First Watch — Restaurant in McKinney

This was our first, but not last visit to First Watch.

TLDR: All on all, Abriana and the chefs made our visit an AWESOME one.

Details: We arrived right around noon on a Saturday and were seated about 15 minutes later. Our server was Abriana, she greeted us with a masked smile and cheerful eyes. Offered us Coffee and when I asked for her recommendation, she asked "Do you like sweet of Savory?". I like Savory and my wife likes Sweet. She recommended the trifecta with the Floridian French Toast for my wife and the Biscuits and Turkey Sausage gravy for me. My wife ordered the Trifecta, but went with Lemon Ricotta pancakes instead of the French Toast - eggs over easy and chicken sausage patty. I could not get my mind off the Chickachanga - it sounded sooooo good. So, I had to go against her suggestion as well (this time) and chose the Chickachanga. Additionally, my wife and I decided to split an order of Avocado toast as a pseudo appetizer - BEST decision.

Starting with the Avocado Toast. It came with a mound of fresh lightly smashed (plenty of chunks) of avocado, a spritz of lemon and a pinch of maldon sea salt on whole grain toast. This was AMAZING!! If you have two in your party you simply MUST share this as an appetizer.

My Chickachanga was truly a savory delight. I sprinkled a few drops of Cholula sauce which paired well with the slight heat provided by the spicy chicken, chorizo, and green chilies. Spice wise I would rate it on par with a mild jalapeno. I am not sure what magic they perform for their Vera Cruz sauce, but think of a savory Hollandaise sauce with a sprinkle of fairy dust. The Chickachanga did not disappoint.

My wife enjoyed her trifecta. The over easy eggs came out perfect - whites were firm and the yolk was runny. She gave me a bite of her Lemon Ricotta pancakes - OUTSTANDING. A nice, lightly tart, lemon flavored pancake with a sweet lemon curd cream on top. The order arrived with Bacon, which Abriana quickly corrected by bringing the chicken sausage. The chicken sausage patty was herby and very flavorful - an excellent choice. The bacon was a bit crispier than I like, but my wife likes her bacon crispy and said it was very good.

We were at the table for about an hour and Abriana checked on us every 10 minutes or so after our food arrived. Just enough to attend to our needs but not be intrusive.

All on all, Abriana and the chefs made our visit an AWESOME one.

We are definitely coming back. Maybe I will be able to select the "Biscuits and Turkey Sausage gravy" that Abriana suggested - maybe. That Chickachanga was...

Today was our first time to check out this new restaurant. We are always on the look out for nice place to go for breakfast. We got there right after they opened and there were only a few customers there. We really like the looks and the comfort of the facility. We ordered coffee and it was excellent. We ordered one serving that we told our waitress we would split. When our order was brought to us we did not get an extra dish so that we could split the order. (At many restaurants like Starwood they will go ahead and split or order for us. Although we weren't expecting that tp happen.) So we told the waitress we needed another dish with the expectation that she would bring it right out. Our order was getting cold while we waited several minutes to get the dish. As the restaurant started to fill up in appeared that many people were having to wait for service. And it appeared that one couple got up and walked out although we are not sure why. It just seemed that all the waiters and waitresses were in slow motion. I mentioned this to the cashier after he asked how was everything. Well apparently he only asked that question as perfunctory requirement. Because he gave zero response to me expressing our concerns about the slow service. I think if they get enough feedback about this issue they will make the necessary adjustments and they will do just fine. The food we ordered was good and at a reasonable price.

Update: 4/29/2021 Tried this restaurant again with my grandson. No change in the speed of service. I think all the waitresses including the person working the cash register huddle in the back. We were there for lunch and my grandson spilled his apple juice. I got up to find someone to get napkins. Nobody home. When my waitress finally came around I told her I needed napkins to clean up the mess. She left and apparently got lost. I asked another person for napkins and they were able to get them to me. Much later my waitress came around with more napkins. I don’t think I will be coming back to...

Lemon Ricotta Lemon Ricotta … I can taste the Lemon Ricotta in my sleep, paired with the Blueberry Sauce, wheeww!!

First I’d like to say the customer service I received from my waitress on both occasions, has been phenomenal. They have Lemon Ricotta pancakes, that come with the lemon ricotta, powdered sugar and strawberries. I do not eat pancakes, but my waitress was more than accommodating with getting those ingredients put on a Belgian Waffle, with a Blueberry Puree kind of sauce on the side. I also ordered the Shishitso Brisket Hash, which wasn’t bad but the waffle stole the show! Lastly that Purple Haze drink is simply amazing and refreshing…. I have to fight with myself, not to order two 😩

Alright alright, I know you all are wondering what went wrong for them to get a four star rating, if everything was amazing thus far. Well you ever heard, one bad apple can spoil the bunch? Everything was amazing up until it was time for me to check out. I went to the front to pay, and as you can probably sense, I was in an amazing mood after that delicious meal. The lady checking me out, attitude was horrible. I understand everyone goes through things and I try to be regularly understanding of that but my goodness, she could have stayed in the kitchen if she was going to be spreading that type of energy. My bill was $70, not including my tip for my waitress (who again was amazing) and I asked if they had military discount. I noticed that the military discount was $2.00 and wanted to double check if it was applied to the entire check or one item. She blankly said it’s two dollars for the entire check and when I tried to educate myself on how that works, because this is my first time seeing it like this, she was dismissive. Beggars can’t be choosers and I am in no way being ungrateful, but that particular staff put a bad taste in my mouth and made me feel like just take the two dollars and go. Anyways, I hope it was just a one off!

Thursday...