First Watch — Restaurant in Longmont

Pleasantly surprising breakfast joint. Nice interior, friendly staff of young people, fresh food full of flavor, and not horrifically expensive. One of the newly coined addages comes to mind when describing First Watch, the idea that gentrification is a good thing, especially when finding a gem like this in what's otherwise a fairly run of the mill 90s style strip mall. Make no mistake, this is a hipster restaurant through and through, with Earth toned furniture and reclaimed wood populating its stylish seating arrangements, and I don't think I saw a single patron not wearing products by NorthFace, plaid, or both. But none of that stops it from being a tasty place to eat, with friendly servers and professional service. The line was out the door when I arrived but they have a large shared community table for single patrons which serves the same purpose as a counter seating in some diners. Fresh squeezed juices tasted authentic, their jams and preserves were quite good, the fried potatoes were the bomb diggity, and they use thick, thick bread for their French toast. The food had a "organic" and "non-GMO" feel to it, but wasn't too expensive, not too much anyway. You may wait a bit longer for your food than you would at most places, I think because they take their time making it all fresh and don't cut corners to be faster, plus it's quite tasty when it arrives and server attention is prompt and constant. Would rate one star higher if portions were just a bit bigger to equalize the price, I know that's more of a fatty thing but I guess that makes me fat. Some might be put off by the snazzy style of the place, but the food and service should more than make up for it. Definitely recommended for Longmont residents looking for something new for their...

Our party of four ate at First Watch on their opening day, after their rebranding from Egg & I. (The First Watch chain bought the Egg & I chain.) We had the Power Breakfast (quinoa, veggies, with two basted eggs on top), a veggie benedict, the Traditional Breakfast, the sausage and biscuit, coffee, and one of their specialty juices. The Power Breakfast was very good and the veggies were cooked nicely, but there weren't very many veggies, the traditional breakfast was very good, the benedict was disappointing (lacked flavor), and the sausage and biscuits were good. I was hoping to try a pancake to see if they preserved the best-on-the-planet Egg & I pancake-making technique, but because it was opening day we were limited to ordering one entree per person.

Service was great and our server had a nice chat with us about their past experience at Egg & I and other restaurants. The music started out at a good volume but became much louder while we were there. Apparently the volume setting is a corporate standard, but that's ridiculous - they should vary it based on their customers' feedback. Maybe that'll adjust over time.

The FW menu looks a little more upscale than Egg & I, but the basics are still available.

UPDATE Oct 2018: We visited again with friends, and I finally had the opportunity to try a pancake - excellent! Not over-mixed so I was able to easily pull it apart with a fork. Yay! Avocado toast and eggs benedict florentine were very good too. The fruit & nuts in the oatmeal were very good but the oats themselves...

Update as of 10/15/2021: Two years ago when I visited this place, the experience wasn't good -- per my two star rating and review back then. But the management seemed to have listened. Wait staff was friendly, very accommodating, and the service was great and fast! Food was great and I finally had the pleasure of re-living the 'First Watch' experience I had in the South!

The restaurant was busy. They now have online reservations systems that made things even more convenient! So the wait time wasn't long at all. I will revisit this place.

I had fond memories of eating at First Watch restaurants during my business travels to the south. With those memories, I paid a visit to the new first watch in Longmont, CO.

Sad to say I was very disappointed! First of all, after waiting about 30 minutes, they came and told us that they lost our breakfast order. The eagles were no crisp and they were separating. The service was was about 2.5 stars. They did feel bad and comped the meal.

Obviously the kitchen is very disorganized. Probably...