First Watch — Restaurant in Durham

The host at this First Watch location was absolutely wonderful and accommodating. He even went out of his way to find me a seat near an outlet so I could plug in my laptop and get some work done—truly above and beyond service on his part. Unfortunately, that’s where the positive experience ended.

I waited approximately 13 minutes without being acknowledged, during which I watched my server, David, attend to another table that was seated well after I arrived. It wasn’t busy at the time, so the delay felt even more out of place. I had to wave him down as he was about to walk past me again, just to place my order.

Wanting to avoid another long wait, I quickly ordered both my beverage and meal at once. David brought them out, then disappeared until he returned to drop off the check—while I was still eating. He didn’t check in to see how the food was, and I was never offered a refill or asked if I needed anything else.

As someone who travels frequently for work and visits many First Watch locations across the eastern U.S., this experience stood out—and not in a good way. I’ve never felt ignored or rushed out like this at any other location. To be clear, this is not a reflection of the restaurant chain or even this specific location, which I’ve generally had great experiences with. My hope is that a member of management sees this and provides David with some...

First of all, the AC was out so it kind of took away from the experience in this extreme heat.

However, the food and service were still on point.

We ordered the kale salad, the breakfast, and 2 juices. Because it was our first visit, they were very kind to throw in the cinnamon donut holes and the regular customer discount!

The kale juice was on the sweeter side, which I didn’t expect, while the strawberry dragon fruit juice was tart. Would’ve thought the other way around.

The kale salad was as expected but the glazed carrots made it very interesting. They didn’t have that crunch and the usual grassy carrot taste which I hate. They almost had the same texture as the grilled chicken breast. I can’t say if I love or hate it but it was interesting.

We upgraded the seasoned potatoes with the million dollar potatoes. It was pretty good too. Even with the Alfredo sauce they were still crispy.

The donuts were really nicely cinnamony but it was just really sweet for our Asian palette. As much as I wanted to devour them, my sore cavities were just telling me to stop 😂

Servers were very nice and attentive. They quickly responded to our needs with friendly tones!

It was a business trip and hopefully if we have a chance to visit again they’ll have working...

We love first watch, but in my experience this location has fallen short on more than one occasion, whether we dine in or carry out.

TL;DR: I'd heavily recommend the Bradford location over this one.

Longer Explanation: We decided to order brunch for carry out today, and needed Gluten Free toast due to an allergy. The app does not allow us to mark this as a substitution, so we had to call. When placing our order, we were told it should be ready in about 15 minutes. So, we show up in 15 minutes and food isn't quite ready.. Not a problem, we sit and wait about 10 more minutes when our order is finally brought out to us. This alone wasn't enough to be a bother, they're busy, I get it.. But when the food did come out it was missing an entire meal. We were told to wait "just a moment" but it wasn't for another 10 or so minutes before that meal was brought to us. When we finally got our food, the first meals brought to us had been cold. While all orders were accurate, we had issues with under cooked potatoes, under seasoned food, and all around just an unfortunate experience. We'll be going to the Bradford location or another...