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

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First Watch

First Watch reviews

3.7

63% would recommend to a friend

(451 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

451 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

Return to all reviews

3.0

Jul 28, 2025

Pros and Cons

Server/waiter

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay, full time schedule

Cons

Lots of side work and favoritism

First Watch Response

11mo

We appreciate your feedback here. While we're glad you enjoy the schedule 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 where possible. Any feedback helps us to reevaluate our approach, and we're grateful for yours.

3.0

Jul 23, 2025

Okay

Server

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good money, wonderful customers, good start and end time

Cons

management, didn’t really care about anything else but work

First Watch Response

11mo

Thanks for the feedback. We pride ourselves on our “You First” culture and are so disappointed to hear that you felt that way. We'd love to learn more about any experience that led you to feel like this, Would you mind reaching out to us by calling our anonymous employee hotline at 844-484-8963 with more information? Thanks again, and we hope to hear from you soon.

5.0

Jul 22, 2025

New

Server

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Fast paced friendly atmosphere good wages as server

Cons

Need to reward employees on performance not tenure

First Watch Response

12mo

Thanks for taking the time to submit your review. We love that you enjoy the atmosphere. We make every effort to show appreciation for our teams and listen to their concerns feel free to reach out to us by calling our anonymous employee hotline at 844-484-8963 with more information. Your feedback will help us improve the experience of our employees. We appreciate you!

Viewing 43 - 45 of 451 Reviews

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