First Watch — Restaurant in Brandon

I really don't like saying anything that puts anything in a bad light, especially if it can impact the livelihood of said anything. That being said let's delve into my experience starting with all the really good aspects of and then tending to the lesser positives.

The place is pretty inviting and the staff are seemingly very personable and extremely sociable. Patrons were also friendly and outgoing. The view of Causeway Blvd, even though it's just traffic, wasn't a bad view at all.

The server forgot a couple of things, like an extra cup. They brought out drinks twice and could have, for all intent and purpose, brought out the cup w and when reminded the 2nd time they came w drinks they said they had not forgotten it and was about to bring it as soon as they dropped the beverages, and they did but I had 2 issues with this; 1st- she could have brought it the 1st or 2nd time because there was obviously enough room as they only brought like 3 drinks per run as the 2nd half of our party arrived separately and minutes after we did. 2nd- when I did remind them, they acted like they had not forgotten & like i should have known remarking, "oh, I know, I'm actually already getting it right now!" when I finally said something after 2 contacts w our table. Lastly, the food. I had eggs Benedict and I have to say that they should consider completely removing it from their menu. It was cold, the hollandaise sauce was just horrible, gelatinous, way too much lemon in it, the brioche was stale, the ham had the resemblance to that of cheap ham from the Walmart deli and even the eggs were less than room temperature. I was starving and so I ate it without incident only because I was in great company having great conversation and just didn't seem right to be"that guy" that day. Would I go back? Why ofcourse I would. I believe everyone has an offday from time to time, it just happens. I also believe that they deserve the chance to redeem themselves because when I spoke w the other guys there w us, after explaining my food experience w them they said their food was great and had no complaints. So, yes, ofcourse I am going to go check them out again. I'm sure from all the great things that I heard before going there that this was almost definitely a one off shot....

I've eaten here a few times and I've always enjoyed the food and service; however, after my experience on 7/8/24 I'm not sure that I'll ever return. If the manager/owner responds to this review and confirms that they've identified and resolved the issue I described in this review, I'll probably return.

The issue was this: the bottle of water I was served had white specks of something stuck to the inside of the bottle. In other words, the bottle was contaminated. I handed the bottle to the server (Alex) and asked for a clean bottle. I assumed that he would confirm that the next bottle he brought me was clean, and I assumed that he would bring it right away. But after waiting a long time, I received another contaminated bottle. I again asked for a clean bottle and again I received a contaminated one. All three were contaminated with the same white specks, and I confirmed that the contamination was inside the bottle by reaching my finger inside and (easily) moving one of the specks. I took a photo of the third bottle and added red circles around only a few of the specks. Other specks can be easily seen.

As I mentioned, I could easily move one of the white specs, which indicates that maybe the bottles simply aren't rinsed properly. I don't know, and I don't want to speculate further. I just want people to know about this, and I want the manager/owner to assure us that the issue has been identified and resolved.

I'll end with a positive note: I do like the food at this first watch, and I like that the people who work there are friendly (most of the time). I will miss this place if I...

I called in a to-go order. Successfully placed the order with the hostess on the phone repeating my order back to me. I was told it would be ready in about 15 minutes. When I arrived 20 minutes later, it was still not ready yet, and had to wait an additional 10 minutes. When I arrived, I waited in line at the host stand to pay for my order. When I got to the front of the line, the hostess did not look at me or greet me, but proceeded to speak to her other hostess (the one seating guests) literally over my head, directing who to seat first, etc. This did not sit with me well, at least greet me - but do not ignore me and do not point and wave over my head or speak over me. She came across very rude, and once I signed my sales slip just stood there - did not tell me she would check on my order, did not say it would be a few minutes and to have a seat, just stood there and moved on to the next guest. Once I finally received my order, I got in my car and took my order back to work. Upon arriving and unpacking my food, it was discovered the biscuits and gravy order I placed was missing the gravy. No gravy, dry and hard biscuit. The other order placed was avocado toast with over medium eggs. The eggs were overcooked to over-hard and the yolks were solid. I have many meetings today and did not have the time to go back to the store and pick up the missing gravy. Overall terrible service from the moment I walked...