First Watch — Restaurant in Jersey Village

""If your not happy your not happy" Was what I was told by my waiter upon voicing displeasure with a poor experience at First watch. Could I tell you this waiters name? No he never introduced himself.

I recently visited First Watch with a group of friends, and unfortunately, our experience left much to be desired. This included some of the rudest and poorest customer service I've ever experienced.

Despite the seemingly low customer turnout, we were directed to a table right next to the host stand and left waiting for an excruciating 30 minutes.

During this time, employees casually chatted at the host stand, seemingly oblivious to our presence. When one of my friends finally approached the host to inquire about the delay, the response was far from apologetic. A staff member abruptly approached us and, without any hint of an apology, nonchalantly asked if we wanted drinks before hastily taking our food order.

Things took a bizarre turn when a bald man intervened, snatching the order pad from the initial server literally half way through taking our tables order and creating a confusing and uncomfortable situation. They bickered back and forth as the woman wanted to finish taking our orders and the bald man first demanded the he must get the drinks first before changing his mind turning around and yanking the pen back from the woman as he tried to finish taking our orders. The lack of coordination and professionalism during this ordeal was palpable, making the entire ordering process a frustrating and uncomfortable experience.

As if the disorganization weren't enough, the cleanliness of the establishment left much to be desired. Water glasses were delivered with visible crumbs and a distinct lip print, raising concerns about hygiene standards. When I brought this to the server's attention, she seemed annoyed at the request for a replacement, creating an atmosphere where customer concerns were treated as a burden.

Upon expressing my dissatisfaction and requesting to cancel the order, the waiter's response was dismissive, saying "fine if your not happy your not happy" and asking what I ordered. "Not only that he demanded did get a drink too let me get that canceled for you since your not happy." Seeking resolution, I asked to speak to a manager, but the process was far from smooth. It took multiple requests, and the manager's lackluster response did little to improve the situation.

The manager, seemingly indifferent to our ordeal, offered excuses rather than genuine apologies. The explanation that he was "in the freezer" when we sought assistance only added to the frustration. Instead of addressing the rudeness of his staff, he provided a mere coupon as an attempt to salvage the situation, showing a lack of commitment to customer satisfaction.

As someone who dines out frequently, I can confidently say that this was the worst breakfast experience I've encountered. The overall lack of communication, cleanliness issues, and the manager's nonchalant attitude make it unlikely that I will consider returning to First Watch...

My birthday brunch was absolutely ruined by my server. I started with an iced coffee and my partner got a cocktail and a water. We ordered an app, two entrees, and a side of biscuits with gravy. After this point, we don’t see our server again for at least 30 minutes. The cocktail was done but no one was around to order more. He ended up finishing his water, too. Meanwhile my coffee had been empty since about the second bite of my food and we were desperately looking around to get some more beverages. I got halfway through my meal and still no sign of our server, no manager in sight, and the other servers were too far away.

We both stopped eating because we were so incredibly thirsty. Plus we’re still waiting on the biscuits, so we thought we’d ask our server when he brings them out.

Now we’d been sitting there staring around the restaurant with scratchy throats for quite a few minutes- still no one. Finally my partner gets up and asks the hostess of all people to please help us locate our server or have someone bring us some more water because we are desperate. She goes into the kitchen and then back to the front…five minutes later still nothing.

At this point we’ve both completely lost our appetites and just want to drink something and leave! We asked the hostess one more time to help us find our server and then he finally showed up with a super casual, “Everything good?” So we ask for more water, and when we ask about the biscuits this is when he tells us “Oh, yeah, um, they’re out.”

He leaves to bring us water and never asks about my coffee even though the empty glass was about six inches away from him.

First Watch has been my go-to brunch spot for many many years, but this server (along with the complete and utter lack of managers on the floor) absolutely ruined my birthday and any positive feelings I had...

I’ve been coming to this place and the service and people have always been awesome. However, this last time, the way the hostess handled the seating seemed discriminatory. There were a handful of parties ahead of me, she was getting everyone’s information, mind you these are mostly parties of two or more. She got to one lady, which was a party of one, and the hostess proceeded to tell her that it would be a 10 to 15 minute wait, in a sense, discouraging the woman to wait. However, she did not mentioned that to any of the other families that she noted down before her. The woman leaves. She then asks a father and son in front of me for their names, notes them down and turns and completely ignores me. I had to grab her attention so that she would take my name down. I proceeded to let her know that it was just me, a party of one, and again, tries to discourage another patron, by saying if I’m okay with a 10 to 15 minute wait. Hmmmm… at this point it’s highly suspect of her to continue to ask parties of 1 if the wait is okay. I asked, “so how long is the wait for a party of two then?”, she waves it off and says “oh the same, about 10 minutes”. I continued with “oh I asked because you didn’t let that party know about the wait but you did with the one woman that left and now with me”. She took my name down and mind you the wait was not even 5 minutes. The lackluster service the girl offered just seemed unprofessional and downright rude. And I feel for the woman that left because she clearly left due to the hostess being blatantly discouraging. I specifically stopped going to the First Watch by beltway 8 because the kids that work there are complete snobs, and now it seems to be seeping.

Other than that, the food was great and the waitress was kind. I hope this place doesn’t get taken over by...