My stepdad requested First Watch for Father's Day breakfast this year (2026), and since it was his…read morefirst visit, we happily made the plan.
Knowing Father's Day would probably be busy, I decided to do my homework ahead of time. Before we even left the house, I used First Watch's online "Check In" feature to get our name on the list while we were driving there. The website estimated a 10 to 20 minute wait and instructed us to let the hostess know when we arrived.
Perfect! Or so I thought...
About 15 minutes later, we walked through the doors...into absolute chaos. The lobby was PACKED with people waiting for tables despite the fact that roughly half the dining room appeared to be sitting empty. I squeezed my way through the crowd, made it to the hostess stand, gave her my name and mentioned that I'd already checked in online. "Great," she said. "It'll be 20 to 25 minutes."
Wait...what?
So the online check-in that said we'd be waiting 10 to 20 minutes...didn't actually accomplish anything? If I'd known we'd still be waiting another half hour after arriving, we honestly would have chosen somewhere else that accepted reservations or true call-ahead seating. The online check-in created expectations that simply weren't met.
About 20 minutes later, we were finally seated.
Unfortunately, things didn't improve.
We sat for another 15 minutes before our waitress stopped by to take drink orders. We decided to order all of our food immediately because we weren't confident we'd see her again anytime soon.
Good decision! The coffee arrived fairly quickly. The water...tap water, not fancy water, not bottled water, not water that required any preparation other than being put into a glass bottle and carried to the table, showed up about 10 minutes later.
Here's what we ordered:
Million Dollar Bacon ($6.29) - four slices of hardwood-smoked bacon glazed with brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne and syrup. This was absolutely phenomenal! If nothing else, order this (or learn to make it at home so you can avoid an excessive wait at First Watch to eat it). Sweet, smoky, just enough heat...this absolutely lived up to the hype!
Power Wrap ($11.49) - egg whites, turkey, spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella in a sun-dried tomato basil tortilla with fresh fruit. The wrap itself was really good. The fruit was a mixed bag. The grapes were great, but the pineapple was still hard and noticeably underripe. At this point in the meal, I wasn't surprised and definitely wasn't going to try to get it fixed.
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes ($13.29) - these were also really good. The lemon curd completely stole the show and made the pancakes. The menu advertised seasonal berries, which turned out to be strawberries. They were perfectly fine, though I probably would have expected blueberries this time of year.
The Works Omelet (FREE BECAUSE THE ORDER WAS NOT CORRECT) - this was my stepdad's Father's Day breakfast. He ordered it WITHOUT onions. It arrived with EXTRA onions. By that point, our waitress had disappeared again, so rather than wait another 20 minutes for a remake, I flagged down another employee near the kitchen. I explained that we'd waited long enough already and simply wanted the omelet removed from the bill instead of remade.
To their credit, they handled that professionally and removed it without any argument.
While I had someone's attention, I also requested plates for the Million Dollar Bacon appetizer that had been sitting on our table for about 15 minutes and asked if my mom's meal could please be brought out since everyone else's food had already arrived quite a while earlier.
Our final bill came to just over $44 after tax and tip. Even after everything that happened, I still left our waitress a 25% tip. It was Father's Day, the restaurant was clearly overwhelmed, and I try to assume people are doing the best they can with what they've got.
That said...it was obvious something wasn't working.
Whether they were understaffed, overwhelmed by the Father's Day crowd, or simply having an off day, the entire experience felt disorganized from beginning to end. The online check-in wasn't accurate, service was painfully slow, food came out at different times, one meal was prepared incorrectly, and our server disappeared for long stretches throughout the meal.
Ironically, the food itself was actually pretty good. If I were reviewing only the Million Dollar Bacon, it would easily earn five stars.
Unfortunately, restaurants are more than just food. For me, the overall experience matters just as much.
There are simply too many excellent local breakfast and brunch spots to justify returning after an experience like this. I'm glad my stepdad's omelet was removed from the bill, and I appreciate that the staff made that right, but I left more frustrated than impressed.
First Watch may have just had a really bad Father's Day.
But based on my first experience, I don't think I'll be back to find out.
