First Watch — Restaurant in Cary

I just left the restaurant. My food was amazing, came out on time, and correctly. If you're wondering why they have one star - it's what happened AFTER I ate that warrants this review. My sister and I ate outside, ordered two entrees, and the bill came. My sister realized she'd forgotten to place a to-go order (the bill was already printed). Our waitress, said no problem, I'll take the order and bring out an updated bill. She did that, we got the to go order, and took our bill up to the front counter inside of the restaurant to pay. We paid, tipped, chatted briefly with the staff up front, and left out the front door. As we walked away from the restaurant we hear a man screaming at us - 'heeyyyyy' from the restaurant. He runs out to us and says, "did you pay your bill? one of our managers inside says you left without paying"... at this point my sister and I are mortified (we paid, he was not only loud - but loud and WRONG). Also, I should note, it was prime time breakfast/brunch with many people coming into the restaurant. Long story short we were interrogated, and treated like thieves. The server came to the front, to which we recounted with her and the man who yelled at us, that we left that bill behind as it was not accurate. We'd ordered MORE food, and thus paid the updated (higher) bill, that was brought to the table. The waitress looked extremely uncomfortable, as did everyone else who was at the front desk, who worked there, and had literally just taken our payment and knew we'd paid. Yet and still, we were humiliated while waiting as they nervously fumbled with the receipts at the counter, only to find that we indeed, HAD PAID already. Simple mistake, but the problem here is that rather than verify by checking receipts, their instincts were to heckles us across the parking lot, and ASSUME we hadn't paid. I should mention our receipts were literally at the top of the pile at the counter. He would have had to pass the counter to come out to yell at us. I don't understand why the assumption was that we didn't pay, but this says more about them than us I suppose...

Long story short. No apologies were made, and I literally had to call back to the restaurant (after arriving home halfway to tears) to demand they take some sort of action to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. It's a shame, I live in the apartments across the street and prior to today, this was our go-to breakfast spot. Needless to say I won't be returning. I won't mention race here, you can make your own inferences. I will say however, regardless of color, the way we were treated is beyond disappointing. I wouldn't recommend this...

I recently visited First Watch, hoping for a good breakfast experience, but unfortunately, I was left disappointed, leading me to give it just 2 stars. One of the main issues was the service. The waitress who served us seemed very unfriendly, almost as if she was sad to be there. I understand that not everyone enjoys their job all the time, but I believe that when you're on shift, especially in a service role, it's important to at least attempt to be cheerful and welcoming to guests. Instead, her demeanor felt off-putting and made the meal less enjoyable.

For my meal, I decided to go with what I thought would be a safe choice – eggs Benedict with salmon. However, the dish that was served to me was far from what I expected. The presentation was sloppy; the eggs were already broken, and the yolk had spilled all over the plate instead of being neatly contained within the egg whites. The whole appeal of eggs Benedict, in my opinion, is the moment when you cut into the egg yourself, allowing the yolk to spread across the dish and mingle with the other ingredients. This experience was completely lost with how the meal was presented to me, with the yolk already running aimlessly on the side of the plate.

This visit was far from the quality and service I’ve come to expect from a breakfast spot, especially one as well-regarded as First Watch. The combination of lackluster service and a poorly executed meal left much to be desired. While I’ve had positive experiences in the past with the chain, this particular visit to First Watch was underwhelming. It’s disappointing when you’re looking forward to a nice meal out, only to be met with indifference and a dish that falls short of expectations.

On a positive note, I was pleasantly surprised to find that First Watch is actually quite a good spot for kids. Despite the other issues we encountered, they made a commendable effort to ensure that the little ones felt welcome. They provided coloring books, which is a thoughtful touch, allowing children to entertain themselves while waiting for their meals. This small gesture significantly enhanced our dining experience, making it more enjoyable for families with young children.

I hope this review serves as constructive feedback for the restaurant. A friendly service and attention to detail in meal preparation can significantly enhance the dining experience. Unfortunately, this time, it seemed both of these aspects...

I'm giving the Bradford restaurant 2 stars instead of 1 because the food is good, but my experience this morning was very annoying, time consuming, and the manager was not helpful at all. We have been ordering online since the pandemic (regularly for a couple years, often every week from this location) for pickup -not delivery, since that can get complicated. We actively searched for the kids menu on the app and couldn't find it so when I picked up my order, I asked the staff how to order from the kids menu next time if we didn't want to call in; staff showed me the kids menu from their phone so I thought we just missed it. I came home and looked on the app on both an Iphone and Android phone and the kids menu was not there. I called and asked to talk to a manager and confirm that it was available on a website. He spent the entire phone call acting defensively, saying that it was a corporate issue -I explained that I didn't expect him to turn into an IT expert and fix an app, but that staff should know if there is an entire section of menu that is not available online. I asked him to confirm that it is available on a website, and he did not do that, instead responding "if there's something available on the website that isn't available on the app, I suggest you order from the website"..."I have to get back to the kitchen now". If that wasn't enough of a waste of time, I went to their website (on both a phone and a laptop) and intermittedly found the kids menu, but could not click on items from my phone and the menu entirely disappeared when I clicked on items from the laptop. So, long story short, if you have kids, you have to call in. The manager has no interest in becoming knowledgable about sections of his store's menu that are not available to order online, even though it would make everyone's life a whole lot easier if they would just post a link at their store of whatever website has their kids menu (that you can order from), or simply stating "you cannot order from the kids menu online". Again, it's really just about informing staff so you don't waste customer's time. I think we'll be taking a break from this restaurant for a while- I'm used to managers being appreciative of my spending time to inform them about issues associated with...