| First Watch Restaurants, Inc. | |
| Trade Name: | First Watch |
| Type: | Public |
| Traded As: | NASDAQ: |
| Industry: | Restaurant |
| Genre: | Casual dining |
| Founded: | , in Pacific Grove, California, U.S. |
| Hq Location City: | Sarasota, Florida |
| Hq Location Country: | U.S. |
| Num Locations: | 500 |
| Area Served: | United States |
| Key People: | Chris Tomasso (CEO)[1] |
| Products: | Breakfast platters Lunch platters |
| Owners: | --> |
First Watch Restaurants, Inc., commonly referred to as First Watch, is an American restaurant chain based in Bradenton, Florida.[2] As of August 2023, the chain has more than 500 locations in 29 states and 9,000 employees. First Watch is also the owner of Sun & Fork by First Watch, a fast-casual café concept located in Nashville, Tennessee.
First Watch offers a variety of breakfast items marketed as being healthier than other breakfast chains.[3]
The name "First Watch" is a nautical reference to the first work shift aboard a ship as First Watch restaurants are only open from 7:00 AM to 2:30 PM.[4] The first location was opened in Pacific Grove, California in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan. The co-owners founded it after leaving the Le Peep breakfast chain in Colorado. In 1986, they moved their headquarters to Bradenton, Florida.[5]
In 2014, First Watch bought The Good Egg, which is located in Arizona. As of 2021, 18 of The Good Egg restaurants have been converted into First Watch restaurants. In May 2015, the company acquired the Colorado-based Egg & I Restaurants chain.[6] The Egg & I has 114 eateries across twenty states.[7] Not every Egg & I Restaurant location will become a First Watch, but as of 2016, 22 conversions had been completed. In 2012 First Watch ranked as the best breakfast chain in a survey of 150,000 Consumer Reports readers earning top ratings in taste, service, value, and menu choices.[8]
In 2017 private equity firm Advent International bought a majority stake in First Watch. Advent International bought First Watch from Freeman Spogli & Co., which obtained First Watch in 2011.[9] Freeman Spogli & Co. bought out the 85 percent stake previously held by Catterton Partners. Catterton's stake was acquired in 2004 with a $35 million investment that allowed First Watch to expand in the Southeast and Midwest, doubling the number of First Watch restaurants.[10] First Watch has a large presence in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and Arizona. First Watch and the Egg & I restaurants serve breakfast, brunch, and lunch and offer a wide variety of items.
In 2018, First Watch began to source its coffee from Huila, Colombia to "support hard-working women and their families in Huila in 2018." Royal Cup Coffee, an Alabama-based coffee company, roasts the coffee.[11] In October 2021, First Watch went public with an initial public offering raising $170 million on Nasdaq.[12]
The company bought back six of its franchise locations in August 2023.[13]
First Watch has faced criticism for their weak animal welfare standards, particularly on what they allow in their pork supply chain. Animal Equality launched a campaign[14] calling on the chain to adopt a policy to limit or eliminate the use of gestation crates for pregnant pigs in First Watch's supply chain.
Gestation crates[15] are metal cages, only slightly larger than a pig’s own body, that confine pigs for their entire pregnancies. In these cages, the mother pig cannot even turn around. Without any form of stimulation, she may resort to biting the bars or the air. After multiple pregnancies, these pigs often become silent and immobile, a condition known in animal science as "acute social defeat." Donald Broom[16] a professor emeritus at Cambridge University, has described[17] this practice as "one of the most extreme examples of cruelty to an animal," noting that it continues throughout much of the pig's life and is far worse than severe physical abuse or most laboratory experiments.
Far from a “standard industry practice,” these crates are illegal in most developed economies and restricted or banned in 11 U.S. states, including Florida where First Watch is headquartered, and many U.S. food businesses, such as McDonald’s,[18] Jack in the Box,[19] Wendy’s,[20] Burger King,[21] Panera Bread,[22] and Shake Shack[23] have phased them out of their supply chains.