First Watch

Very disappointing. The restaurant is fairly attractive, and service was friendly if rather slow. First off, the coffee is just dreadful. It came in a large thermos pot and was pathetically weak. Half and half options were either vanilla or pumpkin spice… revolting. Asked for whole milk, but they only have 1%. Eggs, sausage, spongy english muffin and sliced tomatoes cost $ 8.30. The value for the dollar is very poor. Can’t understand how this business model functions. Head to the waffle house.

Wouldn’t even give 1-​star. Horribly disappointed with the food and service at this First Watch location. We eat at another location almost once a week and have never had this type of experience. Our Food took 40 minutes to serve, my kids eggs were cold, avocado was left off Monterrey Club, my husbands salad was served 10 minutes after the rest of the food. Utensils were dirty and cups had water spots on them. Server was less than concerned and we couldn’t even find her the majority of time. Upon checkout I told cashier about our experience and no offer was made to compensate or make amends. Will never go back to this First Watch location.

good breakfast place with variety of options. very busy during weekends

I wanted to give FW a second chance. The food is good, not great. But even if the food was amazing, I wouldn’t return because the service is just too slow.
There were dirty dishes on our table when we were seated. We waited ten minutes for our waitress. She brought us coffee, nothing else. We asked for water and juice. She came back ten minutes later, no drinks, but wanted to take our order. We ordered. Food was brought out by someone different. We asked about our drinks, she said to check with our waitress. Finally our waitress came back, and we had to ask about drinks again. Got water as I was finishing my meal.
We didn’t seem to be the exception. I saw two other families seated at tables with dirty dishes during our wait. I heard two other servers apologize for how slow things were.
Overall, I think unfortunately the slow service is the norm here. Too many tables, and not enough servers for a Sunday morning.
Better food and better service three exits south at J. Christopher’s.

We went there based on other reviews but left disappointed. Service is slow, it was freezing inside, the coffee tasted burned, and the food was mediocre at best. Never had pancakes that dry!
We will not recommend it.

On a Sunday we had a half hour wait. It was clean and modern looking. They were very busy yet were pleasant when seating and serving. My husband and I had the Day Glow drink. It had carrot juice, orange juice, lemon juice and ginger in it. It was very fresh and yummy! My husband had the Parma hash plate. I had the fall pumpkin pancake, apple chicken sausage and two eggs. We also had coffee. Everything was served quickly and was delicious. I would go back for the Day Glow every day if we lived anywhere near one of these restaurants!

I Love this place! It’s not fancy but if you want a great tasting breakfast at a great price and you want treated FANTASTIC! This is were to go! Beats the hell out of Waffle… They are warm and kind and great little servers & waitresses. My personal favorites are Manyana and Sandy. They won’t let you want for one thing and you will feel like your Momma or big sister are taking care of you but they are a whole lot younger! Now Manyana is off on maternity leave right now but Sandy is the Ying to her Yang and a perfect fill in!
Some awesome things to try there are New right now this fall the Pumpkin Pancake breakfast! I also like the tri-​fecta when you’re trying to be healthy. I love the smoked Monterey Club– it’s Turkey sandwich (w/​bacon) and comes w/​soup or sm side salad I like it w/​Butternut squash soup! YUM! The Cranberry Nut Pancake w/​your breakfast is good. So is the Carrot cake Pancake. My fiancé’ swears by the Chicken Palermo and he’s a very picky eater! So that must be outstanding. he usually has it w/​the soup of the day. They had an amazing chicken and rice soup the last time that I had him give me a taste of. I try my best to stay away from white rice but mmm that bite was very good! If I’m going to eat sugar I’m going to eat pancake lol
This is just a fantastic little place and the prices are really great. They have a beautiful patio seating area and They also have wifi so if you need a break away from the office but still have work to do, lunch or breakfast there is a wonderful break. I just wish they were open loner than 2pm. Manyana & Sandi in Brentwood fill up Quickly ask for them & tell em Nancy sent You! They’ll treat you like Family– They always do!

First timer to First watch and the salad was unbelievable! I got it to go and I am so thankful I did because this will be my new go-​to place in Smyrna! I got the Chicken Avacado Chop salad and the greens we’re fresh and something other than the boring romaine that seems to be all Smyrna has. So I am very happy about this place!

Food is great. One of the few breakfast places around Maryland farms. I gave them a less then stellar review due to slow service during peak times, but management reached out to me immediately to address my concerns. More than a little surprised at their focus on customer experience and satisfaction. I look forward to my next visit. Thank you!

First of all, the owner and the host are busting their butts to bus tables and move people through the dining room, which is much appreciated given how bad other restaurants in this area are at this (avoid Egg & I unless you have ALL DAY). They have complimentary coffee while you wait. And they made short work of getting a lot of waiting customers to tables. Much appreciated.
The pancakes were not as big as advertised and were mediocre for pancakes. Coffee was delicious and they give you your own insulated pitcher so you aren’t waiting on a waitress for refills, same with water. Their egg based meals looked delicious and the bacon was phenomenal! I should have gotten a Benedict dish or something with the bacon/​sausage. They also have awesome creamers available for the coffee.
Staff were great and the atmosphere was very friendly. A little noisy but that’s to be expected.
We went for breakfast at 10 am and didn’t have to wait long for a table. Best breakfast option I’ve found in Brentwood so far. If family is in town, go here. I saw them get an 8-​top a table in less than 30 minutes.
Will be back as often as possible.

We like it here so much. There are so many good options on the menu, and they’re all so fresh and creative. It’s hard to choose, but we’ve liked everything we’ve had so far. Especially their specialty juices — try those of you have the opportunity. Good service, great food, good atmosphere. Couldn’t ask for much more!

If you’re unfamiliar with First Watch, it’s a chain of breakfast-​focused (though they do have some lunch sandwiches) restaurants open for what I like to call
brunch hours.
Their food is a step up in freshness and quality of ingredients when compared to other fast-​casual places of a similar nature, excepting perhaps J. Christopher’s (a smaller, more local chain) and the Egg and I (another small chain). They certainly blow Waffle House out of the water.
Of the locations I’ve been to, this one is okay. I get my money’s worth, and the food has never been slow. The place is usually a bit understaffed, but that’s the curse of the modern-​day restaurant business in a segment as competitive as this one.
In short, I’d say this location of First Watch is ‘A-​OK’. If you’re looking for breakfast in the Brentwood area, it is a viable option, perhaps even optimal, especially if you have a party of two, thanks to the large first-​come, first-​serve community table near the host stand. If you’re going on Sunday, all bets are off — don’t get between Southerners and their after church brunch.

Upon my 2^nd try I must say this place is one of the best breakfast lunch & brunch cafes in the Brentwood area the food is a AAA+ & the server we had was FABULOUS she helped us decide on our meals by literally breaking almost everything down on the menu… This place is definitely worth 5 stars

Ate virtually daily at First Watch in Stuart, Fla., my former home, and always looked for First Watch when I traveled. Great menu full of light, flavorful choices. And restaurant was always bright, clean and pleasant. I’m sure the Brentwood restaurant is no different. Quality control is a hallmark of each and every restaurant. I can’t think of single bad experience in two or more years of eating there. I only wish there were more First Watches across U.S. The last time I explored in search of one, I learned they’re not so easy to find.

Very tasty. Everyone in the party went away full and happy. I will be back for sure. I got the breakfest scramble YUM!

On vacation from FL and decided to try this place. It is delicious. Great, eclectic menu and very reasonable prices. All 5 people in my party ordered different offerings and EVERYONE was pleased. Great service too! 5 stars for sure

I loved this place! Fresh, healthy, modern food – yummy. I would have had breakfast here every day of my recent business trip had I known about it. I’m going to rave about this place because it was so unique and good. If this was in my neighborhood, near Seattle, I would go there for sure.
I had the avocado toast with basted eggs. I wasn’t asked how I liked my eggs, and I didn’t realize it came with them so they were overcooked for my taste but still good. The avocado toast is a winner! Chunks of avocado, salt and virgin olive oil on a thick whole grain toast was delicious and filling. The menu says there is Maldon Sea Salt in this, and perhaps there was, but the effect of this special flaked imported English salt is lost if you just mix it in. I hope the chef takes this comment to heart and sprinkles the flakes on top of the avocado in future. Then it will be the bomb plus plus!
The pancakes on the menu came in five varieties, so I had to try one. Blueberry. Good stuff.
Yes, I ordered two breakfasts. I ate half of each and was very happy. Yes, I was stuffed.
Just when I was feeling a little food coma coming on, the Day Glow fresh juice I ordered arrived and all my sleepiness disappeared. I am not a juice nut, so the fact that I am craving that Day Glow drink days later says a lot. Fresh carrot, orange, and lemon juice with a sip of ginger and I felt like I could go all day. It was absolutely delicious. I want more!
Dear First Watch. Please move to my neighborhood!

Review update: So, after our last review we were contact by customer service with an apology, which was a nice surprise. We gave brunch another try, though this time we went on a week day. Not nearly as busy, but still pretty full. We were seated right away and our server was with us promptly. Coffee took a minute but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were flying through it. Our order was brought out relatively quickly, was correct in every aspect and delicious.
We were waiting to check out, standing slightly away from the podium to not block the customers coming in and another customer had the nerve to try and push in before us to check out. The cashier handled it professionally and politely informed her there was a line then checked us out over the other woman’s huffing. Seeing as how both visits involved pushy entitled customers I’m thinking it’s just the norm for that area so I appreciate when the staff moves to correct such behaviour, though it makes me feel bad that they have to deal with it. Over all I would visit again, but probably only on the slower weekdays when I get a chance rather than risk that Sunday crowd with what seems to be uppity people.

My family and I were in town for a wedding and, not knowing the area at all, decided to smartphone search for brunch places, and found that First Watch was one of the few places near our hotel that was actually open on a Sunday — so that’s the first plus.
We were seated within the 5 – 10 minute window estimated by the hostess, who also kindly moved us to a booth to accommodate our kids’ needs.
We were also promptly greeted and served drinks by our server. She took our order in an appropriate amount of time and no mistakes were made in their preparation. She was also helpful in accommodating our special requests, but was a little slow in bringing coffee refills and the honey packets we asked for; she also forgot to put our bill onto 2 checks as we requested (hence the 4 stars instead of 5).
The food was delicious and serving sizes were very generous, so don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach!
We would (and will) recommend to others and would (and will) go back on our next visit. Enjoy!

First Watch rocks it out. I’d never been, but i’d heard good things from friends.
I had downloaded an iPhone app a while back called «NoWait» and noticed that First Watch is one of the few local businesses on it. Basically the app allows you to get into line before you arrive at the restaurant. When I got in line the wait was 41 minutes. When we got there, our table was ready. There were plenty of other people waiting, so I recommend it.
As for the food, its very good. I had the Tri-​Fecta which is Eggs, Bacon, and a Waffle, Pancake or French toast.
it may not have the «Old Country» feel of Cracker Barrel, or the «Popularity» of Pancake Pantry, but considering the derth of Breakfast places in Nashville, I highly recommend First Watch.