First Watch — Restaurant in Kennesaw

My first time trying out First Watch (I know- where have I been?) and it was okay. I don’t like giving unenthusiastic reviews especially since I know how hard restaurants work to consistently provide excellent quality and great service with razor thin margins, but I was genuinely surprised at the lackluster quality of the breakfast I was served. I made sure to visit during what should be a less crowded time, so I arrived at 7-ish and seated myself at the bar. Perusing the menu, everything looked amazing and instantly I was interested in the smoked salmon and roasted veggie frittata. The sweet server shared I could pair this with fresh fruit, grits, or the greens that were suggested on the menu. I went with the grits because… walp, Southern roots were showing themselves. And the grits were listed as Bob’s Red Mill grits, so I knew they had to be tasty. A swift few minutes later, I was served the frittata and immediately smelled trouble. The eggs were overdone- that was visible on one side. But since I was hungry, I gamely dug in to the less overdone side, which was delicious. It was a shame the whole frittata wasn’t cooked as well. I was puzzled by the grits. The appearance of a watery gruel looking thing was the aforementioned and much anticipated grits and they tasted like they looked - watery without any key differentiation from instant grits (sorry, Cousin Vinny- I have knowledge of how both slow cooked grits and “instant” ones taste and this serving was not a fair representation of the slow cooked kind). Then there was the toasted ciabatta slice that would have been an unusual and tasty garnish had it not tasted like an entire salt shaker was heaped onto it. I literally had trouble swallowing. And yes, knowing I needed to let the restaurant know that my dish was full of unfortunate moments, I began by alerting the server to the overseasoned ciabatta but she sort of nonchalantly nodded and said, “they (meaning the chefs I guess) always overseason it. It comes already seasoned and then they seasoned it more.” Ok. So I just nodded and asked for the bill, because the satisfaction of the customer wasn’t a concern here. Not wanting to end this review entirely on a negative, I really and sincerely loved the flavor and strength of the cup of coffee I was served… and how the restaurant leverages their coffee suppliers in support of Project Sunrise which supports women coffee farmers in achieving economic independence. Now that is five star. The rest if my meal…...

Came by to eat with my family. Food was good, the waitress was great but the hostess ruined the whole experience with her nasty attitude.

My mom and aunt got there first, and got sat by the kitchen area, my aunt asked nicely if they could be moved to a booth. The hostess said they had to wait because they were all dirty. Understandable.

My mom and aunt go to the waiting area. The tables have been bussed, the hostess starts sitting other people, no worries, we understand asking for another table will take a couple minutes.

I arrive and my aunt and mom are telling me what happened, we continue to wait, she has sat 5 other people down and see we are looking at her and she tries her hardest to not make eyes contact with us. We are standing in front of her podium btw & my mom receives the text message “sorry we missed you, your spot has been canceled “

So my aunt goes up to the hostess to ask for the manager she gets a “I’ll sit you soon” response while sitting another group, so my aunt is furious at this point and decides to take the table and the hostess throws her hands up fighting back saying “I don’t remember faces “

Let me emphasize, SHE CANCELLED OUR SPOT SOLEY BECAUSE MY AUNT ASKED FOR A BOOTH.

The hostess does not get the manager, she goes back to her podium. So I have to get up and ask for the manager myself.

We let the manager know the situation he apologies and says he’ll let the bussers know to clean faster which was not the point at all. I feel like he did not understand us.

The whole situation was with the hostess who cancelled our spot because we asked for a booth & chose to ignore us while sitting a total of 10 guests before even acknowledging us & only acknowledging us when my aunt decided to take the table. She had an ick face the whole time as if she hated her job.

The waitress was great, attended us fast. Food was great and delicious.

We got up to pay for our food at the register. The hostess made sure to be at the register & gave us eye contact there lol She did not apologize or say anything, but she was for sure giving attitude with that stare. Should’ve gave us that eye contact from the beginning, maybe she would have “remembered our face”

She needs more training on customer service or needs to find a job that is not working with people.

We have never experienced this kind of service at any first watch, our mistake was going to the...

In the last month I have had some of the worst experiences I have ever had in any restaurant in my life with first watch in Cobb county. I started eating at first watch on Cherokee in Kennesaw which was always very decent very friendly but it became too much of a wait to eat. And a place just became dirtier and dirtier. To the point that every glass every piece of silverware you touch was dirty. Sandy plains is always a long wait I graduated to the East Cobb location. I have been a loyal customer from Georgia to Alabama. Montgomery, every location in Birmingham. Then you guys opened Barrett parkway. Very nice location, worst customer service and servers out of every first watch I've ever been in. And all this I'm saying has been happening within the last year. First watch in Georgia every single location I have been to the service is usually great or crappy, The cleanliness of the place and all of them except for East Cobb have completely went to trash. And I'm saying that from the floor all the way to the glasses and silver where they give you. I'm so disgusted and offended, because I've been eating it first watch at least two or three days a week for over a year. If I walk in any one of these locations I mentioned right now they know me by face and name. So I'm seeing all this to say I went to Cherokee location this morning it was the worst service everything was messed up everything was nasty and it was after the rush. The manager who explained to me that she was new and was trying to clean the place up did nothing to make my visit better. I was like just give it to me togo. It caim out like crap! So I paid for what I consume told them they could keep the rest. Today you guys have lost a customer. Customers because my family will never eat there again none of my friends this place has really went down hill. And it hurts me because I love first watch I love the atmospheres but everything has changed. It has become quantity over quality. Me being an ex chef, this is unacceptable if you plan on keeping customers, faithful customers.. . You guys are slowly running yourselves out of business by making...