First Watch — Restaurant in San Antonio

Last weekend my wife and went to a First Watch restaurant in San Antonio for breakfast. We were looking forward to eating there because online reviews made it sound like a great new place with an innovative and healthy menu. When we got there we realized that the restaurant used to be The Egg and I, which we had been to several times before and always enjoyed. That day happened to be my birthday, but I wasn't looking for any special treatment. Which was a good thing because it turned out to be one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had. We had reserved our place in line using the Nowait app, so we were seated immediately. We noticed that although our tabletop was clean, there were crumbs and debris on both of the bench seats. No problem, we just brushed them off. But when we unwrapped our silverware, we found that the forks were sticky and had fingerprints on them, so we let our server know that we needed replacements. She took our drink order, which included coffee, and offered to bring us a container of fresh half-and-half. I also asked for honey. Our server returned right away with the coffee and new utensils, and said she would be back with the half-and-half and honey. Ten minutes passed without her showing up, so we asked another employee. Pointing to the bowl of little half-and-half vials on the table, she said, "There's some right there." I explained that our server had offered us fresh, and that we also needed honey. Without a word she walked away, and came back a few minutes later with the items. Our server came and took our meal order...and then a half hour passed. Our server came back with more coffee, and asked if we were doing all right. We said yes, but after she left we wondered aloud whether we were going to actually get our breakfast. Fifteen minutes later we flagged down our server and asked what the delay was. (By this time we had been seated for about 75 minutes.) She apologized for the wait, saying that the general manager had called in sick that morning, and that they were short-staffed. She assured us that our breakfast would be "coming right up". She asked if we would like a muffin while we waited, and we said yes. She returned right away with one muffin. Ten minutes later the server brought our meals. We were utterly disappointed to find that our eggs were lukewarm with hard yolks (we had both asked for over easy), my fried potatoes were cold, and my wife's Belgian waffle was cold and hard. Clearly, our food had been ready for quite some time and then had sat on the kitchen counter. At that point we decided to leave, so we put a tip on the table and went to lodge a complaint with the cashier. She apologized for the situation and gave me the manager's business card. We decided to go to another nearby The Egg and I location...and that was when we found out that The Egg and I had merged with First Watch. After telling the hostess about our miserable experience, she told us that The Egg and I restaurants were losing some employees due to the merger. Her explanation for this was that current employees were being required to attend 4 days of training, but privately we wondered whether a pay cut was also involved. Thankfully, that location had not completed its transition, and the service and food were pretty good. However, knowing that they too will soon become First Watch, we probably won't go back. First Watch is a perfect example of a corporation-owned "healthy" restaurant. (That is not a...

My server was very friendly, once I actually got a server. I asked to sit outside. There was a couple sitting next to me. A server waited on the couple next to me two times without ever coming to see me.. And I was at the very next table! My menu was closed and I clearly already knew what I want. I was even looking right at him. After the couple next to me got their beverages and ordered food, I waited another 5 minutes. Finally, I went inside to ask if I could get a server. The manager (a woman, not sure of her name) turned to another person and said "Can we get a server to her table?" She never apologized for the wait and only addressed me when I walked in to tell me to go to the hostess if I wanted seated. Personally, I was very offended by how the manager acted toward me, and would've liked a short apology about the wait. They weren't even that busy!

When the manager turned to tell the hostess to get a server to my table, a woman server quickly said she would take care of me. We walked out together, and she was extremely friendly and accommodating. I appreciated her not making it feel like I was inconveniencing them, like the manager did. My drinks came very quickly, and so did the food. I ordered crab cakes eggs Benedict with ranch potatoes. The eggs Benedict were very good. The ranch potatoes were horrible. They were very undercooked and inedible. When my server checked on me, I let her know about the potatoes. She was very nice and offered to get me something else. I declined her offer, but she told me she would let the kitchen know so they wouldn't make the mistake on successive plates.

I took a long time eating and drinking my coffee. The server did not check on me after I told her about the potatoes. I just assumed she got busy, and it was difficult to come outside, especially if I wasn't in her section and she just picked me up. As a server, I can understand that. However, the manager came outside with a man and was talking about something business related. She saw me and my finished plates, but did nothing. I was not impressed with her attitude or professionalism.

I waited for some time before finally going inside to close out. I never received my check, and the girl at the front had to find it in the computer. Again, I tipped well ($5 on $14) because I appreciated the server and her attitude. I will never come back here again because of the manager and her attitude. I wish I knew her be so that I could complain to corporate. Personally, I think the manager should have checked on me either after having to come inside for a server, after my potatoes were undercooked, or when she came outside and blatantly saw me with empty plates and glasses. Somehow, I hope she sees this so she changes her attitude around and is more likely to cater to her guests than her own...

Maybe for San Antonio quality this was a top notch breakfast place but we were honestly let down with everything we ordered. They have potatoes cubed which they refer to as hash browns = not what we were looking forward to. I got a burrito with a ton of sauce that I was hopeful tasted as good as it looked but I had to force it down. We also tried the chocolate chip pancakes, not good at all. Fortunately didn’t order an excess amount of pancakes that would’ve been more food wasted. The farmhouse hash we got was decent because the poached eggs were good but again that was the best dish on the table and I’d say it was a 4/5 at best. Just remember that it actually doesn’t have hashbrowns.

They didn’t have seating indoors so we waited outside and then said we’ll just sit outside. Because there was a ton of flies, I asked the manager to put us inside on the empty tables (reiterating empty tables). They came back and said that they won’t be able to move us inside because our server would change and some other optics. As a customer, I don’t really care who my server is, I was annoyed at the flies outside and the sun which had gotten even closer and figured that since tables have opened up and they’ve been cleaned it should be okay for us to move inside.

They literally didn’t let us move inside (before our food came) because the server would lose us and we’d be transferred to a different server. Well, the flies thank you folks for the job you guys did. I tipped 13% still, for us and the flies. Us because the server was nice, and the flies because the restaurant manager really wanted the flies to eat and have...