First Watch — Restaurant in Clarksville

First Watch has always been a favorite place of mine when it comes to breakfast/brunch places in Indiana. We failed to plan ahead and make a reservation for today (Saturday) so we were not really expecting to be seated immediately. However, we were pleasantly surprised as we walked in and found out there was no wait. Despite our luck today, I still would recommend going in on their website and joining the waitlist, especially on weekends. Because usually during the weekends, they are almost always packed.

We ordered the breakfast tacos, smoked salmon eggs benedict and French toast. For drinks, we had iced coffee and their house brewed coffee.

The breakfast tacos were not really their best. The tortillas were really hard to chew. I am assuming these were old sheets used or they were not stored correctly, got exposed to air and made the texture really hard to chew. The filling was delicious though.

The smoked salmon benedict has been one of my go-to's when choosing my breakfast of choice. And I'm glad their version did not disappoint. The strength of the onion paired well with the smokey taste of the salmon. The hollandaise sauce and poached eggs were prepared well. It came with a side of spring mix dressed in light vinaigrette which completed the whole meal.

The french toast is okay. Nothing special, really. It was prepared as expected. I enjoyed the berry jam that came with it though--it was not too sweet, and the whipped butter had that perfect amount of saltiness and airiness that elevated the toast.

Overall, we were satisfied with the quality of food (minus the breakfast tacos), ambience and customer service. First Watch will remain to be one of the breakfast/brunch places I will...

Food was good. Service was SLOW. Could’ve just been a busy Sunday. 45 min wait at door, 15 minutes after seated to get waters, 45 min after seated to get food. Not great, but understandable. They were getting slammed I think and might’ve been backed up.

Food was good overall, wife and son loved their orders.

I have a gluten allergy and informed the waiter. I ordered a salad since most of the menu was not gluten friendly. This is also fair; true gluten allergies like mine are hard to accommodate since it’s used in many sauces, breads, pastas, flour, etc) so I know it’s a pain. I keep backup power bars with me just in case a restaurant can’t guarantee a gluten free dish.

Salad comes with a huge slice of bread thrown on top. I immediately send it back, since it would make me sick (I’m not a gluten free fad person - it actually messes up my stomach and intestines). Check out Celiac Disease if curious.

Manager came and apologized and salad was remade and given free. Kind of annoying at the time, but understandable. Order was put in right by the waiter, probably just got a piece of bread on it by habit from the kitchen. They were quick and reasonable to rectify and apologetic and I wasn’t a jerk about it, since it happens.

Overall, would recommend...

First Watch is like a next-gen Cracker Barrel. It's a rapidly expanding breakfast chain that has capitalized on the farm-to-table sustainable restaurant movement.

Google didn't offer up many quality non-chain options in the area, so this was a welcomed discovery.

This location was pretty busy, but still only had a 15 minute wait. We avoided the wait by taking one of the outside seats which didn't fit the needs of the majority of people waiting for parties larger than four.

My partner and I ordered the Farmers and the Hash skillets. Both were impressively fresh and flavorful. They don't use deep fryers so breakfast potatoes were pan fried. The toast was noticeably heartier than what conventional breakfast places offer. And, the serving sizes was perfectly satisfying.

For two people you are likely going to spend close to $40 which wouldn't be a sustainable practice for me. Also, the young staff, although well mannered and engaging, were mistake prone and communication challenged. We had to ask a number of times for small things or get them ourselves, and the table next to us were forgotten until they tracked down a server.

Overall, I under the right set of circumstances I certainly would stop here again - but...