (obviously) so there was a wait but a table opened up before our text cane through so they sat us early which I really appreciated cause I was starving. The food was up to snuff and well priced. I'm happy. read more

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Over rated 100%. The host is not very welcoming. The food is not very good. Dried French toast and over cooked eggs.

I can only say this place was so gooood!! Everything tasted fresh and tasteful! Great service and chilled ambiance. I'd definitely go back next time I'm in Austin! read more

First Watch - A.M. superfoods bowl! Soo Gooood!!! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

On a Saturday, as most breakfast spots, this place is bustling. And for good reason, its a family friendly straightforward spot with plenty of options to please most people. The community table is a good option if you don't mind sharing your place with others and/or you're pressed for time. Its a long table with about 6 bar stools on each side. Otherwise, there is plenty of seating but there can be a wait. The service is pretty friendly and quick. However, we noticed there was an error with one of our food orders. The egg was poached instead of scrambled because the orders had been mixed as they came out of the kitchen so quickly. Since it's so fast paced, we elected to keep the dish as it came out. Other than that, the food was very good. I recommend the Ham & Gruyere Omelette. I had it with the salad which balanced out the omelette. The Brisket Hash was good, too. I'm definitely adding this place to my rotation of weekend breakfast joints! read more

First Watch - Brisket hash - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Looking at my pictures again makes me want to go back for breakfast because it was so good. It's been too long since I was there, but it had come highly recommended and did not disappoint. read more

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First Watch may be a chain but I love everything about this place. It is clean, the wait staff is extraordinary, the marketing is not annoying, the bloody mary with the Million Dollar Bacon is absolutely phenomenal as is the mimosa. I fell in love with a seasonal item, the Carnitas Breakfast Burrito, but it will come and go. I'm only had two dishes that I didn't care for and they were the Short Rib Poutine (seasonal) and the Pesto Chicken Quinoa bowl. However, the coffee is delicious (I remember when coffee was free but I don't mind paying the $2.99) and the following menu items are exquisite and I have ranked them. 1) Million Dollar Bacon (I swear I do everything I can to not order this every time) 2) All of the Hashes (my personal favorite is the Parma Hash) 3) Ham and Gruyere Melt 4) Morning Meditation (Juice) 5) Biscuits and Turkey Sausage Gravy (I must note that the biscuits and gravy is probably cheaper if you order it a la carte with another dish...the portion does not seem much bigger in the full order) I have yet to dabble in the salads because come on! I also would like to try the egg benedicts. My friend always gets The Traditional and we keep going back. Be careful about a long wait on Sundays. We waited 56 minutes last week and I joined the waitlist from my apartment. Once you join the waitlist, don't forget to check-in with the host! read more

We were looking for a last min brunch spot on a Sunday and was able to put our name on the waitlist here while on our way. The website is awful so I had to call to get our name on the list. Even over the phone, you could hear how busy this place was! Once we arrived, we were sat almost immediately amongst a waiting area full of people. The menu says they use local or natural ingredients as much as possible--that's what drew me in in the first place. There's a ton of options so it's a bit overwhelming but we enjoyed our dishes and would return to try other items. Service was speedy and efficient. They know how to hustle to try and keep the wait down. read more

This place took a turn and not for the better. Service was not great. Our waiter was apathetic at best. Did not give us much attention and had to ask multiple times for things. Kitchen was slow so we ended up waiting 30 min for the meal which was not worth it. Eggs Benedict was stale and flavorless. The traditional breakfast potatoes were undercooked. The churros were so very bland. The sauces that accompanied were also not good. I also order a side pancake and the waiter forgot it. Another example of not paying attention. I probably won't be back. Shame because I liked this place. Luckily in austin there are plenty of places to get quality breakfast. Just not this one. read more

It's the purple haze lemonade for me!! Steven and his crew provided a definite 5 star breakfast to the family and I this morning. We were heading out of Austin and decided to choose first watch for our farewell Meal. What an excellent choice. Polite service and delicious food. Do I really need to say more??? Ok so you want to know what we had right!! I did the bacado omelet. Bacon cheese and avocado in eggs. Yummy yum yum. Life is so good! Of course we indulged on some million dollar bacon, the daughters has trifecta, make your own omelet and French toast. Then the hubby topped it off with shrimp and grits. Let's just say he doesn't eat everyone's shrimp and grits. Yet he clean his plate!! Did I tell you how I need that purple haze lemonade in my life daily?? Thanks for the delightful breakfast experience, and if your looking to expand you are always welcome in Vacaville California. Hint hint!! read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

Yeah you basically have to wait anywhere to go but it was worth it. Friendly staff and food was really good read more

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service was okay. there wasn't a single thing on the plate was even warm, hash browns were cold, eggs and bacon were cold, as well as our pancake & waffle. i'm unsure if it's supposed to be this way, but it was very unpleasant to eat. read more

Besides the coffee, I enjoyed this place! First Watch is worth going and spending some money on. Location: easy to find Parking: plenty!! Ambiance: it's huge! Family friendly & cozy! Price: not too bad. Taste: YUUMM Go go go! Planning on going back to try another dish. read more

First Watch - French toast goodness!! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Nice, quaint place. I just landed in Austin last night and am still on Pacific time. I was looking for a late breakfast early lunch option. They have a nice variety. My BLTE was great! The butternut squash soup was spot on. read more

First Watch - BLTE and Butternut Squash soup. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

I genuinely wanted to like this place. The aesthetic is inline with some of my favorite easy breakfast spots. Unfortunately, everything fell short. On the first order: one of the over medium eggs came out over cooked (photo attached), bacon arrived cold, potatoes were undercooked and the toast arrived 10 minutes behind the rest of the food.. On the second order: the hash had a perfect egg on top. However the potatoes were so over salted crunching the food felt like crunching sand The third order: pancake was actually really good. Unfortunately, not good enough to make up for the rest. I told the waiter about the food and he agreed the potatoes often come out over seasoned. Did not adjust any payment owed or offer a redo on the food. Unlikely to try this place again. read more

First Watch - "Over medium" egg - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

I visited First Watch for brunch on a weekend, and fortunately, it wasn't crowded. I tried the waffles and chicken omelette, which both tasted nice. The ambience was average, but the standout was the delicious food. I also ordered the "Morning Meditation" drink, which turned out to be amazing and the best beverage I've had at a brunch place so far. read more

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We all had a great experience here. Clara was very welcoming and helpful with our requests and was prompt with our food and refills. Would definitely return for great service! read more

Nice service from the door to waiter and the menu has a balanced selection. I ordered the El Pastor Hash (seasonal); well plated and the dish was enjoyable. I did, gratefully, have the pineapple on the side vs mixed in. The vibe was average modern breakfast vibes. The pomegranate sunrise was refreshing (the beverage aside from coffee). Wasn't a fan of their bacon. Overall would recommend. read more

First Watch - El Pastor Hash (pineapple on the side) & Pomegranate Sunrise - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

The food was delicious, service went well and i highly recommend. Hopefully go there again soon.

Great brunch spot up north! They are busy on the weekends but get on the waiting list on Yelp to hold your spot! Came on a Saturday morning and we didn't wait longer than 10 minutes. Banana granola pancakes we're delish! Had the trifecta and it hit the spot! Try the hash plates! Great service no frills place. read more

First Watch - Trifecta with banana granola pancake - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Good food. Great service. We like the Happy Hour menu prices and portions suit our smaller appetites.

Oof. I'm going to start with the good. The coffee was delish. My BLT eggs Benedict was delicious. The bad is that... our server poured my coffee from the side of the pot and got it all over the table. She then checked the cup for a leak..? And then left the pot of coffee directly in front of me on my menu... with coffee everywhere lol and never brought any napkins to clean it up. She came back and got our order after immediately getting two other tables orders. As a industry person, knowing that my order is being thrown in with 2 other tables immediately, that's going to overwhelm the kitchen... and it clearly did because... After waiting 40 mins for our food, my kids over medium egg was very cold and very hard. It was a flat little hard boiled egg, and he didn't eat it. Eesh. My BLT Benedict didn't come with the potatoes that our server asked if I wanted and it was very cold. No warmth whatsoever. Delicious, as I said, but stone cold and my eggs were a bit under cooked. My boyfriend also got the BLT Benedict. His didn't have any avocado and his was also cold. Our server never checked on us. The next time we saw her was when she brought our check, long after we finished. We were one of her several tables and I know they also never saw her again cause she brought all the checks to us at the same time. 2 stars because the host was nice and my food was good despite it being cold. My hope is that if I get food poisoning from the cold, under cooked eggs, maybe I'll lose 10 pounds. That would be cool. If that happens, I'll throw an extra star on there ;) read more

First of all, everyone is super nice at First Watch and today was no different. The food is always top notch, and today was no different regarding that either. What was different today was that it was excessively busy, but I think that's expected given that it was Sunday morning. When the hostess said that the wait would be 45 minutes to an hour, we decided to wait because First Watch is, IMHO one of the top 3 brunch spots in Round Rock. After 56 minutes I checked with the hostess and they apologized for the wait and said that we'd likely get a table in 15-20 more minutes. We decided to stay for the aforementioned reasons. We got seated and ordered: my mom and I had the Tres Leches French Toast from the special summer menu, and my son ordered a BLTE. Our waitress repeated the order back to us and left to put in the order. The French Toast came but not the BLTE. I asked the attendant that brought the French Toast about the BLTE and she said she'd check on it and never returned. 20 minutes passed an my mom and I were 1/2 done with our meals but my son had no food. As an aside, we don't eat before church so by this time, everyone was super hungry. I flagged our original waitress down and she said she'd check on it, and after 5-7 minutes came back and showed me that she hadn't written down his BLTE but would put it in now and apologized for the mishap. The BLTE consists of mostly cold ingredients so I figured the sandwich would come out soon. It didn't. It took a very long time. My mom and I had finished eating, our plates had been bussed and my son still didn't have a meal. The BLTE finally came as we were about to give up and go home, but my son decided to box the meal and go home since the dining together experience was ruined. This sort of thing can happen, and I totally understand that. I could have made the same mistake or worse (I've never been a waiter, but assume I'd be a bad one). Our waitress was extremely nice and apologetic when the error was identified, but she didn't comp the sandwich. I was expecting some sort of discount for our troubles (at that point my son had been waiting 2 hours for a sandwich), but nothing was offered. I think that comping a customer when it's the restaurant's fault is standard practice... or a gift card... or knocking 20% off or whatever.... but nothing. I've loved everything about First Watch all the previous times I've been, but Sunday brunch is special for families and since this experience wasn't at First Watch's level, I expected something more than "...sorry, bye." Not sure when we'll be back. read more

It was awesome! Great service! Selena was the best. The food was good, but Selena made it the best experience. Her attention to detail and desire for us to enjoy our meal was evident. read more

Went here for brunch this past weekend and it didn't disappoint! Had plenty of options, I loved the Avocado Toast and the million dollar bacon. A friend ordered the cinnamon toast cinnamon roll from the season menu and it was yummy! Had great kid options too, and friendly staff. read more

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Great service, delicious food! I've had the pesto chicken quinoa twice now and both times it's been mouth watering delicious! Busy on weekend mornings so check in online before you go. Then once you check in in person they will text you but you only have a few minutes so don't miss that text! read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

My friend and I were seated and had to wait 10-15 minutes before anyone even came to our table. We were not greeted, given water, or even told "we'll be with you in a minute". Finally a girl who was not our server came and took our order. When our server did come over she was snarky, rude, and basically threw our plates at us. She had no couth and made us feel as if she didn't want to help us. The food was mediocre. I got the classic eggs benedict and they had almost no flavor. Very bland. The english muffin was very tough and hard to chew. The side salad was supposed to have a lemon vinagrette dressing on it but I couldn't taste it. Grits were decent. My friend got the skillet hash and said the potatoes were hard and over-salted. The man at the front counter noticed our wait and was kind enough to give us a discount which we both appreciated, but I wouldn't come here again. read more

Ordered from DoorDash on for Saturday brunch. This place has always been so busy so it's my first time having the courage to wait for a long time. Luckily because I ordered around 10am so I got it in around 1h. The taste was pretty good, except I didn't understand why they put the cheese outside the omelette, and it actually cooled down pretty fast so the cheese was a bit solid. But overall the taste was decent. read more

Been here many times and the food is always good. Does get pretty busy and usually has a 15-30 minute wait. If you don't mind sitting at the bar you can usually sit yourself when you walk in. I always get the million dollar bacon and this time I tried the new pineapple chorizo skillet. So good! read more

First Watch - Billon dollar bacon - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

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First day I came was amazing,server girl was nice and very fast,all the food was delicious! However on the second day when we came again...they sat us in the furthest corner...the server was rude and took forever to even come and ask us what we wanted for drinks so we just ordered everything when she came. She was super loud and obnoxious and she would always walk away before I was done ordering. DONT ORDER THE EGG STUFF HERE!!!!! That's what we got this time and it was like flavorless mush. Super dissatisfied honestly because it has astounded me at first :( read more

First Watch - I recommend the açaí bowl for breakfast best menu item - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

Very disappointed in the service at First Watch this morning 1/18/25 at the Austin Northcross location. We checked in on the wait list for a party of 10. We were notified our table would be ready in 10 minutes. When we arrived they had a 10 top available as you walk in. Nobody was seated at the table. We were asked to wait in the hallway. We received a text our table was ready but when we got to the stand they thought we were a party of 2 when they called us as a party of 10. We then asked how much Longer it would take to correct their problem , they had no answer but mean while told people who came in they could sit at the 10 top and order. They totally messed up with solution,not even a discount to solve the problem. We had family meeting there, coming from separate areas of the city with an event we had to be at by 11:45. We were celebrating 2 birthdays together. Would have been a big ticket table for them. Such a disappointment and to see what a rinky dink manager working and how they operate. I will never go back. read more

First Watch - First Watch Northcross Mall - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas

Our server Allegra at the Georgetown location provided excellent service! Very attentive and happily changed my order last second for me! read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Austin, Texas