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

(1,898 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

First Watch has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 1,898 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The First Watch employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Restaurants & Food Service industry (3.4 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K 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.

3.0

Jan 23, 2024

Good job with the right leadership

Server

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I’ve had quite a few serving jobs and the beauty of this job is the hours. If you have supportive management team it can be a very positive work environment

Cons

You are expected to do 3-4 jobs as a server. You’re scheduled “support” shifts where you are required to host for next to nothing hourly. If you’re not a “black apron” expect to get the worst sections and side work. The restaurant gets a huge amount of take out orders and servers are required to bag during the shift with zero compensation for doing so. The money is okay, but for how busy it is I always feel like I’m getting robbed

3.0

Aug 10, 2023

Great place to work only if you are an individual contributor

General manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

No night shifts which is great, food discounts, the job is relatively easy to accomplish and when you get to management, the bonuses are attainable and decent.

Cons

Management gets treated like dirt. You are expected to be full time babysitter/handyman/financial-admin guru with little training if you haven’t had restaurant management experience. Their “you first” mentality, at least in jacksonville, only applies to hourly employees. Upper management does not care about their GMs and AMs and sometimes, the expectations are a lot higher that the total compensation for the job you are required to perform.

First Watch Response

2y

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. We'd love to better understand your concerns so that we can thoroughly and properly address them and encourage you to call our anonymous employee hotline at 844-484-8963.

Viewing 22 - 24 of 1,898 Reviews

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This isn’t for everyone

Good job with the right leadership

Great place to work only if you are an individual contributor

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