Located at
4520 West Wendover Avenue in Greensboro, First Watch offers breakfast, brunch,
and lunch from 7-2:30 daily. Cocktails are available, and specials rotate seasonally.
There is an online waitlist check-in for dine-in patrons and online ordering
for take-out.
When this
chain opened in the ever-expanding Wendover Commons plaza at the beginning of
the year, it managed to carve out a unique identity – fast casual
breakfast/brunch – despite the abundance of eateries in the immediate vicinity.
This lack of direct competition is both a blessing and a curse: First Watch is
welcome for what it brings to the table and yet another restaurant of this type
nearby would likely present a more attractive alternative.
While
First Watch does offer sandwiches and salads for the lunch crowd, its menu skews
toward early-day offerings. You can find a classic platter, gigantic pancake, omelet,
or hash, or you can mix it up with a frittata, a fruit-laden Floridian French toast,
or a quinoa power bowl. There are also health-conscious options and a juice bar
yet strangely no breakfast burrito.
For my
first time out, I used the restaurant’s Web site to order a Power Breakfast
Quinoa Bowl (quinoa, Italian sausage, Crimini mushrooms, tomatoes, kale,
Parmesan, and eggs) and a Kale Tonic (Kale, fuji apple, cucumber, and lemon)
for pick-up. The food was ready within a few minutes of arrival, set on a table
marked for take-out orders by the front entrance. By the looks of things, First
Watch seemed to be going for a rustic chic vibe. It also seemed like the kind
of place that crowds easily, which made me thankful that I wasn’t dining in.
The food
proved to be a mixed bag. The sausage was nice and zesty, and it paired well
with the tomatoes and mushrooms. The “basted” eggs, on the other hand, were rubbery
and unpleasant, making this dish an unlikely re-order. At least the juice,
equal parts tangy and refreshing, was an unqualified hit.
At $15
after taxes, this was not a cheap breakfast. It was certainly filling, but
given the pricing relative to Scrambled or a good local brunch spot (think M’Couls),
it still felt like a bit of a reach.
All told,
First Watch’s better-than-fast-food breakfast offerings merit a look, but you
may find yourself wanting more for less.
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