Is First Watch a good company to work for?

First Watch has an overall rating of 3.7 out of 5, based on over 1,926 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months. 63% of employees would recommend working at First Watch to a friend and 61% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about First Watch have been left by employees working as Director of Operations , Black Apron and Cafe Manager .

Does First Watch pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, First Watch employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.2 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at First Watch. This rating has decreased by 6% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at First Watch?

63% of First Watch employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated First Watch 3.7 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.5 for culture and values and 3.4 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at First Watch?

Server (632) , Server/Waiter (294) , Operations Manager (124) , General Manager (70) , Line Cook (65) , Busser/Runner (46) , Server/Waitress (36) , Manager (34) , Director of Operations (30) , Dishwasher (27) , Cook (26) , Waitress (21) , Food Server (18) , Black Apron (16) , Busser (15)

What are the pros of working at First Watch according to real employee reviews?

"Money is Good and consistent." ((in 182 reviews)); "The pay is good and there's a program that pays for 20% of your college tuition." ((in 92 reviews)); "great food and people to work with were awesome" ((in 64 reviews)); "I loved my coworkers and the hours are great!" ((in 59 reviews)); "Great product and a culture I can be proud to represent." ((in 53 reviews))

What are the cons of working at First Watch according to real employee reviews?

"poor management and had managers try to make job difficult" ((in 141 reviews)); "Managers have a lot of responsibility and spend most of their time in the kitchen rather than being up front dealing with customers." ((in 74 reviews)); "long hours (serving shift is open to close because it is breakfast/lunch only)" ((in 40 reviews)); "Upper management is so completely out of touch it's almost as if they have never worked in a restaurant (spoiler: most of them haven't)" ((in 28 reviews)); "Lots of cliques and Favoritism." ((in 25 reviews))

What are the top reviewed First Watch locations?

Tampa , Orlando , Sarasota , Jacksonville , Raleigh , Louisville , Columbus , Houston , Cincinnati , Kansas City , Phoenix , Charlotte , Dallas , San Antonio , Atlanta , Saint Louis , Austin , Knoxville , Bradenton , Lexington-Fayette , Scottsdale , Naples , Tucson , College Station , Miami , Richmond , Fort Worth , Katy , Nashville , Overland Park

First Watch reviews

3.7

63% would recommend to a friend

(452 total reviews)

Chris Tomasso

69% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.9

Diversity & inclusion

3.7

Work/Life balance

3.5

Culture & values

3.4

Career opportunities

3.2

Senior management

3.2

Compensation and benefits

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

452 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

Return to all reviews

2.0

Oct 28, 2025

This isn’t for everyone

Manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Off between 3:45pm-5pm - Servers make excellent money - Free meal for managers - Some areas/districts are managed well and there’s room for growth - Employee Discount Programs - Employee referral bonuses

Cons

- Unprofessional. There’s no standard. Each GM does whatever they like - Uniform. We wear black or grey tops with dark denim. Some GMs will tell you to wear what they want you to wear. Also you get lost in the crowd and blend in with servers - No weekends off. Weekends are our peek days so you work 10-12 hours every Saturday & Sunday. You can request off for something important. But it’s considered mandatory - Buddy system. Employees who are friends with upper management get preferential treatment. - No real HR. They have an employee hotline but the people aren’t from here so reporting is difficult. If you reach out to HR they tell everyone in your area and you’re basically black balled - Not many GM who look like me -All managers must be in by 6am. Not really necessary because there’s 2-3 managers most shifts. Waking up between 4am-5am and getting home between 4pm-6pm causes burn out. Shifts should be staggered

First Watch Response

8mo

Thank you for taking the time to share this review. We’re firm believers that when you know better, you do better…so we really appreciate your feedback. We're so disappointed to learn about your experience as we strive to be “You First” in all that we do. Quality of life is important to us, and you should always feel comfortable discussing your concerns with your leaders and with our team in HR. We'd love to better understand your concerns so that we can thoroughly and properly address them and encourage you to reach out through First Watch feedback at https://firstwatch.com/contact Thanks again for your insights.

4.0

Oct 23, 2025

Ehhh

Server/waiter

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Decent money in beginning when opened

Cons

Opened too many locations nearby

First Watch Response

8mo

Thank you for taking the time to leave this review! We appreciate hearing about your personal experience and are glad to learn that you enjoy working at First Watch. Thanks again for the review – we appreciate you.

4.0

Oct 5, 2025

Working Here

Line cook

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great pay, every cook I know is paid a minimum of 24 per hour and gets rotating weekends off. Shift is over by 2:30, and everyone works so well together that almost everyone can get out on time, if not early.

Cons

No cons, good career trajectory, of waking up at 5 in the morning to go work with an awesome team, with your weekends off and major holidays covered.

First Watch Response

9mo

Thank you for this great review! It’s nice to hear how much you enjoyed working at First Watch. We love that you loved the great teamwork and the daytime only hours – yeah, we know waking up early can be tough, but when you love your job it’s worth it! Thanks again for sharing your review and never forget that we love YOU more than bacon!

Viewing 31 - 33 of 452 Reviews

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This isn’t for everyone

Ehhh

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