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?

"The pay structure/ tip out was typically solid making good money on most weekends." ((in 175 reviews)); "The pay is good and there's a program that pays for 20% of your college tuition." ((in 89 reviews)); "great food and people to work with were awesome" ((in 67 reviews)); "Great product and a culture I can be proud to represent." ((in 59 reviews)); "I loved my coworkers and the hours are great!" ((in 57 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 139 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 71 reviews)); "long hours (serving shift is open to close because it is breakfast/lunch only)" ((in 38 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)); "Also lots of 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

(245 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

245 reviews

Reviews about "Culture"

Return to all reviews

5.0

Oct 15, 2024

Great company terrible training store

Café manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I have a huge love for this company, no nights, and simplicity, it is the cleanest company i have ever worked for. Their standards are above high. They have good benefits - not great i have had better else where, i definitely think they could improve that. The firstwatch culture and team work is fabulous and everything is made fresh daily. I love we leave by 4pm each day so we can still have a little life outside of work. My RVP has been amazing and i have never worked so closely with some one who cares so much for his team

Cons

The only con for me is the benefit package could be a lot better. The one at chilis i had was amazing. You have to wait 90 days for any benefits. You have to EARN paid time off and vacations, most companies give you a blanket minimum this is very disappointing. The training store i am at was formally a franchise store. The GM is egotistical and rude. Treats the whole team badly and only blows his own Trumpet. I received better training from the Operations Manager in my store. The GM from here has no business being a gm he is not humble or supportive he has limited corporate knowledge and thinks he is always right. He hasn't even been doing documentation on people because he didn't see the point of a paper trail! Very unprofessional

First Watch Response

1y

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to leave this feedback, that will only make us better. We are happy that you have felt supported by your RVP and love the First Watch standards, cleanliness and daytime only hours. We would love to hear more about your experience at this location, with the GM (and if you had any suggestions on benefits). Please call our anonymous employee hotline at 844-484-8963, so that we can better address your concerns.

2.0

Oct 11, 2024

Can be a good company, but misleading

Operations manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Shift meals for Managers, no nights

Cons

Communication, length of shifts, quality of work life balance

First Watch Response

1y

We appreciate you taking the time to leave this review. While we're glad you enjoy the daytime-only hours and shift meals, it's helpful to understand your concerns too. If you wouldn't mind calling our anonymous employee hotline at 844-484-8963, we'd love to follow up and better understand and address your concerns. Any feedback helps us to re-evaluate our approach, and we're grateful for yours.

5.0

Oct 10, 2024

First Watch

Server

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

super encouraging and friendly staff, as well as great company culture and morals

Cons

some mornings can be very early

First Watch Response

1y

Wow, thank you for the 5-Star review! We love hearing how much you enjoyed working at First Watch. An encouraging staff paired with great company culture and morals sounds pretty good to us. Thank you for your awesome review and even though you don't work here anymore, you will always be a part of the First Watch family.

Viewing 40 - 42 of 245 Reviews

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Reviews about "Culture"

Great company terrible training store

Can be a good company, but misleading

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