First Watch — Restaurant in West Whiteland Township

This is a great chain of breakfast restaurants. I have been to several in different states. This location is probably my favorite aesthetically. A good mix of rustic farmhouse charm with modern austerity. The coffee is dark, rich, a hint of mocha and very good. I'm a little disappointed with the tubs of fake creamer on the table, but the sugar in the raw and stevia in the raw make up for it. Also, they have Cholula instead of Tobasco, which is always a plus for me. The ketchup is house branded, but I'm pretty sure it is just Heinz in another package. I got the Biscuits and turkey sausage gravy with scrambled eggs (add cheese please) as well as a single multigrain pancake. The biscuit was good. Buttery and flaky with a decent flavor. I liked it well enough, but I didn't feel it was outstanding. It was perfectly good. The gravy was a little runny and I didn't see a lot of sausage. With that said, the flavor was definitely there. Rich, smoky and salty without tasting like a salt lick. It complemented the biscuit quite well and while eating it, I realized that having it be thin, the gravy is absorbed much better by the biscuit. Excellent. The eggs were scrambled hard as expected. The cheese was a "Co-Jack" blend, and there was a lot of it. I think it was a 1:1 ratio between egg and cheese. I'm glad I got it for sure because there was enough flavor to not need the hot sauce. The potatoes were a great texture. Cut into squares and likely steamed before crisping on the grill. Tossed in a light herb mixture, my only complaint may be that there was little to no salt added as they were cooking. The flavor wasn't as big as it could have been, but that is a super easy fix. The pancake was huge (and for $6 I should hope so). The flavor was excellent. I could taste the eggs and the milk and the grain. The texture was fluffy but crispy (love crispy edge pancakes). It was tough enough on the outside to withstand rubbing the butter ball over the surface, but delicate on the inside. Excellent syrup absorbtion and it stood up, flavorwise without succumbing to the cloying corn syrup. Sadly no real maple here. My partner had the Floridian French Toast. This had lots of beautiful cut fresh fruit topping the dish. Sadly, the strawberry compote was flavorless (sugar free no doubt). Additionally, the French Toast was dry and equally flavorless. They needed to soak the bread longer in the egg mixture and let it cool longer to build more flavor. Odds are it was an egg-white only batter so it takes more to bring out the richness I'd expect in a good French Toast. It wasn't bad, just dry and bland. This is some people's thing. I'm not judging them, just the food.

TL; DR; it is worth the visit. The food is tasty, the coffee is good, the OJ is fresh squeezed. The waitstaff was...

My mother and I went to 1st Watch today for the second time. It is new to the Exton area and therefore very popular at the moment. The first time we went they were very busy but very good. So we decided to go again.

It was around lunch time even though we were heading there for breakfast. They sat us at a two person table that was extra small and lacked anywhere to put my mother's cane. It didn't really bother us...we just figured next time we'd ask for a larger table or booth. My mother got a breakfast sandwich and their special sweet bacon. I got their waffle and a side of grits.

The first real problem was the silverwear. Mom and I unrolled the napkins to find bits of other people's food and dirty finger prints on them. We asked for new. The new ones were equally dirty. We asked again. The final ones were slighty less dirty but still had bits of food on them. We wiped them as best we could on the napkins and decided to put up with it.

Then the food came. It was tasty. The crispy waffle even had a good amount of vanilla in it (something a lot of places forget to add). But the butter on my waffle had a piece of arugula in it...and my grits had a piece of clear plastic sticking up out of the bowl. The butter I simply removed (It was salted and on a sweet dish it didn't work well anyhow). But I had to send the grits back.

They returned with "new" grits and an explanation that it wasn't plastic but a congealed bit of grit that I saw in my bowl. It was clear. It was shiny. It had pressed lines on one side like the edge of a package. It was NOT congealed grits. They comped it which was the proper response but I didn't appreciate being lied to.

The "new" grits they gave me were overflowing. Only after I ate a few spoon fulls did I realize they were on the same plate as the old. I could tell because there was a smear of jam on it that was also on the old plate. Also the grits were filled with melted butter dispite the fact that there was new unmelted butter on top. I suspect that they were the same grits with the plastic removed and a new scoop on top with fresh butter. I didn't eat them once I noticed.

We are very dissapointed with the cleanliness of 1st Watch. Which is sad because it's a beautiful restaurant with yummy food (though a tad heavy on salt and pepper). My mother and I were hoping it would be a regular stop for us but now we are not so sure.

I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because the food was actually good but I can't excuse...

We attended the soft opening for the Exton location- WOW! The juices, the food, the atmosphere: 10/10!

To start we ordered the Morning Meditation: orange, lemon, turmeric, organic ginger, agave nectar and beet, and The Blue Booster: white grape, blueberry, lemon and basil. These juices we're AMAZING. I've never tried anything like them in the Exton area before. I will be back just to try all of their beverages after these drinks.

We had a small plate of the Million Dollar Bacon to follow: four slices of hardwood smoked bacon baked with brown sugar and black pepper, cayenne and maple syrup drizzle. While we were waiting we were pleasantly surprised to read more about Project Sunrise that First Watch is a part of (Project Sunrise benefits the Mujeres en Café organization in Huila, Colombia).

The main course was delicious! I ordered the Breakfast Tacos: Three wheat-corn tortillas with scrambled eggs, Cajun chicken, chorizo, Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Topped with fresh avocado and housemade pico de gallo. Served with seasoned black beans. And my sister ordered the SoCal Breakfast Burrito: egg whites, all natural chicken breast, quinoa, black beans, kale, house roasted onions, feta, cheddar, Monterey jack, fresh smashed avocado and pico de gallo in a hearty-grain tortilla with a side of warm salsa and Verde and fresh fruit.

The food was phenomenal, it was cooked perfectly and everything arrived in a timely manner. Jordan, our server, really made the experience by his fun loving attitude, menu suggestions and happy smile. We truly appreciated him making our first experience here at First Watch a memorable one.

Another fun fact is their website/ menu! You can look up ALL of the ingredients, proteins, and more for each item on their menu. This is perfect for anyone with dietary restrictions, or allergies.

We will 100% be...