First Watch is my absolute favorite place for brunch! These lemon ricotta pancakes are TO DIE for! I highly recommend the real maple syrup ... it's well worth the extra $1.29. The eggs benedict and the kale tonic are also especially delicious! Excellent service, lively ambiance, and an altogether great experience. It's often a long wait, particularly Friday through Sunday, but they have an app that allows you to reserve a place in line ahead of time, so there's no reason not to check it out! read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

First watch is by far my favorite breakfast place to eat. I've been to a lot of different locations in different states.This location is by far the worst I have ever had. My kale tonic was so old it was almost brown with chunks, it is usually a nice bright fresh green. I honestly couldn't even drink it.I had the avocado toast, which the bread wasn't even toasted. It was like they had pulled the bread out of the freezer and it was still cool and limp. I hope it was just a bad day for the kitchen and they don't serve food like this on a regular basis. read more

One of the best breakfast restaurants in the country has plopped a franchise location right here in Charlottesville. That's a great thing! It's often crowded, it's often tough to get a table, and it's likely that there are many menu items that the kitchen staff is getting used to preparing on a regular basis. There may be kinks in the operation, but it's well worth it. This is currently the best breakfast restaurant in Central Virginia, and its by a wide margin. Enjoy the heck out of it - I have more than once already. read more

This was a very bad experience. We waited 30+ minutes to be seated and 1 hour 5 minutes to get our food (despite ordering right away). This means we had to entertain our 2-year-old the entire time. Food came and it wasn't enough. The tiny bathroom was crowded (line to wash hands). The restaurant is constantly crowded. This was all unacceptable for a $43 breakfast. We will not be returning! read more

the hostess / cashier was very rude and snarky with her replies, i don't know if this has to do anything with the color of my skin but it did make me feel bad. I know Sundays are their busiest day, but I expected more from a high quality brunch place. it just seems very disorganized and not put together. read more

I wanted to so desperately not write this because I'm actually a huge fan of first watch.. but today was the last straw. If you want great food and are willing to possibly either: A.) Not get it because they have their online orders purposely turned off and you'd have to reorder again B.) use your own silver wear at home because they will not give you any (takeout orders only) C.) Possibly receive the wrong order Than this is the place for you. Yesterday I had called and put in a to go order via the phone and I had no issues the attendant on the phone was super nice and she told me the time in which it would be ready (no bad experience). However this morning, I attempted to put in an order on the phone and I was met with nothing but the rudest attitude I've ever received.. Who blatantly said no and denied me ordering on the phone. When I asked her the reason why she stated that they were super busy and they would not be able to get any orders on the phone. She was very dismissive when I asked what would happen if I actually entered the restaurant and ordered and she said MAYBE they would be able to take my order... and then I thanked her for the information and she hung up on me before even acknowledging that I was even still on the phone. If this establishment is so understaffed first watch needs to get it's employment priorities in line and staff the restaurant further. Otherwise I will not be eating at this first watch here in Charlottesville anymore. read more

They've gone downhill and they're overpriced for the amount/quality of food. The food is either cold or not cooked correctly. The staff is always nice but the food kinda sucks! Charlottesville needs better food spots. read more

Nice place for brunch. The only downside is the wait time is usually around 30-40 minutes, but there are lots of stores around to kill time. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Food was way over cooked, burnt. Two out of three meals. To start off with, two meals came out - 10 minutes later the last one came out. Waitress was very nice but not prompt. I don't fault her bc we could see her working on to go orders while serving tables. She was busy. We Had to send two orders of eggs back bc they were overcooked -17 minutes later I got up and asked where they were. We did get them seconds later and they were cooked perfectly, which is a shame bc by that time food is either eaten or cold. I am truly surprised the kitchen would send out food that looked like that in the first place. Poor experience with our food. read more

I've gotten Togo food from here twice now and they are great! Always ready when I get there. I got the turkey burger and it was great and I had the hash with chorizo today! Love it! Definitely will keep coming back read more

First Watch is a solid brunch option over at the Barracks Road shopping center. They got a range of choices, from healthy to your typical big American breakfast type foods. They also have a pretty good amount of seating. The food came out pretty fast, and everything was good, but it's nothing that will blow your mind. Service was okay - we were kind of short on water for most of the time. read more

What a great find for breakfast or lunch! I had a salmon frittata and my wife had pancakes. Both were excellent! We'll be back! read more

I stopped in and had a chickichanga for lunch. It was perfectly cooked and delicious, accompanied by all the appropriate accoutrements including a healthy portion of home fries. Service was friendly despite all the COVID nonsense. Definitely worth a shot. read more

I was given a pickup time of 10:04. I arrived at 10:10. At 10:20 I was told they were "checking with the kitchen" about my order. At 10:43 I received my food. Nothing in the way of an apology. At that point I had been standing in their lobby for 40 minutes watching people come and go, and seeing multiple doordash orders get picked up. I cannot recommend ordering pickup from this restaurant. This is the first restaurant to ever make me want to leave a negative review online. The food was ok. read more

Pretty good but very inconsistent especially the service. Have eaten here nearly 20 times because it is a great place to go and meet with clients. The food runs from OK to great. The service runs from good to sad. The prices are the downside. When going I need to budget at least $20 to $25 per person including tax and tip. Part of the issue is Charlottesville has gouge yer but t taxes, and I always leave a 20% tip. But as an example, get an average breakfast entree, coffee, juice and split a million dollar bacon between two people (that's only 2 slices of bacon per person) and watch it add up $10 + $3 + $4 + $2.50 (half the bacon price) = $19.50 and Charlottesville Food Tax of 11.3% (please rape me Charlottesville) of $2.21 and tip and your bill for ONE person is $26.05 Would love it if prices and tax were not so FN high. It's a great $15 breakfast, an OK $20 breakfast and not worth $26 a person unless it's on the expense account for UVA. read more

Wow! What a delicious and unique breakfast experience. The ambiance was comfortable, clean, and causal. I ordered the Ricotta Pancakes with Lemon Curd (one of their signature dishes) and the Million Dollar Bacon. The warmed maple syrup that accompanied the pancakes...yum! Everything was so good that I'm trying to think of an excuse to make the 40 minute drive back over the mountain to go again! This is a breakfast you do NOT want to miss! read more

Table for four. Food didn't come out at the same time. One couple food cold while waiting for the other. Never brought condiments. Bacon not Cooked beyond slippery Asked for recook. Got burned to a crisp. Didn't master the bacon thing. And salt and pepper with eggs is so common despite Covid it should automatically be brought. I'm sure they won't cAre but the location where we live is run so much better. Even under tighter Covid rules. Wasn't worth the stop. read more

Went in on Father's Day. The staff were great. The food at our table had mixed reviews. I had the chorizo and egg tacos. The tacos were very flavorful. my friend had the poached egg benedict. The poached egg was overcooked (no yellow oozing out), and the hollandaise was bland. The omelette was perfectly cooked. read more

Will not go back. They prioritize door dash and Uber Eat's orders over customers in the restaurant and you end up waiting for at least two hours for your food. Poor corporate management practices. read more

You can put yourself in like within the Yelp app, which helps a lot for not-waiting too long. The food is great, and they have a nice variety, and some items are vegetarian friendly. I would like more vegan options. The prices are decent (a bit more on the expensive side) and the portions are smaller than I would want (for the price). The specialty drinks are great though. Would come again for sure. Been here twice read more

Just passing through town and stopped in based on reviews. Got there Sunday morning around 10:00 and they were busy as expected so we sat at the counter. Service was good, selection was different than standard breakfast food (in a good way) but you could still get a couple of eggs, meat, and potatoes as well. Only 4 stars today because my coffee was not hot and my sausage links were very over cooked. Over easy eggs came out perfectly cooked and the waffle did too, crispy and light. They also had real maple syrup (warm). All things considered, I would stop back again given the chance. read more

Mistook this place for Panera bread one day and I've never looked back! Great staff, great atmosphere, and good food!

Yes, yes, yes!!! This place is spectacular So many delicious Benedicts, I had the short rib benedict which was a special and my friend had the classic benedict, both were delicious and the poached eggs were perfectly cooked which is really important. Our cocktails were on point, my Bloody Mary came with a strip of candied bacon as a garnish. I can't wait to come back! read more

Good brunch option by Cville standards. The place is a national chain, but a good one. Nice range of both unhealthy tasty options (ex. many types of pancakes) and healthy options (power quinoa bowl, fancy juices). Service has been solid. Heavy pour on the free coffee refills. Always packed, so make sure to leave time for waiting, at least on weekends during prime hours. We've had better brunch, but not in Cville, so this is our go-to option now that it's open. Recommended! read more

We were seated very quickly, and hostess was hospitable. It's very loud, as there are no sound reducers hung anywhere in the establishment, and the ceiling is exposed. So, not a place to have a quiet meal, that's for sure. It took our server a while to approach the table to take our drink order. The menu has a lot to offer touting locally sourced, fresh ingredients. The Bloody Mary is awesome, and the brown sugar-bacon skewer garnish is delicious. Upon ordering the "classic" eggs Benedict the server did not ask which side (there are apparently 3 available) I wanted. Therefore, the default side to the eggs Benedict and all other items is a pile of greens with little to no dressing. I'm sorry, but if you are offering sides, your servers should ask which item your guests prefer. On top of that, a pile of greens does not qualify as a side to any egg dish. Sorry guys, you missed the mark on that. As a different server set the plate down, I let it be known that I would like a side of potatoes, to which he said "of course, right away". A few moments later our original server arrived and exclaimed "if you want potatoes you'll have to pay extra unless you give me your plate to take back to the kitchen to switch it out". Not acceptable. They over poached one of the eggs, even after I'd requested them cooked poached medium so that the yolks be a bit runny. The server even said "we never over poach our eggs". Not true. My daughter had the BLTE sandwich and the bacon was way over done, but she liked it. Also got a side of greens as no options for sides were offered. Also, the tomatoes were definitely not fresh at all. They were a very pale red, with no flavor. C'mon now. It's late July in Virginia. No excuse. The side of potatoes were great. I'd put more focus on training your servers, and think twice about defaulting to greens as an appropriate side to any kind of egg dish. read more

This place is a must. We love the Million Dollar Bacon and Breakfast Tacos. The Juice Bar rocks! Definitely use the app to get on the waitlist on the weekends. read more

The breakfast is outstanding, but why is the coffee terrible? The coffee is as bad as the food is as good. First Watch needs to step up its coffee quality. I've gone several times for breakfast, and every time I am disappointed by the coffee quality. read more

I love a good brunch! First watch was here for it! A really extensive menu that even had açaí bowls ( so so good!) lemon ricotta pancakes and yummy eggs Benedict! Perfect for Sunday afternoon brunch! read more

Get here early if you don't want to wait. I got there around noon and the wait was about 40 mins. Now I was skeptical on waiting soo long for food, but I was being treated so I wasn't about to complain. I ordered the french toast, million dollar bacon, and a side of eggs. I will say it was pretty scrumptious. Now for 2 side of eggs was $5 and was super small seemed more like one egg. Million dollar bacon was good but I will most likely get the regular bacon next time. I just don't need all the frills it had. Overall a good spot to get some breakf read more

The food was A+ we ordered the vodka make tonic and bloody Mary and we were impressed with both. We ate the market hash skillet and the market fritatta. The food takes the cake. The service was extremely rushed and the waiter did not even check to see if we liked the food or refill a drink. Hopefully the service improves read more

This is my favorite brunch spot in Cville. The menu is large so there's something for everyone - from healthy breakfasts to extravagant pancakes and French toast. They don't take reservations but there's an app where you can put your name on a virtual list which is convenient. Inside it's bright and the booths are super comfortable. Will definitely be back! read more

This was a sad bowl of oatmeal. It did not come with the toppings the menu indicated, and the server seemed too rushed to remedy the issue. Food was good, but a bit lacking. read more

I was so happy to find out we were getting a First Watch here in Charlottesville after going to the location in Fairfax! They have such amazing brunch food and I finally to introduce my family to it (they all loved it). I highly recommend their French toast and coffee! read more

I'm a fan of first watch and have been to multiple locations in different states. The food and our waitress were amazing today but the check-in process almost made me lose my cool. I used the wait-list feature and were able to get seated quickly. However, when I noticed that the table was near the cashier desk (high traffic area) I requested to be seated elsewhere and they told me that I had to be put in the back of the line and wait all over again. Note that there are multiple tables opened at that time and it was the staff's attitude that just made me boil - that they are really busy, take it or leave it. After I said a firm "no" we got sat at a different table. I hope that the management team can streamline this process better for the customers. read more

Love first watch. Their food is amazing. Service can be slow, but their food makes up for it. Their seasonal million dollar bacon is to die for. My husband and I cannot share this because we each need our own. Very accommodating to allergies and wants. Definitely recommend to everyone! read more

The good was great. But our server could have taken lessons on how to treat customers and not be inpatient on if someone is not ready to order. read more

Been here several times now and the service and food are always great. The wait can be long some times so you should plan for that. You can add yourself to the waitlist from yelp to help a little. The brunch menu is expansive and everything has been great so far. read more

My favorite place for Breakfast in Cville. So easy, consistently good, and in Barracks which makes parking so easy. Best thing ever is being able to reserve table through Yelp. Please never get rid of this feature as it saves so much time and hassle. read more

This was my first time eating here, and it did not disappoint! I had the Eggs Benedict and it was delicious! Portion sizes are generous, which justifies the menu prices. On weekend mornings, it is definitely worth it to get on the waitlist on Yelp, as the place gets busy. Will definitely be back! read more

The food items my friend and I had were good. We had Tuna melt and a waffle with an egg. It was all fresh, but it took over 45 minutes to get our food. We were about to walk out and then the food arrived. No one checked on us during that 45 minutes. read more