First Watch — Restaurant in Independence

Food 5/10 Service 7/10 Food - The Chickchanga was delicious but also fairly dry on the outside. There was a sauce over it but it didn’t soften it like you might assume. I think if it had been made with more care than speed, it would have been a match made in heaven. Lots of potential.

The blueberry pancake was good as well but also a little dry even with being buttered.

The carrot cake and pecan pancake was a textural mess. The carrot pieces were almost an inch long & still raw and crunchy. It was dry even after being buttered.

Service - They were very busy but the server was exceptional. He had a very upbeat attitude & clearly very good at his job. At the end I was disappointed because I know there’s no control over how fast the kitchen kicks out the food but I had a fussy toddler who was struggling with the experience & wasn’t having any table conversation that would keep the two of us there after we ate. I had to go to the front to pay my bill & grab to go containers since my daughter only picked out the blueberries from one of the pancakes. It was frustrating because as a mom I want to slowly expose my daughter to going out. When we are served by a mother, we almost always have our bill given to us within 5mins of getting our food and/or are offered a bag & to-go containers. I think mothers just get it. We need to get out with the little ones but want to be served by someone who is being thoughtful about the fact that it’s a struggle to expose kiddos to these new experiences. I want to say again how amazing my sever was. I don’t mean to be critical in this review but I think First Watch is a really great chain with so much potential to grow further & would love to see the concept of recognizing certain groups of customers such as mothers with young kids. Maybe adding a step in service because I really truly want to go out more & I try to be conscious & considerate to the employees & patrons around me as I introduce new environments to my almost 2 year old. I know I am not alone when I say I want to leave my house more & expose my daughter to new things. So many of my mom friends want this too but we are so limited because most restaurants don’t “need” our business & therefore don’t always have an ability to see the unmet need we have. Most visits for us moms of young kids is in & our asap. I am happy to tip 25-30%, pick up behind myself (and my messy toddler), & give you back your table within 5-15mins of getting my food. Just need the bill promptly and boxes, I just don’t always remember to ask while I’m making sure my my toddler isn’t throwing her newfound food or...

I was thoroughly disappointed with my visit today. To begin with, when we called in our order at around 2:08, the employee taking the order couldn’t have sounded less enthused if they tried. They reminded us several times that the restaurant would be closing at 2:30. I called before making it there, to edit my order, we had originally ordered 2 breakfast meals, and I was now more so in the mood for lunch. When I called, the young lady on the other end told me she had “no idea” what I was talking about. For reasons unbeknownst to me, it was as though I had asked the young woman to instead serve me a slice of the moon, on a silver platter. The entirety of our conversation was her, giving me unnecessary attitude and acting as though she was confused with, what I thought to be a simple request. After a great deal of back and forth, she finally pulled up the order, and told me that there was only one meal on the order. Although I did my best to assure her that we had indeed ordered two meals, she seemed irritated and flustered when I asked to add on the second meal. When I finally arrived, around 2:23, although the line was short, it was a while before anyone had checked on me. When I was finally helped, the dialogue was again, very rushed and not at all pleasant which was very odd considering the fact that my family and I frequent this eatery, and had never before recieved such despicable service. When the order was finally brought to me, the bag contained only one box. Not only had they not prepared the second breakfast meal (which I was expecting) but they had also not added the turkey burger to the order either. When I pointed this out to the employee who had handed me the bag, he attempted a half hearted insincere apology, then ultimately blamed me, stating that if I hadn’t waited so near closing time the issue wouldn’t have occurred. Like anyone, I was a little upset at first regarding the Inconvenience, but realised that if the food is as horribly mediocre as the customer service, then I am probably not missing out on much. And for that reason, my family and I most likely will not be returning and I may urge others to...

The food is always very good, but they have atrocious service especially for people who order for pick-up. I’ve never dined in at this location, so I can’t fault their servers, but today I ordered it for pickup with my girlfriend, who is a vegetarian. She ordered their new mushroom hash and I made sure to note that we didn’t want bacon in it. I then called the store to ask them if they could confirm they won’t put bacon in it, since I know those notes are easy to miss sometimes. I was very friendly to to person who picked up, but they sounded exasperated and dismissive, because I had dared to call when they were busy. I understand working in a packed diner can be very stressful, but I didn’t do anything to set them off. They assured me they’d make it without bacon, sounding like they would say whatever it took to get me off the line. Lo and behold when my girlfriend returned with our food, there was bacon in the dish. I called back to request a refund and a much nicer and more understanding employee picked up and said it would be no problem, but that since management was busy in the kitchen, they would have to call me back to confirm the refund once they closed up. I never got that call back and plan to call again once they’re open tomorrow. Anyway my food was great but god damn the people at that place always seem like the customers are a burden to them

Edit: It has been 4 days and I’ve called 3 times and they continue to tell me the manager is too busy to speak with me and will call me back at close. They will not call me, all over a $20 refund. Absolutely ridiculous. Terrible management...