First Watch — Restaurant in Toledo

First Watch - Probably Last Time. It may have been the first day that they opened the doors - but it wasn't. Apparently they have been open for over a week, but have no idea how to staff a restaurant, provide service, or offer hot food. This was a highly disappointing experience. After being told that it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait, it was actually 40... that's good, they are popular. The problem is that although they had many empty tables when we arrived and at various times that we were there, they only had one person to bus them. It was clear that the multitude of waitresses and waiter did not want to bus a table. We counted twelve dirty tables when we arrived, but no one would clean them off to allow the next guests to be sat. This should never be a problem at any restaurant. We watched as an occasional waitress would take one plate off a table to clear it, but that was about it. 15 to 20 minutes would have been accurate, if they staffed bussers. However, if you walk in and know someone at the front or are over 60, you appear to magically get seated within two to three minutes. Once seated, enjoy your additional wait of 20 minutes before you are recognized by your waitress. No water, nothing. Once the waitress arrived, I ordered ice tea and ice water. The tea was pleasant. The water, I had to ask for repeatedly - do not ask for ice for the water, you are wasting breath. You will never receive ice. We finally got the chance to order about an hour after arriving. The menu looks fantastic and I would love to try many of the dishes, but I wanted to try something really basic to see how they did with it. Waffles, bacon, toast. The waitress suggested the millionaire's toast, which is not exactly seasoned as described - it is bacon in a pool of maple syrup. The waffle arrived stone cold with a big clot of butter in the middle. I knew it was cold as the butter would not melt. The toast also had a thick slathering of butter on artisanal bread... bread, not toast. There was nothing toasted about this bread as you can see from the picture. Every item was a bust. The flavor of the waffle is good, it was just cold. I didn't want to reorder for fear of waiting another 30 minutes into the morning long adventure. My breakfast partner ordered an omelet with crab and asparagus. He described the eggs as rubbery. Perhaps they are trained to make them with a lid on the pan, otherwise it is hard to make eggs rubbery. We also ordered a large fruit salad, after I asked if it had melon. I was assured that there was no melon. The bottom half of the fruit salad was hard, unripened honeydew. Disappointing. The menu did look great and there are many items I would love to try, if I could ever stomach the thought of going back. Final time for brunch from arrival to getting the check - 2.5 hours. Let's hope they get the proper staff in place to serve, bus, and cook. I would say manage as well, but they clearly had no...

So I tried First Watch for the first time (my first time) with my girlfriend who’s had it a few times and we placed a takeout order. When I arrived Cece at the front told me my order had a few more minutes (I arrived at 2:03 and placed my order an hour ahead of time for 2) so I sat and waited. After 12 minutes I tried asking for an update and she made eye contact with me as i approached her and proceeded to turn and walk away, so I waited for another employee and asked her and she helped me find my order that was sitting by Cece the entire time, since I arrived…..The other lady who helped me was very apologetic but at this point I wanted my very gracious tip back (30%) for waiting inside for 15 minutes and my food being there getting cold (which it was very cold and mushy and I didn’t even get extra avocado I paid for- I received 3 slices of avocado total….) I asked Cece for my tip back and she got very upset and rude saying things such as AND I QUOTE “why do you want the money back” and “I can’t do anything for you” so I asked for a manager or someone above her who can and she disappeared for 8 minutes then came back and said “He is busy he will be out whenever he can” and I thanked her. Shortly after Karina came out and she was fantastic. She understood the situation and gave me options to go about it. We solved it in less than a minute! Karina was fantastic and the ONLY reason I will be trying First Watch again. I was going to give 1 ★ because the food was awful, service was not good at all due to Cece and she didn’t even apologize once for anything! Thankfully Karina stepped in and is now the only reason Im giving 3 stars. I’ll update this review after I try them again hoping it...

First off, the staff were great. No complaints here. But $30 for an omelette, potatoes & drink? Really?! It better be flawless. It was not. Also, I like the buzzy, caffeinated atmosphere and the hustle of the kitchen. Reminds me of being in Chicago or NY. But l, I have to admit, my Bloody Mary was damn delicious. No joke. But, very small for the price. They serve their alcoholic drinks in a 6 ounce "jar" and you then pour it from there into your 8 ounce glass full of ice. Again, great drinks, horribly overpriced for this market...I was shocked. We're not in Chicago or NY but they sure do charge like they are, at least for their drinks. Essentially $9 for 1 shot of vodka and about 5 ounces of bloody Mary mix. Market price for a single shot of liquor at a restaurant in Toledo is $4. So for 2 shots it should be $8 + $1 for the mix. These guys build a great tasting drink but rip you off on the alcohol by 60%. I also tried my friend's Cinnamon coffee drunk, it was again, absolutely delicious, like an orchata, but with a little more kick. My food was nothing to rave about. My omelette was overcooked; most bottom drawer diners do this, but again for the price I thought maybe it would be a cut above average. It was not. I should have just gone to waffle House or Bob Evans. I'm sure they have some good dishes, but my side of potatoes and omelette were not in that category. For this level of service and price, go to City Diner, or Cafe Marie's or your local diner even. Worth a 2nd try? Maybe, but with so many places to eat, this is definitely not a...