First Watch

Good food, slow service…
Came here to grab a quick bite to eat on a late Sunday afternoon. The place was packed and there were about 10 guest waiting to be seated. The food was descent but waited 30 minutes or more to be served. My food arrived timely but not my drink :(, had to remind the server.
This place could be great if the service was trumped up. It’s nice having a better breakfast selection in the area which is why I waited patiently.

Love the Atmosphere!!!
My friend and I went here and LOVED it! This is my second time and his first. Our waitress was AMAZING! Because it was my second time, I wanted to try something new. She knew the menu off of her head. She also knew every drink they had which is a plus as well. She ended us picking my whole meal which was AAAAAHHHHHH-​maaaaaaZZZINNNGG!!! The cucumber mint sparkling drink that I had was great and SO refreshing. Most of all, this place is clean, awesome customer service and they have wifi so I can come get work done when I want to get out the house! I’m a happy customer that will continue to come as long as they continue with the great service and food!

For your local area dining it’s ok, waffles were pretty decent, turkey sausage as below avg. service was excellent but this isn’t going to be my first choice to dine for Bfast.
Not bad though

Welp I really appreciate being reached out to and asked to by FirstWatch and give it another try but alas this is definitely my last time there.
Used the no wait app and it said about 30 – 45 mins. Fine, we’ll get in line on the app and head out closer to the 30 min mark. We walk in and wait only about 5 mins and our names are called. Great! And here it is…
We sit for about 20 mins before our order is even taken. Guy puts in order and warns us the kitchen is super backed up. Ok, not his fault. He was actually really great in keeping us updated. After sitting for an hour though we asked what the deal was and he went to check. They hadn’t even started making our food and apparently was many orders behind others. We were going to the movies so we had to leave. Again a service issue. I don’t understand. Breakfast food is quick. At least this server was a really sweet guy and very attentive.
But here’s the best part. I give them another try on a weekday because the food is good and I figure there should be no wait, I had a coupon too lol. We get there and are seated immediately because it’s not busy at all. However, Server doesn’t come by for about 20 mins. And low and behold it’s the same server I’ve had issues with in the past. Major attitude problem. We saw her twice in this occasion. Once to take our order and then the other to give us the check. We had our food runner bring us more drinks. There was no one in there for this to be acceptable. I’ve been in the service industry including restaurants, and can spot when it’s an operations issues or a personnel issue. I’m not sure why this person still works there because she clearly hates it and is miserable.

I’ve been sitting here for an hour with a girlfriend waiting for breakfast. When it finally came out my order was wrong and was told that he had no idea how long it would take. That’s really not acceptable after waiting an hour for an omelette. You put a rush on something at that point. We asked to speak to a manager and our server «Joesph» said he would try to get someone out here but didn’t think the manager wanted to come out. What? What kind of service is that? I told him to forget making it again and waited as my friend ate. I then heard him walk up to another waitress and say «do you want to pretend to be a manager». What? I called him on it and got «yeah I don’t know it’s not my fault».
The service here is apathetic at best and unresponsive and lazy. The food might be great (it looks good) but if this is the way they treat customers it’s not worth it. The manager and the service couldn’t be bothered with providing even remedial customer service. Stay away.

I had a great experience at First Watch in the past, figured it would be a great opportunity to have a lunch with the grands.
Located in Bowie Town Center on the opposite side of the Safeway. Parking is fair to middling. This place looks as though it stays pretty packed. During the wait there is free coffee which I dig but was later bummed that I missed it and later paid for it, but I digress.
This place is cool, locally sourced and what not. As the grands mentioned, it is pretty basic on the interior, no frills at all. Tables, benches and chairs. I don’t mind it a bit though. Breffis is served throughout the day. Think omletes, hashes, and griddle items. Lunch consists of healthy options like quinoa bowls to soup, salads and the like.
The grands got the Reuban sandwich one had it with salad the other with veggie soup. Both remarked that the sandwich was delicious, it was hearty, so much that they both left with half for later. I got the pesto chicken quinoa bowl. This came with of course chicken and quinoa, carrots tomatoes, and feta cheese. It was finished with a pesto sauce. The bowl was of nice size and extremely fresh. it was über filling and I didn’t feel heavy or guilty after eating it. I had some for lunch later and it was just as good the next day.
First Watch is a nice addition to the Town Center, I’d love to come on back when in the area.

First Watch and I got off to a rough start. I submit my previous review as exhibit A for evidence of that. But I’ve gotta say, after management reached out and offered to try again, First Watch seems to have recovered its good name and honor. Our most recent visit was much improved. We were seated quickly, and the server was very attentive this time. She took our drink orders and returned with them quickly! What a novelty! Already an improvement.
We had our 2 year old with us, and our server was so nice to him. She talked to him and gave him something to color, which is really handy when you’re trying to manage a toddler in a restaurant.
Our order was placed at 10:15 and the first two dishes came at 10:34. Not bad. Just leagues better than the last few experiences. My breakfast came out about 6 minutes after, which isn’t ideal, but it wasn’t a big problem– I got to sample my son’s chocolate chip pancake while I waited. Ha!
Hot food came out hot, and cold food was cold just like it should be. Everything tasted on point, and boxing up leftovers and paying was seamless. I wish portions were a liiiiittle bigger, but that’s my only wish now. I’ll be back. Hoping this last visit wasn’t a fluke, rather, I hope it’s the new norm! You’ll make me a regular yet.

I wish I had a bigger stomach so that I could order more when I visit.
I am a huge, huge fan of farm-​to-​table dining. This is the major concept in their menu. They promise fresh ingredients for fresh meals and they deliver. I had the Parma Hash, which was a great portion & well balanced. I cannot wait to come back & eat there again.
It’s also nice that the venue itself is so well decorated. Farmhouse Chic, even. Chalkboard signs, light wood staining, pops of green, cushy booths… I might decorate my kitchen similarly.

Interesting and imaginative breakfast, if somewhat expensive. Varied menu including healthy options. Service is friendly and competent

The fresh and delicious menu has us coming here regularly, but the lack of service has us leaving frustrated (and usually thirsty) every time. We have been to First Watch many times both for breakfast and lunch. The food is always great… the market hash, waffles, and salads are super tasty. The service however is routinely non-​existent. I don’t ever want to feel like I’m nagging my server, but we generally have to ask for things 3 – 4 times before it makes it to our table. I understand they are busy and things happen… but pestering my server for a glass of water shouldn’t have to happen EVERY single time we visit this establishment. If you need anything else… sides or condiments, you’re better off just giving up.
First Watch has their cooks to thank, because they keep us coming back. If it weren’t for the great food, we wouldn’t waste our time flagging down servers.

Keeping in line with other reviewers, the food was excellent but the service was not that great. We were seated immediately, which was great as we were looking for a quick breakfast and honestly didn’t think we would be able to find somewhere without a wait on a Sunday morning. Once we were seated and had a chance to look over the menu, we were surprised by the wide variety of food and placed our order shortly after. Following placing our order, it took almost 35 minutes for someone to come and check on us regarding our drinks (the coffee comes in a table side carafe), which we hadn’t received yet. Once we had our food it took another 10 minutes to get the water that we ordered initially. With the water glasses being set as part of the place setting, you would think that water would be on the table as soon as you sat down, but I guess not.
The food was absolutely delicious and the key west crepeggs is a unique concept; mixing crêpe batter and eggs to make an omelette. The prices are also very affordable for the amount of food you get, another plus. Finally, the décor was very rustic and homey which was a nice change of pace from the big chain restaurants in the area, however, the service still needs to improve. I really hope that the service will be better the next time I come back.

So many things I want to eat here.
Juices are wonderful. Kale, Apple, cucumber and lemon.
Omlets heavenly. Very filling. Comes with crisp dices potatoes and toasted English muffin.
Waffles are light and tasty.

Food is amazing, but the reception is something to be desired. First Watch’s front desk always seems to be overwhelmed. This is my third time visiting this establishment & each time I wanted to walk out the door as soon as I got there. There is no organization of the people waiting for a table. The customers tend to self police & organize themselves. One should never walk into a restaurant & see an empty host station.
Service improves & are servers are very attentive after the initial reception. Food is great! Gotta try the Veg’d out omelet & pumpkin pancakes. They had to roll me out of there.
Please fix the reception & I would say this place is on par with other trendy places in the DC metro area. Right now it’s just like the rest of the lack-​luster customer service one receives in Prince George’s county. Be a cut above the rest — it will go a long way.

While the food was delish, the service was extremely slow for reasons that couldn’t be explained. Our server was not attentive, it took 20minutes to get coffee and drinks after ordering and our meals for 4 took over 45 minutes.
The restaurant was slow and there were about 15 employees working. The décor had motifs «farm to fork» yet, when asked the server which local farms were supported, she didn’t know the answer. She claimed she would ask her manager, but never came back with an answer. Because of this lack of knowledge, I seriously doubt they are supporting any local farmers.

Discovered First Watch based on co-​worker comments, so glad I was noisy and ease dropping …
The Avacodo Omlette was amazing, suggest grabing a slice to French Toast as a side.
The waitress was very attentive and offered ‘everything’ (water, juice, etc) she even took note I use Splenda and brought out extra as I ran low.
Look forward to a return visit.

Been really hoping that First Watch would become my go to weekend breakfast/​brunch «spot». They aren’t ready just yet. Maybe I’m being a little picky, I don’t know.
On each of my three visits their free wifi hasn’t been available w no explanation. On today’s visit I come away w these questions. Should you have to ask for water? Should you have to ask for butter and jelly w your toast? Should you have to ask for syrup w your pancakes? Maybe just my server.
So the food! Bryce had pancakes and eggs and was satisfied. I had steak florentine, my eggs didn’t seem complete and my steak wasn’t seasoned at all.
So I’ll eat at FW again but I don’t expect to have a table named b/​c I’m there so often.

Came in on a Friday morning and was promptly greeted. Not much business but still vibrant. The place is decorated in the crafty homemade Starbucks style grassroots fashion. Lots of buzzwords in the menu and on the wall like «local grown» and «fresh squeezed». Interesting and refreshing breakfast selections, I will definitely be back to try some other offerings.
Had a longer review prepared, but I found out this place is a chain, not a mom and pop. That’s not a knock against the place, but they have advertising teams, and don’t need my help.
It’s tasty, the service was superb. If you were thinking of Bob Evans or IHOP, skip them and try this place, worth the visit.

This is a rarity but I hope that all who read this take notice. I am not one to put a restaurant out there like this but this needs to be done in keeping with the true Unilocal spirit of honest reviews. First off it was Mother’s Day and a decision was made to treat a special woman out at First Watch for breakfast. Our party of three arrived at about 1030 and I was told that it would be a 30 – 45 minute from the hostess/​waitress. The waitress took my phone number and placed it in the system and told me that once a table was ready I would get a text. Please take note of my picture showing the first text I received from the restaurant at 1036. It asked for you to download an app known as NoWait which tracks your progress and others to let you know when your table will be ready. Since it was a 45 minute wait we decided to walk around the Bowie Town Center to kill time. We came back to this establishment when the app told us we had 7 people ahead of us. Upon our arrival you could see the frustration on people’s faces as some of the people who were either waiting for food or waiting to be seated were still in the restaurant from our arrival. This should have been a big clue.
A gentleman next to me asked me how long I was waiting and at this point it had been 87 minutes. I noticed the couple behind me checking their phone as they downloaded the app and were checking it. At this point I was told that I had 1 person in front of me and the couple had three people. A large group of 8 were sat before me and once again that was a message. Still this was Mother’s Day and it was about my guest and not me on her special day. I went to the counter to check on the situation and I truly believe no one knows how to use the system that this app is connected to as I rarely saw anyone checking the tablet that my cell number was typed into. The couple who were checking their phone got seated before me and I was seated after them. Long story short I never received a text and if I did not ask we would still be waiting along with the other couple. My party was not escorted to our table instead we were pointed to it. Our waitress Denae came to take our order 102 minutes into our ordeal. At this point I was very hungry and at a point I just needed to get some food as I was feeling a bit weak and needed to take medicine with a meal. I actually went to the store next door to get some food in order to take my medicine as we only saw our waitress three times during our meal and I will get to that next.
As I mentioned earlier we entered this place at around 1030. We placed our orders and my guest was very specific in what not to include on the meal for very good reasons. Our food came out at 1301 a full 2 hours and 30 minutes after we entered this place. Denae was writing what not to put on the meal and what do you know the exact thing specified not to put on the meal was on the meal. This is what we get after 2.5 hours of wait a big «Who cares what the customer wants?» I just went ahead and ate my meal but the meal for one of my guest was completely wrong and the eggs were not even cooked completely on the meal for another guest. The pancakes were cold but at least that was removed from the meal as a new order were put in to get the correct food that was supposed to come out. When Denea said she was going to put in another order we seriously thought about saying no from what we saw. Here is the kicker. We told Denea we know it is not her fault but she said in her own words that this «is a constant complaint from customers of how slow the service is» and after reading more Unilocal reviews this is a consistent problem. Its one thing to know of a problem but not to do anything about it is piss poor management.
I believe this place is understaffed and some of the staff could help others out as I saw a few guys who worked there chatting in the corner on their cellphones while tables remained dirty in need of clearing and cleaning while people waited. This warrants more than a Unilocal review and if it was not for the fact of it being a Sunday I would have called their corporate office number. We were offered two coupons to come back for a buy one get one free on an entrée but of course we did not accept this offer from this once and last time experience. The point was to take a special person out to enjoy a nice meal but it was almost 3 hours of pure frustration. If this place gets any return customers I am surprised because I will never be in that category and embarrassed that I endured almost 3 hours in this place. If you do not believe just look at my pictures.
It would not be a review without talking about the food. I ordered a Day Glow and it was watered down and I really only ate the Market Hash as I was at a point where I just need to have some food due to how hungry I was and to take some medication. If only I could 0 stars.

First Watch has been on my radar for quite some time. All my VA peeps would chat about it and post yummy pics to entice you to make a trip down to Fairfax County. Well thanks to my fellow Unilocalers (Adrienne, Rae, Toya) organizing brunch here at the new Bowie location, my wait was over. I went to the early church service to ensure I made it in time!
During my initial visit I ordered the Trifecta. The Belgian waffle was light and airy as promised with a nice crisp. The waffle had a light coating of powdered sugar, topped with a dollop of cinnamon butter, and served with a side of berry compote. It’s good and sweet (without syrup) plus my over medium cage free eggs were cooked perfectly. That’s no common feat. I’m so used to people overcooking my eggs so I was pleasantly surprised. On subsequent visits, I tried the avocado, bacon, hash substituting the bacon for turkey sausage. It was really satisfying and the fresh OJ was great. At a later date, I tried the healthy turkey egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, and feta. I had to return multiple times to ensure I had enough information before developing my review.
Service is consistently good even though I’ve never had a server introduce herself and share her name. They kind of just walk up and start talking. Maybe it’s their policy. Any who, First Watch offers farm to table freshness at a great value. I’m looking forward to my next visit!
–The line to pay is always a slow process for me. First Watch should invest in handheld credit card processing units.

Hallelujah!!! Excuse me while I do my praise dance! Finally, a wonderful breakfast restaurant has invaded the Bowie area. All I can say is, WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD! For years I’ve complained to my family about how the area lacks a really decent breakfast restaurant. Sure, we have the usual suspects in IHOP, Panera and Bob Evans, but I’ve been there, done that and bought a t-​shirt. First Watch is a breath of fresh air to my taste buds. Focusing on fresh vegetables and fruits as the main star, FW’s main focus is fresh and healthy menu options, with a twist of power packing flavor.
Located in the Bowie Town Center (actually it’s directly behind the Safeway and a few doors down from the Next Day Blinds store) First Watch specializes in breakfast and lunch foods. Open daily from 7am to 2:30pm, this restaurant packs a lot of healthy flavor in every bite of your meal. When I arrived, I was greeted by a server who seated me immediately. After ordering and tasting the food, I knew immediately that this was going to be my new go-​to breakfast spot.
The omelette I ordered was cooked to perfection! It was light and fluffy and even included fresh herbs! Deep sigh! Who puts fresh herbs in their omelettes??? FW does and it was fabulous. The potatoes that accompanied my meal were even seasoned perfectly. Even the English muffin was great! My server was friendly and answered every question I could imagine about the food. All of the staff I encountered was nice and spoke to me when they passed. The décor is rustic, yet makes you feel like you’re at your grandparents home. They have free Wi-​Fi and its a very warm and welcoming environment.
I’ve heard great things about their lunch, so will be back soon to try it out. As far as I’m concerned, FW can do no wrong in my book. I can’t think of one thing that could’ve been better. PS try the Day Glow juice (carrots, oranges, lemons and ginger juice) it’s the perfect pick me up.