First Watch — Restaurant in Delaware

Ok, so I know this location is fairly new so the 1st two times I went I gave them some grace. BUT! Now they have been open long enough to get their act together and it’s still not in MANY ways! Being a chain restaurant they should have all been trained in a certain way but here’s what is lacking ( and I have been in the restaurant business for MANY years) This scenario has happened all 3 times I have been there now. We get seated and told our server will be right over. To me “right over” does not mean waiting up to 10 minutes and this morning I had to even go BACK up to the host stand and tell them we STILL had not had a server even come over to greet us. The restaurant was NOT BUSY at all! If they WERE busy I could understand but the server should still come by, greet you and take a drink order! It’s breakfast! People want COFFEE! Then after having the hostess get the server she was apologetic and was timely with our drinks and getting our order. We ordered a plain cheese omelet and the chia pudding dish. We waited ANOTHER 25 minutes ( omelets take minutes to prepare and the chia pudding is already prepared! ) and I had to flag down the server AGAIN and ask what’s taking so long! I literally could see behind “the line” where the cooks are and there was plenty of them so I didn’t understand. The server told us they had run out of brown sugar for my dish- I was thinking “so did they have to run over and buy some at Wegman’s?” I mean give me a break- meanwhile my friends omelet was sitting under the heat lamps getting disgusting while they magically produced some brown sugar I would have been more than ok to have my dish without had she told us. She did take our coffee off our check and apologize again but it was just not an experience I’m ready to go through again. Through all of this I never once saw a manager “managing” anything. I’ll give it one more chance ( but not for awhile ) ONLY because I do love their chia...

The service at this restaurant was the worst I’ve ever experienced at a First Watch restaurant. Apparently, there was a system error that delayed our order over 40 minutes, but technology has nothing to do with poor service. Our server never came to explain the delay. She only offered a complementary side of fruit to each of the three of us after we asked. When one of my companions went to ask the server for separate bills the server cut her off, saying that the orders were separate on the bill. Besides that not being what my companion was attempting to ask for, the orders on the bill were wrong! If that’s not bad enough,the so-called little 'hostess' was staring at me while I saw at my table. Who knows why. When I went to pay the bill, the ‘hostess’ helped the people in front of me and abruptly walked away from the register as I stepped up. No words. No explanation. Just walked away. I asked the waitress who was at the front to speak to the manager, but this waitress asked me why as if screening my concern. Once I spoke with the manager, he said it was their worst day but he wanted to pay for some of my bill- which I had already paid. And, as I'm sure you can guess, he did not refund any portion of the bill. Nope. That’s not what he did. He gave me a $20 gift card good only for 15 days and only to their restaurant - #683. Like I’m ever going there again! My advice to anyone I know and even people I don’t: DO NOT go to First Watch #683 on Buckley Mill, in the Greenville area of Wilmington. DE. Avoid it at all costs. The food wasn’t that good, the menu is different than other First Watch restaurants, and the staff and service...

Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed with my 1st visit to First Watch. When me and my mother arrived we asked to sit outside. The host went outside to look for a table. He came to get us almost immediately to escort us to the table. When we reached the table, it needed to be cleaned, so he got someone to wipe the table down while we stood there. There was nothing sprayed on the table to clean it. The busser used a rag that probably could have done with a good rinsing. When we sit, our waitress comes over to get our drink order. We were not offered water. My mother asked the waitress about the drink options and was not informed of them all (she found out they had coffee later on during the meal). My mom ordered 1st and requested a mimosa to which the waitress tells us that alcoholic beverages are not able to be served outside due to the restaurant not having the license to do so yet. I feel that is something that should have been told when we requested to sit outside or have some signage up. The waitress did offer us to move inside, but my mom wanted to be outside. I ordered eggs Benedict BLT, which had some strange aftertaste that made my stomach upset after eating it. I had to take an antinausea pill to not be sick. My mother had no issue with her food. The restaurant atmosphere was good. It's cute inside and pretty outside. Despite the nice environment aesthetically, I am not interested in going back. However, my mother said the First Watch location she went to in Newark was better, and she would like me to try that location before permanently banning this place...