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    First Watch

    3.9 (68 reviews)
    Closed • 7:00 am - 2:30 pm

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    Seasonal fruit (side dish)
    Kerry C.

    My family brought me for a birthday breakfast as a surprise. I didn't even know there was a First Watch in North Carolina but remember it fondly from Florida where I used to live. It was busy for a Monday, but it was a holiday so I wasn't surprised. We were seated promptly, though. All the workers here were quite pleasant and polite. The food service was incredibly slow though, with the waitress coming by and promising it was coming a few times. Everyone had sweet tea (woo-eee, it was SWEET) but I tried the Purple Haze, a delicious drink that was both sweet & tart, lemony and purple-y at the same time. I loved every sip. Highly recommend if you like those flavors plus a very pretty drink. My son & daughter-in-law both had the Trifecta with a waffle; but one had sausage and the other bacon. They did enjoy it. The egg portion of the meal was wrong for both dish. One was ordered over medium, but received over hard. The other ordered over easy but received scrambled. They ate it and refused to complain. My grandson had the ham & gruyere omelette and loved every bite. My granddaughter had a side serving of sausage and one of fresh fruit. She enjoyed those as well. (There was no kids menu but that is easy to get around since one eats adult servings and the other just nibbles.) I decided to get the Bacado (an omelette with BACON, avocado, and cheese, topped with sour cream and pico de Gallo on the side). The amount of bacon inside this omelette was outstanding for a bacon lover. Every single bite had bacon. It was absolutely delicious. The side potatoes were enjoyable as well, seasoned nicely with well-cooked onions and crispy brown bits. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast here and will remember this next time I'm in Hickory!

    Chase B.

    Visiting from the west coast and wanted a brunch after the long flight. Talk about blowing away my expectations. Fresh ingredients, good flavor, and GREAT prices. Forgot cost of living is nice in NC! Decided to get fancy and order one of their fresh juice beverages. Lived up to the name. The restaurant was very clean and inviting. The service was quick and food came out in ten minutes even on a packed Saturday.

    David F.

    Food and service has been top notch. Cool looking place too. I had a single lemon ricotta pancake, potato skillet with poached eggs and the special bacon. Tried a juice blend and coffee to drink. And no I don't normally eat this big of a breakfast. I just couldn't make up my mind. I'll be back in. I would highly recommend trying it out.

    Memosa
    Natasha J.

    Awesome brunch spot when I'm in hickory the frittata is delicious Can be a long wait but I usually just walk up to the bar and eat there

    This is Mya the kindness and most professional waitress ever!
    Julie S.

    Let's start off with the sweetest and most professional waitress Mya. Mya, went above and beyond complete with kind words and a smile to serve us and if anyone dines at First Watch in Hickory you are blessed if Mya is your waitress and she kindly gave me permission to photograph her for my review. So if Mya is your waitress you are blessed. Secondly , the food was beyond amazing . I had spinach, tomato topped with feta cheese no sauces or dressing and it was absolutely amazing . I would give this dish a 10 out of a 10. My boyfriend Paul ordered eggs, toast, and fried potatoes and he also gave his dish a 10. I had the Kale tonic unfiltered water with lemon to drink . My boyfriend had iced coffee and filtered water with lemon as well. The cleanliness of the restaurant and the freshness of the food was nothing short of amazing. The atmosphere was relaxed, the music was not overly upbeat giving this busy and beautiful place a comfortable vibe. So if you're in the Hickory area and you're wanting a great variety of really fresh and flavorful food or drinks come on over to First Watch !

    Menu
    Po B.

    Enjoy the food. Fun to sit and relax. All food was great. It's nice they have vegetarian options as well for people that don't eat meats

    Lemon ricotta pancakes
    Ivy D.

    I love this place but today my experience was horrible. We got seated fast in which I was excited about but the waitress was so not so attentive . I had to send my bacon back because it was charred so bad, no apologies, no drink refills and just placed the ticket down with no words. I couldn't even ask for additional napkins because she wouldn't come around to bring them. Sorry. I will definitely go back however I hope the server can learn from this experience

    Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl

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    2 years ago

    Love this place. It's our new breakfast spot. Great black coffee. We end buying the coffee for the house.

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    2 years ago

    This has turned into our Saturday brunch place! We love it food is great service is great! Is a cute little place to sit and enjoy!

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    3 years ago

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    Hanna F.

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    2 years ago

    Diego was great, very attentive, prompt, and helpful. Food was great as always. Great place for a comfortable meal.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Outstanding sandwiches and salads. Creative menu with unique combos. Highly recommend!

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    2 years ago

    horrible ass restaurant. terrible service. Wouldn't recommend. Website doesn't work. Will charge twice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    First Watch Customer Care

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    3 years ago

    The food was amazing and our server amber was absolutely the best. The atmosphere was awesome.

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    3 years ago

    Service and food was spectacular. Would recommend to anyone to try. Been twice and will go again.

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    3 years ago

    Food, service, and atmosphere were all amazing! Went several times during my long weekend visit

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    Page 2 of 2

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    Frothy Rooster - Avocado toast, side slightly burned, just scraped it off - no biggie

    Frothy Rooster

    3.8(34 reviews)
    2.2 mi

    Frothy shares a space with Cowasake (at least they do for online ordering). I dropped in to pickup…read morea snack on a weekday afternoon. There is street parking available on the adjacent street. I ordered the giggy pop, which is essentially homemade strawberry soda. I had it without the cold foam, and it was light and refreshing. Paired it with the edamame, which wasn't as good since some of the pods were mushy

    We put this on our list as the "place to go" for breakfast on our visit to Hickory. It is easy…read moreenough to find and seems like it had plenty of tables. We were seated but then it took a long time (maybe 5 minutes) for a server to come over. We ordered coffee and waters and then when the server came back we ordered our dishes. I wanted the Killer bisquits and sausage gravy and my wife ordered overnight oats. Just so you know they have a daily flavor choice and it took a few minutes for the server to find out what that day's flavor was. We waited for around 10 minutes talking and someone brought our dishes. My wife got her's fine and mine was something completely different. I told the person who brought it what I ordered and she said, yes that was not it. The server showed up again and said she was sorry about the "mix-up"...I don't know I am pretty clear when I order and something that has "killer and gravy" shouldn't be unclear. After more time passed the server came around again and said she would check to see what was going on....then came around again to say "it's still not here?" No, it was not there or I would be eating it. After I want to say around 15 minutes passed I finally got the food and had to chow it down because we needed to be someplace before the rain was going to start. But then the server came over and said to my wife (not me), I took the dish off you didn't order. Really, you took the dish off I dish I didn't order and charged me FULL price for the order I did and then no further discount....how nice of you. There was no manager to be seen or I would have said something then, but then my wife said don't, so I didn't and now this is the review that the Frothy Rooster gets because the server needed a clue and then did not do anything except make a good breakfast bad. If any management wants to contact me about this experience feel free to do so.

    Photos
    Frothy Rooster - Such a cute place! I love the vibe. You can come in and grab a coffee to go or sit and eat.

    Such a cute place! I love the vibe. You can come in and grab a coffee to go or sit and eat.

    Frothy Rooster - It's bacon, hashbrowns sourdough toast

    It's bacon, hashbrowns sourdough toast

    Frothy Rooster - To-go ordering counter and seating

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    To-go ordering counter and seating

    Notions - Cobb salad

    Notions

    4.4(88 reviews)
    2.2 mi

    I was visiting friends that moved to NC recently. While they were showing me the shops in Union…read moreSquare they mentioned that they hadn't visited this restaurant yet. So we decided that we were going to give it a try. After looking at a menu and being approached by the host who gave us a brief introduction to the menu we were in for sure. We asked to sit indoors with it being a windy and somewhat humid day. They have plenty of outdoor seating with umbrellas. We were informed later by our excellent server, Ashlee that there is also seating upstairs! We forgot to take a tour! The decor is very chic, but not overly done. We were seated at a table, but booths are available as well. Even the women's restroom with chic. It needed to be picked up a bit but was nice. Our server Ashlee was excellent! Her upbeat personality and friendliness was in the 10 rating! For only being at the restaurant a couple of weeks I think her vibes will keep bringing customers back. But not only her vibes, the food is very good too! My friends were very happy with their main meal, me as well! I had the Chicken Panini and the companion (side dish) I selected was the Pan Fried Corn. Both very good! We did order shareables too! The Southwest egg rolls and the Charcuterie Board. We were very happy with both! I would definitely order them again. I ordered two alcoholic drinks. My first drink was called the Bees Knees (ginger, honey, lemon bourbon) and an Espresso Martini. Both were good. The ginger was very mild in the Bees Knees. We were quite full so we were not able to enjoy our desserts at the restaurant but did order them to go. We ordered the Crème Brûlée and Key Lime Cheesecakes to go. I enjoyed the Key Lime, a good balance of sweet and tart. A little perfumme for me but still good.The feedback on the Crème Brûlée, was ok. I didn't try it. When I visit this area again, I would surely come back here and try some other items on the menu. Parking in this area can be quite busy, especially on the weekends. We came during the weekday in July after 1pm. We had to circle a few times before we got a parking spot. Come early!

    Notions was OK. I had a smash burger - the burger was decent, the side of a grit cake was…read morehorrid. It was a wedge of grits that were covered in breading and deep fried. Who possibly wants to eat deep fried breaded grits? We ordered some apps and I forget what my wife and SIL order, but the overall opinion was just OK. No one wanted to return. Plus... the inside restaurant smelled like something died in there. We ate outside, as eating inside was impossible due to the smell. When I went to use the bathroom about an hour later, they had heavily perfumed the restuarant.

    Photos
    Notions - Interior

    Interior

    Notions - Classic Reuben + fries (seasoned well, btw)

    Classic Reuben + fries (seasoned well, btw)

    Notions - Pimento cheese dip appetizer

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    Pimento cheese dip appetizer

    Olde Hickory Station - My steak

    Olde Hickory Station

    3.5(350 reviews)
    2.2 mi
    •$$

    I was just in the area for another reason and was recommended by a local shop owner to try this…read moreresturant! Glad I did! It was lunchtime and I saw on the menu a steak platter offered at an affordable price! It came with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I ordered medium and it arrived that way! The portion was nice and it was very tasty! The waitress was welcoming and very helpful! Stop in and try something!

    A few weeks ago, my wife and I stopped by Hickory Station for a quick supper. We had our dog with…read moreus, so we took advantage of their ample outdoor seating, which is one of the things we appreciate about the restaurant. Between the two of us, we've been here at least four or five times over the years, and I've also had several business lunches here. I genuinely wish I could say it's a restaurant I love and frequently recommend, because there is a lot to like about it. The building has character, the location is great, and the overall atmosphere is charming. Unfortunately, the experience itself has consistently left us underwhelmed. Every time we visit, the food is just okay--nothing particularly memorable or worth going out of your way for. The service has also been consistently slow, and on this most recent visit, that trend continued. We keep telling ourselves we won't come back, but after six to eight months we'll think, "Maybe we should give it another shot." Sadly, we usually leave feeling the same way we did the time before. What makes this especially frustrating is that the restaurant has so much potential. The setting is wonderful, and we genuinely want to like it. However, after multiple visits over several years, it feels like the food quality and service simply haven't lived up to the atmosphere. My biggest suggestion would be to focus on improving the consistency and quality of the food and to encourage the service staff to be more attentive, friendly, and proactive. A little hustle and hospitality can go a long way. At this point, there are simply too many other good dining options in the area for me to enthusiastically recommend Hickory Station. To those about to dine, I'd honestly look elsewhere.

    Photos
    Olde Hickory Station - Bar area

    Bar area

    Olde Hickory Station - Livermush and egg sandwich

    Livermush and egg sandwich

    Olde Hickory Station

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    Hickory Social House - Sweet potato fries

    Hickory Social House

    4.0(47 reviews)
    3.8 mi

    Hickory Social House is a casual eatery serving up classic American food, such as burgers, pizzas,…read moreand salads. There is also a brunch menu with typical food such as breakfast plates, beignets, and biscuits & gravy. The parking lot is a bit small, but there is a slightly larger lot next door that does not seem to boot people. The restaurant is pretty spacious inside offering booths and tables. There is also outdoor seating. The service was very friendly and quick! My friend and I got the Korean Fried Chicken Sandi and Little Italy. I was in between trying their Breakfast Tacos and the Korean Fried Chicken Sandi, but the server told me to get the sandwich and it was decent. I had seen some reviews on other websites that people were worried it was going to be too spicy because of the gochujang. But it is NOT spicy at all, at least not to me. The sandwich tasted kind of sweet, which is a taste found in gochujang. There was a lot of red onion slaw, which I would probably not add in next time. The chicken was pretty crunchy and tasted good, but I did not taste the marination in the meat. I got waffle fries with honey mustard for my side which tasted pretty good. My friend enjoyed her Little Italy sandwich. Overall, I would give this place a 3.75/5 stars if I could. For my first visit, I thought the food was alright. I would come back to try other items on the menu because it is pretty vast, so there is probably something more to my liking there.

    Really cool spot! I…read morewas at the Planet Fitness across the street and looked up restaurants and bam! Awesome sandwich and awesome staff. They aren't just friendly, they are cool in a professional manner. It looks like they have a late-night vibe with live music too. I didn't hang around for that but there's a back area with another bar, a space for live music, pool tables, and high tops. Oh! And they have outdoor seating at the regular restaurant when the weather is nice. Definitely going to be my go-to spot in Hickory, replacing Kickback Jacks Hickory (still love the Mooresville KBJ though). Hickory Social House is highly recommended!

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    Hickory Social House - Wood Fired Pizza

    Wood Fired Pizza

    Hickory Social House - Pizza

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    Hickory Social House

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    Cafe Rule & Wine Bar - Snapper and Cranberry Mule

    Cafe Rule & Wine Bar

    3.9(207 reviews)
    2.9 mi
    •$$$

    We have eaten here several times over the years and have always enjoyed our meals and the ambiance…read more We have brought friends and family for special events, however after a recent visit in November 2024 we probably will not be back. We made an early reservation because we had a show to catch later, and it is a good thing because even though there were only 4 other tables in the dining room the service was extremely slow. Our server only came a few times over the 2 hours we were there and food took an abnormally long time to arrive. We had water to drink, no alcohol. We had some shareable appetizers, 2 mains, and a shared side. Nothing crazy. They had a recent menu change according to the server and we are NOT a fan. They changed the bread app and it is not very good. The old bread app was chefs kiss, new one, 2 thumbs down. We had the meatball app, flavor and good, but they were literally cold inside. We would have sent them back, but they took so long to arrive that we didn't want to run out of time. My wife had the scallops, they were literally cold, had grit on them and there were 5 small scallops. I had a steak, it was cooked perfectly and was fork tender. However it lacked flavor and if i hadn't added the sauce it wouldn't have had any taste. The shared potatoes were just ok. Our food was cold, service was slow, portions were lacking, and our bill was over $180 with tip. We routinely go have a nice meal like this once a week and happily spend more than that on a killer meal, but this was lack luster compared to past visits. I can't say we will be back this time. Hope I hear they improve. To those about to dine, you have been warned.

    last night we had a great dinner. The only missing item was good bread that you could dip into your…read moreItalian sauce. I have never been to an Italian restaurant that does not serve bread. very disappointing. We ordered the garlic bread on the menu not the same. hope they consider adding this so I will come back and eat the delicious pasta or I can run to Lowe's and grab a baguette to bring.

    Photos
    Cafe Rule & Wine Bar - Xmas at cafe rule

    Xmas at cafe rule

    Cafe Rule & Wine Bar - Yeast Rolls

    Yeast Rolls

    Cafe Rule & Wine Bar - Second order of Candied Clothesline Cured Bacon

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    Second order of Candied Clothesline Cured Bacon

    First Watch - breakfast_brunch - Updated September 2026

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