I've been here enough times with my wife as to be confortable saying that we both like this place very much. It is one of those places that, even though it is never empty, you feel like it is very peaceful. I don't know how to describe it, but you never feel rushed. Their coffee is very good: Not too strong, not too weak. Its just the right balance between full body and citrusy. it pairs very well with everything in their menu. Today in particular I had The Works Omelette. I'm trying to stay in the lighter side of foods as of lately, so, I ordered with egg whites. I did however read the menu in a hurry and didn't see that it came with mushrooms, which I am not particularly fond of, so I took them out. Next time I am definitely ordering it without them. Everything else was VERY good. PS order the Rich Man's Bacon. You will love this sweet & salty piece of heaven. It tastes as if pigs descended right from Valhalla's private farms right into your table. Just order it...you'll thank me later. read more

Breakfast for lunch? That is the whole idea. We had pancake, sausage patty and overeasy egg. A glass of carrot chai. Yummy. read more

First Watch - Carrot chai - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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It's been a couple of years since I last tried First Watch, but I definitely will be back more often. When I first walked in, all the tables seemed to be full and it was 8 am on a Wednesday. I had the Acapulco express omelet with a side of fruit. My meal was delicious! I loved the avocado in my omelet. I think what I really enjoy is also having your own pot of coffee per table. No annoying servers topping off your already perfectly proportioned coffee & creamer mix every time they walk by The food was fast, service was good, and it's a quiet place to enjoy breakfast. read more

First Watch - Acapulco omelet with chorizo~ - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I have had this complaint before. Came here with my father today for a men's meeting. My dad and I both ordered the chorizo omelette. By the time the food came to us most of the food on the plate including the omlette were cold. The potatoes were somewhat warm. Really need to improve their food holding temperatures. The server was pleasant and checked in on us. read more

Great vibe. Good food. Good staff. Will come back. I really like their berry compote.

Food looks amazing and the waitress wasn't attentive as I'd like her to be. She just came to the table once and that's all. Other than that the food was really good. There is a lot to choose from which is great and it's also vegan friendly! read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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No words can describe this God sent breakfast location. This is truly the best brunch location in Orlando. Located by the UCF campus, you can also see the large campus booming with student life. A must try in the area!! read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Decided to get take out for a change because I did not want to sit down inside to eat. First time doing that and will certainly be my last at-least at this location. The picture below is exactly how my food looked when I opened the take out bag. Eggs and bacon look like they were taken from someone else's plate. They look like they were thrown in with no regards to presentation and were cold. Not worth the $10 even though I typically enjoy eating here. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

I am a sucker for the food I love their salad sandwiches and drinks. No complaints here. Definitely one of my favorite places for brunch.

Food was great until I pulled this big of an eggshell out of my to go order. I don't know how a she'll that big goes unnoticed. But other than that the food was good. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

One of my favorite places to have brunch! First Watch is one of my go-to spots to eat with friends or family. My experience with the service has always been great and the food is really good. I usually get the Hacienda Hash which I love because it has really good potatoes and I love avocado. The lemon ricotta pancakes are also amazing, they have strawberries! The University location has the tables closer together than at the one on Alafaya, so if you want a more open area I suggest you go there. I personally don't mind since it feels more cozy and intimate. I'm definitely going to continue to come back and try other items on the menu, everything looks so good. read more

First Watch - Hacienda Hash - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

This place is trendy and vivid. I like the atmosphere here, it is how a brunch restaurant should be. Energetic workers, fancy and colorful decorations, healthy food...love it. Will definitely come back to try more. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Way too expensive but a really good place to eat. Also takes very long for you to get your food - but once you get it, it's very delicious. Way too many up charges if you want to add a side of something. read more

This spot is super great! The service was incredible and quick, the menu has a great variety of delicious options, and the food was super yummy. There were also a lot of vegetarian options, which was very nice. The only reason I give them 4 stars rather than 5 is because I wish they would ask customers if they want a straw or switch to paper straws, rather than giving everyone a plastic straw. read more

Came here for a friend's graduation, and the food is super delicious! You can never go wrong with brunch food at First Watch. And the portion is big too, I didn't even finish my order. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

OMG this place is so so good. With all those healthy food, smoothies, and warm service, it becomes one of my top brunch joints. I got the morning meditation smoothie ( w orange, lemon, ginger, agave nectar, and beet) that looks like a tequila sunrise. For food, we had the French toast and a benedict and both were awesome! Definitely a repeat place for us. We saw plenty of locals hanging out and swarming in for a nice cozy brunch and cannot blame them for the quality of food they serve. Great find. read more

Sat at the community table and met Marilyn , her first time. Impressed and would take her family there. Told her to get to their rewards program. I got a free breakfast for bday month and she got $2.00 off pumpkin pancake.. read more

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BEYOND delicious, i had no idea this place existed. Tastes so fresh and good! Highly recommended. read more

First Watch - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Made me want to come back for the second watch! Lol The food was very fresh and healthy! My first visit was for lunch. I tried the Roast Beef Havarti... the combination of parmesan sour dough bread and horseradish sauce, complimented the roast beef and lemon dressed arugula. To top of the meal I chose a health drink from the juice bar...Morning Meditation! It was spot on...very refreshing. I will be returning soon! read more

This new First Watch opened not too long ago and I couldn't be happier that it's there. What I love about this place is that it offers the opportunity to eat a calm and peaceful breakfast in a classy atmosphere. I hate going to places like Denny's where all you hear is the collective noise of 100 individuals talking, clanging forks to plates, and sounds of dishwashers and waiters screaming at each other. I've been to First watch at 8 AM twice and both times there were only about 6 other people in the restaurant, and I could sit there and enjoy my meal listening to their classical music they have playing lightly. The food is almost above reproach. I've had the Veracruz Burrito and the Greek Fetish. The Burrito is a fantastic and filling treat. It's a big burrito with eggs, chorizo, green chilies, onions, tomatos, veracruz salsa, and it's topped with sour cream. It is just good in a completely honest and direct way. The Greek Fetish is certainly a lighter meal but is fantastic. It's an egg white omelette with feta cheese, black olives, onions, and tomatoes accompanied with a side of English muffin and fresh fruit. Both meals I've had here have been fantastic and I'm really happy there's a place where I can actually get a peaceful and tasty breakfast. read more

Management has changed the what was once enjoyable breakfast experience to a healthier version of Denny's. They took away the free coffee for waiting customers in the front, the silverware was dirty, the server neglected us the whole time and actually argued with my friend about the coffee being hot. The waitress looked very unkempt too. Her uniform was filthy with stains all over, nasty mess. The menu has changed and is a lot less appealing. I only saw one item that interested me and it wasn't great. My friend ordered a soup and it came out lukewarm. Pretty bad experience especially when you're expecting what this First Watch used to be. Take your money to Perkins across the street or to KeKe's Breakfast Cafe in Waterford! read more

Some girls live to hear those three special words. I only live to hear two - "Goat cheese." And that is why as soon as it's legal, I will be legally marrying the Farmer's Skillet at First Watch. We're going to be registered at Ikea under Jaime J and Holy Shit, Why Aren't You Eating This Right Now? If you are not eating the Farmer's Skillet right now - right now as you're reading these very words - you essentially made the same life choices as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad and seriously need to reconsider your situation in life. The Farmer's Skillet is greater than the sum of its parts, but the parts by themselves are pretty damn delicious too - crispy salty hunks of roasted potatoes tossed with fresh spinach, melty strands of mozzarella, red peppers, onions, zucchini and these great garlicky roasted crimini mushrooms. I'm not a big mushroom fan - they're often slimy and under-seasoned - but I could pop these little suckers like jujubes. Add an oozy egg (because let's face it - if you're going to eat this dish, you want a fried egg that just oozes its lush yolk all over everything) and some Cholula (waiting at its rightful place on the table next to the salt and pepper) and you've got an almost perfect breakfast. What elevates the dish to perfection is the herbed goat cheese - a tangy, emulsifying final component which takes this dish from a decent breakfast to what God eats when he's hungover. And the best part? You can mop your plate clean with a buttered English muffin. What? I don't believe in dainty breakfasts. I believe in big cups of coffee, hot sauce over everything and eating a breakfast so good, you need a nap immediately afterwards. The rest of their menu looks pretty great but once I see those two magic words - it's all over. It's just me, a mug of coffee and the Farmer's Skillet. Can't nobody tear us apart, baby. read more

If you're looking for a fun, relaxing place to have some yummy brunch First Watch is definitely the place to be. You have the option of sitting inside or outside; I prefer outside because the weather in Florida is really nice around this time. The menu is extremely creative; it's broken down into 3 sections, Half-asleep, Waking-Up, and Wide Eyed. They know how to throw down in this brunch kitchen, esp. with the turkey sausage and belgian waffle. read more

Typically I love this place for brunch or breakfast. I know that a lot of people love this place and it's very popular. I expect to wait a bit to be seated and know it is going to be busy on the weekends for brunch. The location near University Boulevard is just not managing their peak time very well, I'm sad to say. The waiting area is full of people trying to check in and get their name on the list with the hostess and then you have all of the departing people trying to check out and pay at the front register--it's a disorganized mass of people. There is no flow or signs for queuing as to where to go to check in or check out. The restaurant should fix that or put a hostess station in a specific area away from the cashier. I came here on a Sunday morning with friends and I'm glad I was with friends because we had over an hour to sit at a table to talk while we waited for our order. Our order took an extremely long time to come out and it was even to the point where we saw people who have been seated at least 15 or 20 minutes after us had already received their orders earlier than we did. It did appear that the servers were working hard and trying to meet all the customers needs, but they just fell really short in my opinion. At no point did our server explain why the wait took so long or say "hey you're food will be coming out soon", or apologize for it taking so long in general, nothing was acknowledged. I had to ask for coffee refills and basically we were handed our checks before we were done eating since the place was so busy. Some of the food looked like it had been sitting a while and some parts looked a little undercooked. We were so hungry that no one wanted to send anything back because we had waited so long. Probably not gonna go back to this location but I've had a great service at the location Altamonte Springs, maybe they could use some training from that location. read more

Moderately brisk Friday morning business levels but no wait. In fact we were quickly seated by bright, personable hostess and approached promptly by our knowledgeable server Zach. He provided complete information on the day's specials and returned in appropriate time with our water, juice and to take our order (French Toast and a "The Works" omelet with fruit vs.the standard side salad). We found the menu to be well balanced and obviously targeted to the UCF crowd...local purveyors (when possible) and plenty of interesting ingredients. For me, it was great to select my preferred "egg white" omelet without an upcharge...a welcomed touch that so many other places simply don't provide. Our food arrived fairly promptly and looked good (it looked much better than the photo I've shared. I'm a diner, not a photographer...obviously!) and the portions were quite fair. The only significant shortfall of the experience was the temperature of the food. It arrived just warm, especially the French Toast. Zach checked on us during breakfast and was obviously doing a good job at the neighboring tables. The tab: $23.50 + tip which was certainly fair. Had the food been served at a correct temperature our rating would have been a solid "4" but that shortfall generated a "3" from us. First Watch is a clean, comfortable setting that generates high business levels so be prepared to make advance arrangements or have an alternative destination in mind. It is the best option in the restaurant-rich University strip so I'd recommend you give it a try. We'll be giving it another shot sometime soon. read more

First Watch - "The Works" omelette... void of onions but with fresh fruit option. It's topped with sour cream. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

The services was great and the food was fresh. My daughter loved the Kale tonic and the avocado toast, very freshly made. The lighting was a little dark. Should have had the blinds up when it was such a beautiful bright sunny day outside. Overall we will be there again. read more

First Watch - My daughter loved the Kale tonic & avocado toast. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Orlando, Florida

This is the newst First Watch location, I recently visited and found it to be a very nice First Watch location. The food was great, prepared well and the service was friendly. We went on a Sunday, so it was slammed. SLAMMED. 40 minute wait when we got there and when we left. They had a nice big carafe of coffee out by the register so that you could have some while you waited. Nice touch. People of all ages spilled out onto the sidewalks, but no one cared. The wait time was accurate and the hosts came outside to check for parties. Breakfast is a primary meal option, available all day long. Omelets are delish and can be made with all eggs or some egg whites, no upcharge which is not typical for egg whites. If you see the Pumpkin pancakes on their season fall menu, get them, they are awesome. Their blueberry pancakes have fresh blueberries in them and a blueberry compote for the top. Try them with some added granola. Sandwiches and salads are primary meat based for protein, nice white meat chicken is used for most of their entree salads. Coffee is good. Check to board or call in for daily specials, they rotate and are popular. If you hit any First Watch on the weekends, expect a wait. Bring your paper and settle in. It's worth the wait. read more

First Watch is one of our favorite weekend breakfast places. We usually try to get there early so we don't have to wait as long for seats. Also if the weather is nice sitting outside will get you seated faster. This past weekend our server was Lea, she was really outstanding. She was very sweet, checked on us frequently, not pushy when we took a long time to order, just really great. I never say this, but I will ask for her section when we go back. Breakfast choices are really typical stuff. I love the Eggs Benedict with Avocado, but this weekend I went with the seasonal pumpkin pancake. It was a huge pancake with a nice pumpkin flavor. Sides were an egg and apple chicken (maybe turkey... some sort of poultry) sausage. The sausage wasn't all that, but the pancake was amazing. And they had pumpkin spice coffee creamers, but I used them all up at our table. Hope the refilled them for the next group. My youngest daughter loves the fruit crepes, and she always requests specific fruit filling. Amazingly, the servers always accommodate her moods (i just imagine they're having to pick all of the berries out of the fruit salad for her.) But that's nice, and a pretty healthy breakfast option for the kiddos. (The other kids are all about french toast, one even got a french toast Monte Cristo...) So overall, great food. Consistently good service. Can't go wrong with First Watch. read more

Not impressed at all. First off, we were seated and no one came to help us. 15 minutes later, after plenty of servers having surrounded us and us trying to to get their attention, we finally hunt someone down to help us. How could we just be ignored like that? We ordered one of the specials, ciabatta French toast with Nutella drizzle. I definitely expected this to be a solid plate, but I was extremely disappointed. It's more like a very thick, dry, tasteless pancake...emphasis on the dry. DRY. I had to drown it in syrup and guess what? Still dry. I was really disappointed with First Watch. Pretty much non existent service and unimpressive food. An extra star because the place seemed clean and the large windows give it nice clarity. read more

This is my go-to for breakfast and brunch at the moment. I enjoyed that they recently did an overhaul of the entire restaurant, and the new design looks very modern but homey. They are normally very busy, especially weekend brunch, however, I've never had to wait an unreasonable amount of time for food unlike other restaurants when they have a full house. As for food, I like the Chickichanga, Skillet Hashes, and Eggs Benedict. It's just enough food that feel full, but not overstuffed. The coffee is okay, goes well with their food though! Another note is that the exposed area of the kitchen and generally the whole restaurant is very neat. I think that's a good sign--come here for a hearty AM bite. read more

First Watch....I love the concept and ABSOLUTELY love the food. YUM. Open early morning until 2:00 PM, First Watch is your breakfast/lunch/brunch headquarters. Be careful though on Sunday afternoons...it's PACKED! Everything I've ever had at First Watch has been amazing, but my favorite items are: Breakfast: ChickenChanga (a breakfast/egg version of a mexican chimichanga) Lunch: Monterey Club (yum!) Most everything is served with homestyle potatoes which are amazing. Also, a little touch I love....they have flavored creamer on the table for your coffee! I dont think I've ever seen French Vanilla and Hazelnut coffee creamers at any other restaurant. First Watch is my First Choice for brunch! It's also a great place for an afternoon date (or morning). read more

The outside of the building doesn't look like a restaurant (my wife commented that it looked like a bank), so I'm glad we had read about this place to go looking for it. We went on a Sunday at about noon. There was a 15-20 minute wait for a table for two, but they provided free coffee while we waited. The waiting area inside is small, but it was nice outside. The interior is pleasant, but a bit plain. It felt a little more Perkins than Breakfast Club (another popular breakfast spot in Orlando). Despite being absolutely packed, the staff was quick and attentive. We timed how long it took from the time we ordered to being served, and they clocked in at a little under 10 minutes. The food and portions were excellent. The pancakes were light and fluffy. The eggs were perfectly cooked (Most places can't get over-medium correct). The sausage link was cooked without being greasy or dry. The potatoes were a little underseasoned (nothing a bit of table salt couldn't fix) but otherwise cooked well. read more

First Watch is always a solid choice for breakfast, when you can get in the door. If you're going on the weekend (especially on a Sunday after the first church services are letting out), you'd better get there early or be prepared to wait. The coffee is pretty good, the pancakes are great, and I really enjoy the variations of eggs benedict (specifically the turkey & avocado!). I'm also a fan of the breakfast skillets. The Beefeater is an excellent sandwich for lunch, as is the turkey burger. Service is great for the most part, although on our most recent visit our waiter seemed a little lost and we had to ask for some things more than once. We're an easy going table though, so we weren't bothered by it much, and it was pretty busy. East Orlando isn't really swimming in breakfast places. The local eateries that serve breakfast don't seem to last long, so I'm glad there's a First Watch here to help out when I'm hungry in the morning and my latest "regular" breakfast joint has boarded up with no warning. read more

I feel bad that I was the person who suggested First Watch to my group as a post-race meal. I've eaten at several locations, and always enjoyed the food, so I thought this would be a great spot. I guess this really shows that service and quality can vary by location. It was a Sunday morning, so we expected a wait with the church and brunch crowds. When we were finally seated thirty minutes after arriving (which was pretty good, considering how crowded the waiting area was), we were all starving and ready for all the food and all the coffee. Our server started out ok, taking our drink orders. Once our drinks were brought over, she vanished for what felt like a very long time. At one point I noticed a server carrying a tray of food and realized it was not for our table, because we did not order yet! Talk about disappointment! Once we ordered, there was another lengthy wait. Again, it was a busy Sunday rush, but the wait still felt quite excessive. Our food came out in spurts, with one friend in our group waiting quite a while for her dish. This is breakfast, not a gourmet dinner, so I would think they can time eggs and potatoes so we can all eat at the same time. I was disappointed in my meal, but was so hungry I didn't bother asking for something else. Waiting so long after a 5 mile run will do that to you! The Key West Crepegg was more like an over-cooked omelet with hardly anything inside. It was very dry, and I only recall and few bites of avocado, which was more than the turkey or bacon that should've been included. My friend pointed out that the potatoes tasted boiled, almost to mashed potato consistency. No crispiness or flavor. Major bummer! I did enjoy a bite of the muffins my friends ordered as pre-meal snacks. Those were tasty and held us over somewhat until our food arrived. But that's not really enough to bring me back to this location, so I'll stick to Winter Park or Maitland in the future. read more

I went back to First Watch yesterday for lunch. I was torn with getting my normal delicious Fruit Crepes and trying something new but I went ahead and dove in for "something new." After much deliberation, I just asked the waitress what I should get and she suggested the Monterery Club - Turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayo on multigrain bread. Let me just say WOW. First off, the potato wedges that come with it were delicious. They were seasoned perfectly. Now, the sandwich. WOW x 2. The multigrain bread was so soft and fresh - literally felt like they baked it themselves. There was a ton of turkey on it, fresh tomato (sliced thin), and whoever though of putting avocado on this sandwich with bacon was a genius. I've never had avocado on a sandwich before but it was REALLY good. And the added bacon was just the right amount of crispy needed. Definitely enjoyed this sandwich! read more

This is NOT a short review. I HATE short reviews. There is never enough information, the information that is included is often already found in the description, there is always too much subjectivity without reasons, rarely are there any helpful hints/tips, and the discerning reader is left feeling like they've only had half an Oreo ... the other half tantalizingly out of reach. I go from start to finish with everything in between and I've had good responses with this approach. I also feel like I've done something other than tossed my two-cents into a black hole. If you're approaching from the direction of the UCF campus take the turn directly in front of The First Watch. Otherwise you'll turn into a parking area that has no connection and you'll have to do some risky driving and a u-turn. Fortunately I waited until after UCF was in session -between semesters- before going here. I can only imagine the volume this place does during school. And with good reason! Students are, for the most part, good divining rods for finding good food bargains (lots for little) and this place is prime turf. At this time, however, there was no wait, no crowd, several empty tables, and this was before 10am. My active, 87 year old father doubted the word of the server who, when asked, replied, "The pancakes are really, REALLY big." He ordered two of the blueberry pancakes while I kept it simple with the basic breakfast plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and muffin. Still ... when the breakfast arrived ... satisfactorily warm (which can be difficult with eggs), my three slices of bacon were easily 8 inches long and floppy -just the way I like them, the muffin was appealing and, as mentioned, the eggs were warm. It was a big plate, all tasty, and I was tasked to finish it -although I was determined to do so. But it had nothing on my father's plate. We were both agog at the size. Each pancake was larger than his head by a third. And FULL of blueberries, but just in case there weren't enough, they came with a supplemental bowl of blueberries and warm WARM syrup. Ohhh, man ... yesss. The service was great. Don't get confused by having another server also ask you for your drink order, they watch each other's backs and appear to communicate well. The atmosphere is open and sunny -just the right thing for a breakfast place- and I would bet the coffee, which came in the form of the entire pourer, was NOT Folgers (I have a thing against Folgers). So if you want to avoid the crowds which I'm sure are present during school, summer is the best time. If you can't avoid the crowd you will be well rewarded for your wait. Beware when ordering the big pancakes because really ... they are huge. And if you want crispy bacon, make sure to tell them. Prices are perfect. By far the best breakfast place in Orlando I've visited so far. I could only give it a four-star because I WASN'T hung over and eggs are still eggs -there's only so much a volume place can do with them. read more

I am dining at First Watch this Saturday. This used to be my old stomping grounds when I first started my workout/diet routine a few years ago. They have a larger selection of "healthier" choices which are also delicious. This particular FW boasts a rustic look which appeals to the cowboy in me. Service has always been a plus here for me. One perk I truly enjoy is the coffee pot (they leave the pot at your table for self refills - the pot holds around 3, maybe 4, full cups) Yes, I am one of those people who has to have the right combination of temperature, stevia and creamer (when I use it - has to be hazelnut...haha). On to the meal....this morning everything looked delicious but I was in an omelet mood so I ordered the ham and gruyere dish. Skillet potatoes with onion accompanied the omelet along with the best multi-grain bread and homemade preserve. Another successful breakfast adventure. See ya all next Saturday!!!! read more

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Skillet me, baby! Excellent service, perfect breakfast with nice in-season specials. A must if you're looking for an easy weekend stand by. read more

We had breakfast here on a Wednesday morning. There was no wait for a table and we were served quickly. Our waiter, Richard, was wonderful. He was attentive and friendly. We have a child with multiple food allergies and they were happy to accommodate his needs. read more

Yes i recommand first watch but most important the Avacado Toast was amazing. Its comes with two sunny side up eggs and a slice of bread with a thick layer of diced and creamy avacado spinkled with a dash of lemon which incorporates that zesty flavor . My friends also enjoyed what they ate which also made the experience that much better. The service was exceptional as well with friendly smiles all over the place. read more

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