First Watch — Restaurant in Brookside

I will start off by saying that we frequent this location. The last several times we have been there the service and the food were terrible. We chalked it up to some new staff. This morning we walked in and right away could count eight or more dirty tables, and the restaurant was not busy at all. When we were sad, we were sat at a table that still had two coffee cups half filled with coffee. An employee came over and asked us if we wanted to be seated elsewhere and we said yes because the table was not being cleaned. I will include a photo of what we had to look at while we eat. Our syrup bottle was dirty, the sugar container was gross, and the coffee carafe left a lot to be desired. I had asked for crispy bacon when our food arrived (it was brought to us by someone other than our server), the bacon was definitely not crispy, but I did not have a chance to mention it to this employee as they just gave us our food and walked away. Our server came over and saw that we needed a refill so I then asked him if I could get the bacon made a little more crispy, but he ignored me and walked away. When he finally came back with the refill, I asked him again if I could get the bacon crispy. He told me “sure just give me a minute”. We then watched him go to another table and take an order and was there for a good five minutes. He came over with a takeout container to put the bacon in and took it away. We never saw our server again until he brought us the check. Someone else brought the new bacon out and at that point I was already done my meal because I wasn’t gonna let my meal get cold while I waited for this bacon. And again it wasn’t crispy. It was just greasy and chewy. At this point, we just wanted to leave. We were told that there is a new manager who really doesn’t care about anything and gives the staff no guidance. The manager was seen walking throughout the restaurant multiple times while we were there and obviously he doesn’t care because he did nothing about all the dirty tables. We left with at least seven of them still dirty. Needless to say we will not ever frequent this location again, which is very sad because it was one of our favorites. There is another one near us that we will try. But this location really needs to do better. It’s normally packed on the weekends and there was nobody in there this morning. Maybe...

We came here Sunday morning after church around 9:30, hoping for a quick breakfast together before tackling a busy day. From the moment we walked in, it was a disaster.

We were seated outside right away, but no one came for nearly 15 minutes. I had to go inside to track down the hostess, who already looked stressed, like she knew things weren’t running smoothly. When our server finally showed up, there was no greeting, no name, no smile—just silence.

We kept it simple: a trifecta breakfast with extra eggs and turkey sausage, plus two teas. The tea that arrived was the wrong kind, and when we mentioned it, the waiter casually told us they were out and brought this one instead—no asking if that was okay.

Then the food came, and it was cold. Our waiter never checked back, so after 10 minutes I went inside again. The hostess promised someone would come, but no one did. Another server from a nearby table tried to help, but still nothing. Eventually, a second hostess checked in, then finally our waiter appeared—completely unaware of the issue. His response when we explained? A flat, “You want to send everything back?” No apology, no effort.

We waited another 20 minutes for the replacement food, only to be served another cold plate—rubbery eggs and lukewarm pancakes. At that point we just ate what little we could out of sheer frustration.

My husband asked to speak with the manager, but our waiter brushed it off, saying the manager was “too busy.” The waiters response was “no one else had complained about cold food.” But the whole restaurant doesn’t need to complain for our food to be cold—just like the whole restaurant doesn’t need to complain about service for us to have bad service. When we insisted, the manager finally came but was just as dismissive. Yes, they comped the meal, but the lack of care was the bigger problem.

People don’t just pay for food—they pay for service, for a chance to enjoy their time. Instead, we wasted our morning dealing with indifference, cold food, and a restaurant that clearly wasn’t prepared to serve...

I'm staying at Hampton nearby and the breakfast there now is awful. So I headed over to First Watch and boy am I glad I did. First of all the place is clean and inviting and reeks of efficiency. As quickly seated handed a menu and served coffee. I don't know why that seemed unusual but many can't even get this right. With so many great things to choose from I ended up with the a Elote Mexican Street Corn Hash. It's a total winner. Potatoes are perfectly crispy and shine through somehow all of the chorizo onion green onion corn and avocado. And this is top with two eggs your style. Oh right and two corn & flour tortillas. This was at opening around 7:00 a.m. and I worked outside till 1:30 before I felt hungry again I mean I walk 5 1/2 miles for work. I could not eat this everyday but today was that day and man it was perfect. So perfect I went back for lunch because I don't go for chain food and that seems to be what's around here. This is a gem farm to table type of place with creative and interesting food. So for lunch I had to watermelon pineapple lime and mint drink because I was so thirsty .. so that came out right away along with a big tall glass of ice water. Again prompt efficient friendly service why do I feel so surprised when it happens? (Probably because I went to Crab du Jour the night before and it sucked?) And then I ordered the turkey club on sourdough and somehow they made a simple sandwich fabulous again, came with some greens and some very good bacon. I will have to go back and order the million dollar bacon. This magnificent lunch was only 15 bucks. Same lunch is $20 all day long in Boston just sayin'. Ate lunch outside met some of the locals who seem friendly enough and I hope to come back to the Wilmington area and stay Christiana if only to blow off my local hotel food and eat at First Watch. If they were open for dinner I'd be there as well. Please understand I hardly ever give good reviews and I hate everybody as you...