First Watch — Restaurant in Williamsburg

Personally, First Watch is one of my most favorite places to dine. The atmosphere, the quality of the food, the people- I love it so much. I decided to treat myself after a long 12 hour shift. I arrived and was sat promptly by the host ( he was so kind). I waited at my table for 7 minutes. During that time I saw a group of men get sat and also a family of 5 get sat. Their server addressed them promptly and they were ordering already. I was still waiting. I made the host aware that I had yet to be served and two groups came after me and had already been served. He apologized profusely and took my order with kindness and grace. I watched him as he entered the kitchen and made (what I assume to be the manager - blonde haired heavy set male) aware of my predicament.

After some time the (what I assume to be the manager) brought my food and placed it before me. He didn't smile or address me at all. He simply stated "Trifecta", placed it down unceremoniously and walked away. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the food (it's always delicious). I still had yet to receive a server to check in on me to see if I needed anything. The manager returned and gathered my plate and asked "how was everything". In my attempt to engage with him, I stated "it was delicious, one of my favorite things to eat". He did not engage at all. No smile, no feedback, nothing. I waited further and still no one. After some time, I asked another hostess at the front for my check (truthfully I wanted to walk out completely) but I have morals. I left no tip- honestly if I had cash on me, I would have graciously tipped the initial hostess who treated me as a human being.

As a nurse, I know that if I had treated anyone in this establishment the same as I was treated today- I would be sued. It saddened me that as a single, hardworking woman I was marginalized. Had I arrived with a man or with my family, I would have been treated as a "somebody". But because I arrived alone, I was met with disdain. I completely understand having an "off day. We are human after all. There was plenty of time to rectify the situation, yet nothing happened. No conversation, no apology, no kindness. I hope that this doesn't happen to someone who may be hanging onto to life by a thread. We all deserve to be acknowledged and valued. Please do better...

Not the best experience and my second visit, which has prompted my poor review. As a local, am always looking for a decent breakfast spot, as we go out for breakfast weekly, but long waits here usually steer us towards other options. This was 4th of July around 9:45am and 2 of us had no wait. We sat at the bar among dirty dishes (thinking the area would be cleaned up shortly after sitting down) then waited over 10 minutes before being greeted/approached for an order. Luckily someone had left menus off to the side, because we were never provided any. After taking our order, the server never cleaned up the dishes, other than taking away 2 plates which sat on the opposite counter of the bar the entire time we were there - I even moved all of the dirty items into one spot so someone could easily grab and discard from the bar. Coffee and water arrived without utensils, removing the remaining dishes, or cleaning the dining surface. We got up to get our own utensils and napkins so we could have something to stir our coffee with. Our food arrived and dirty dishes remained - which included coffee cups, water glasses, coffee decanter, empty plastic creamer cups, waded up napkins, and utensils. I finally had to ask someone to remove the items, and our dining surface was never wiped down. No salt and pepper and there were only a few creamers left that we shared with a gentleman sitting next to us who was in the same situation, and who I provided my menu to. I had the eggs Benedict Florentine and my hubby had the breakfast tacos and 1 regular pancake on the side. His was the better meal, as mine came with mixed greens on the plate but no dressing, but still ok -I wouldn’t order it again. The waitress was very pleasant, and said she appreciated our patience, as we maintained a good attitude despite the poor service. It wasn’t as busy as I had seen it on my first visit, but it was obvious there was a lack of management presence to keep the place running smoothly. Gave 2 stars for food, but just can’t give more than that due to the uncleanliness and lack of service/management. Who wants to be served and eat amongst dirty dishes and dining surface? Would like to try again, but...

I did not have the best experience at this location. But the food was great. We were seated at apx 10:30am on the patio. It took about 15mins for our server to greet us. (This was okay, we understood it was Sunday brunch.) At this time we put our order in. The server forgot to gives us silverware, after 10mins of not seeing them my friend went inside and requested silverware from the host. As we engaged in good conversation, I looked down and realized another 30mins had lapsed and we had not seen our server nor did we have our food. While we waited and watched tables that were seated after us enjoy their meals. My friend had to walk in to find someone to check on our food. The person reported "our food was getting plated and put in the window." After they told us that, I wondered why they just didn't wait and bring us the plates then? Another 15mins later our food arrived. I assume our order was never placed, and our server forgot about us completely. We start to eat and our server promptly returned to check in on us maybe 10mins into our chow time. I thought this was a turning point. But she just left the bill on the table. I was full and had half of my meal left and had waited for someone to come back so that I could request a box. No one ever came. I went inside waited in line and requested a box and for a manager to come to our table to chat. The host was very friendly, apologized for the poor service and even apologized to the customer behind us because she left her stand to promptly attend to my needs. She met me outside at my table with a box as requested, a voucher for our meals and another apology. Though I greatly appreciated the gesture, I wasn't looking to not pay, The food was Great! I just wanted to be heard, especially after being ignored for apx 2hrs. My server seemed like a sweet woman, but I was really hoping for her to redeem herself. I'd like to give a huge kudos to the host and the the cashier with the ghost tattoo. Her warm greetings and conversation on the way out resignated good vibes and positivity with my friend and I. This place was great I just had a...