First Watch — Restaurant in Royal Oak

Not sure if this was just a bad day or if it’s a bad location, but I certainly wouldn’t give this place another chance. We have always been happy with the service and quality at other First Watch locations.

I ordered the avocado toast. As you can see from the photos quite a bit of the avocado came out brown. There were other parts of it that were so hard I had to spit out. The eggs that came with the avocado toast were a bit undercooked for over easy, and were put on the plate with extra water. There was also no garnishes like in the advertised photos of the food.

The bacado omelette was served with the mealiest amount of sour cream which we requested more of and a very tiny piece of brown avocado. The eggs in the omelette were so over cooked they had a weird hard texture.

After we finished we pointed out that we weren’t super happy with our meal. We showed her how on the plate where there would normally be egg yolk remanents there was just a pool of water. She said that the chef must have put a lot of butter on them. The eggs did not have any butter and it was most definitely water. When we mentioned the omelette and just being unhappy in general about the quality today and the fact that we have been happy with other locations she said she would let her manager know. Instead of doing that she came back with the check and said we could let the manager know when we brought up our check. We told her it wasn’t a big deal if he didn’t want to talk to us and we would just leave a review instead. If the manager can’t take responsibility and doesn’t have time for a complaint, it definitely is not a place I will be spending my...

Stopped by the Royal Oak location of First Watch around 12:30 PM, and the place was buzzing with customers—always a good sign for a brunch spot. Since it was fairly busy, we opted to sit at the bar, and I’m so glad we did. Our bartender/waiter was incredibly warm, welcoming, and attentive—five stars just for the service alone.

The interior was consistent with most First Watch locations: bright, fresh, and inviting, with a cozy yet modern feel. I especially liked the comfort of the bar chairs, which made sitting at the bar a great alternative to waiting for a table.

For a starter, I ordered the Blueberry Lemon Cornbread ($6.49). It was about the size of my hand—a good portion for a brunch treat. The blueberry flavor was subtle and the texture nice, but I was hoping for more of the lemon to come through. There was a small dollop of lemon butter, but it wasn’t enough to make the citrus flavor pop across the whole dish.

For my main, I chose the half sandwich and half soup combo ($10.79) with the Market Veggie sandwich and Tomato Basil soup. The soup was solid—classic and comforting, nothing fancy, but done well. However, the sandwich was underwhelming. The bread felt a bit dry, and the filling was sparse and a bit bland, even for a half portion. Honestly, I feel like Panera offers better value for this kind of combo meal.

Despite the food being a bit hit-or-miss this visit, the menu offers a lot of other creative and fresh options, and the exceptional service and positive vibe make me want to return. I’ll definitely give it another go and try something...

To be completely fair, this review is from a delivery experience. Since my food never arrived I have no idea how good or bad their food actually is.

I ordered delivery because with Covid cases spiking i didnt want my family in the restaurant. Also I wanted to support local businesses. I ordered from their website and Door Dash was supposed to deliver the food. Be aware-if you order that way, be aware the restaurant does NOT care if you get your food, and will NOT respect your driver's time. LOOKING AT YOU, JESSIE.

They do NOT put the orders in the order they arrive, they cook and prepare in person orders first. Once they put your food out they don't care who picks it up or if the order goes to the right people. They also won't give your driver an accurate time frame of when the food will be ready.

How do I know? I tried to order breakfast via their website (which just redirects to DoorDash) and after two hours of communicating with my driver and me overhearing the hostess tell the poor guy another 15 minutes, I called them myself.

I was told by Jessie my order was put out an hour before...same voice I kept hearing say 15 more minutes...so I called my dasher back. He was told by a young lady this time my food wasn't ready and when he pointed out Jessie told me otherwise and my food was gone, they did not care. Jessie flippantly told my driver to just have me call Door Dash for a refund...how does that compensate the person who was waiting all that time?

Inconsiderate...