Well lets see, I worked at this place for about a month before they "let me go". I was hired as a server but they made me work as a hostess 95% of the time. I served 2 times before my managers sat down and talked to me & told me I needed to be at 100% with serving instantly or else I'd get the boot. I served one more time and hosted one more time then, after working a full day & doing other people's jobs all day, they sat me down & "let me go". Saying that I was a great employee, had a great personality, would even WRITE ME A REFERENCE LETTER but I "wasn't the right fit for them".
Basically this place sets impossible standards in place. They even warn you in the beginning that this place "is not like any other restaurant you'll ever work at". Let's see, so for their whole giant menu they abbreviate or give "nicknames" to EVERY single item on the menu. As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, you had certain places on the check that all the abbreviated/nicknamed items had to be. Such as, the bread is written on the left side of the check, while the eggs/oatmeal goes on the right side of the check. And heaven forbid you ever put anything in the wrong spot, the cooks, who are also the managers, can't handle it/figure it out and go brain dead and freak out and find you and yell at you. Then they also have this policy of doing things where everyone helps each other out, the servers don't strictly stay to their own tables, everyone is doing everything. Which sounds nice when you need
I'm sure it varies by location, mine just sucks. "You First" is a joke
Days are always busy, I've always made at least $100, even on slower days. However, working one day a week for minimum wage as a host cuts significantly into the overall hourly pay for the week.
The management at my job is very petty about scheduling. They require you to be available at least 4 days a week. They hired me on as part-time for 3 days, then flipped the script after I had been there for a few weeks, claiming they never said that. Scheduling is "performance based" (favoritism / seniority based), so you must have 4 days available, but they could only schedule you 1 or 2. One day I was ill and found someone to cover my shift, and they cut me down to 2 days a week for an entire month as punishment. They would not allow me to pick up shifts from other employees during that time either. When asked for feedback on my "performance", they simply said there were not enough hours to go around--but my coworkers were overworked and begging for days off. Additionally, I submitted my vacation days 2 months in advance, and they scheduled me the entire length of time and penalized me for calling off those days once the schedule was posted.
They are intolerant of illness--I had a flare up of a chronic illness and had to call off one day for vomitting. They required me to claim I had covid symptoms through their health screening system, which put me out of work for 2 weeks. I also need to eat semi-regularly with my illness, and always find someone to watch my section in a momen
The GM there is phenomenal however the other manager has his head up his you know what. Dealt with many issues of favoritism and even overheard one of the cooks (has a huge temper for no reason) saying lots of racial slurs about other coworkers. The busser was rather annoying and often insisted his method works even though he was never a dishwasher and the methods only made things more difficult. The servers are all women which is no issue with me, they are very very nice and supportive women as well. Most of the cooks are multiple time convicted felons, the white one is openly racist, with the exception of there being 1 or 2 actual good people on the line. There were two other dishwashers there at the time, one of which was constantly picked on and ridiculed by the others even though he was better than and easier to work with than the other dishwasher. The other dishwasher is overly full of himself always shouting out that he’s “the best dishwasher in the world” when he’s far from it. He may seem fun to be around at first but he has a violent temper over small things and tried to start a fist fight with me resulting in me leaving. The manager there did absolutely nothing about it but the general manager was very helpful afterwards, but I still was fed up with the feel there. As far as the work goes, there’s tons of set ups they have that make no sense and only add difficulty to the job. The dish area is about the size of a typical laundry room, very compact and easily crowde
ProsDecent pay, no night shifts
ConsTerrible environment, constant drama, terrible BOH staff.
5.0
Information Technology Manager | Sarasota, FL | Aug 30, 2017
IT Manager
Provided all technical support for a restaurant chain with 75 locations, 20 home office users and 25 remote users.
Constructed a systematic approach to handle high volumes of calls to trouble shoot and solve LAN/WAN, WLAN networking problems.
Created a stable IT environment and drastically reduced complex IT support issues, keeping end-user PCs up to date with the latest software packages and operating systems (Microsoft Office, Windows 7, vista an XP, Share Point and Active Directory).
Managed all Citrix software issues and troubleshot regional and department specific software (Great Plains accounting and banking software) as well as online imagine and created a secured system for storage of restaurant and office documentation.
Supervised protocols for all back-office IT systems, backup systems, internet access, OCE multi-function printers, executive laptops, phone systems, cell phones, remote access and all training for field offices/restaurants throughout Sarasota to Tampa region.
Spearheaded completion of several key implementations increasing organization’s productivity such as a new organizational Point of Sale Radiant hardware and installation of Aloha software, installed Wi-Fi at all locations, new servers, firewalls, VPN solution and anti-virus solution such as App River Spam filtering.
Purchased, assembled, maintained and repaired computer systems to enhance speed, efficiency and reliability of operating systems.
Selected to wor
The floors were greesey, the company was pinching pennies. Management had no clue how to clean a freezer. Asked me to throw hot water and use a squeegee. I laughed and didn't do it cause I know they wouldn't pay to have the proper chemicals on hand to clean a freezer. Anyway- It started out great. Management pretends to like you and throw you in with a trainee and really what they teach you is not to do the job well but how to do the job faster by cutting corners because they do not provide you enough time to do all the responsibilities in the allowed time. Don't rinse the dishes, put them away as soon as they come out. They got a "drying system". A small rack that gets filled faster than it can dry. The place closes at 2:30pm and they demand- highly demand that the dishes be done and dry and put away by 3:45pm and have the area clean and swept up. The cooks keep bringing stuff to wash as late as 3:30pm. Once you are done using the washing machine there's a stack of dishes in another sink that you have to wash by hand- don't forget to throw away everyone's trash. I was able to get it down to 4:05pm. As I was walking out to go home on my third day. The "manager of operations" was there (a 15 year old girl). Stopped me at the front of the store and said a manager has to tour my area before I leave. Walked back there and she pointed out everything I didn't have time to do cause they want me gone by 3:45pm. She said "If you have a problem I suggest looking for another job" I repl
ProsQuick hire
ConsUnderstaffed, underpaid, don't know how to be a team, management doesnt know how to run a business
A typical day at work involves service to the customers including, greeting customers at the door, taking orders, running food, and solving any customer issues.
Various maintenance duties are required by everyone such as, cleaning coffee pots, or vacuuming.
From this job, I learned valuable teamwork skills, and a much better ability to deal with people and anticipate their concerns. I am proficient at evaluating what people want and putting on a good face for everyone.
The management is very young and somewhat inexperienced, therefore they make mistakes, but will never admit to them. The quality of hours a person is scheduled is based on performance, and while this is not a problem, you are never told why you might have gotten a worse schedule one week rather than the last. This causes people to not improve and induces poor morale since people don't know what they could improve on, and believe that they are doing a good job.
Another problem with the management is that whenever someone approaches them with a concern, they always take that person's side. This has caused me to have a lack of trust in the management, and I avoid taking to him about my concerns because I know he will simply just take my side to avoid any confrontation.
My co-workers are good at teamwork. Some people have no problem talking to the management, behind anyone's back, in order to improve their schedules and hurt yours.
The hardest part of the job is putting on a good face for every customer even
I can only speak of the Knoxville TN area restaurants owned by Capstone Concepts, but the workplace culture is terrible, as are the benefits, and attitudes from management in both stores and the franchise. Your typical day will start between 5:30-7AM, and at no point will you be offered a break until you are able to leave at 3-4pm.
Cooking and knife skills have no place here. The majority of the products you use will be pulled from the freezer and (improperly) heated to temp in a steam well. You will not gain any cooking knowledge nor hone your skills here.
Scheduling is what it is. They absolutley will not work with a conflicting job schedule. Either First Watch is your priority or you will not have a job there. Requests off are often denied.
Advancement is few and far between, and only favorites from management will make it. Skill doesn't matter. Very often, management will no/call-no/show, leave in the middle of the shift for no reason, or otherwise be incompetent and unable to fulfill their duties. They will not be repremanded for this, nor will anyone covering their shift receive accolade. You will not be promoted for doing your drunk manager's job when they are supposed to be on the clock.
Training is a joke. Corporate sends someone to monitor each store, however nothing is corrected and he spends most of the day on his laptop eating.
I have never been to a corporate First Watch, but if they allow Knoxville area stores to operate like this I can't imag
Pros-Easy if you have no cooking skills
ConsNo breaks, regardless of state law, No ability to work with other job schedules, Limited ability for growth, Terrible management, Low-quality food products
This place has gone corporate. For some reason, they've instilled this "9 steps" system of serving. It's complete nonsense, people are not robots! I felt bad for the in-store managers. Instead of being out on the floor managing they are forced to cook in the kitchen. This leads to chaos with some of the immature, lazy coworkers I had to work with. They would be eating food, playing on their cell phones and just plain being childish. When it comes to a job without teamwork it makes for bad shifts. I've never worked in a place where it was ok to be on your cell phone during your shift!
I had one experience where a corporate lady sat in my section and drilled me on my steps of service. My mistake was saying "May I take your order or give you a few minutes?" I should have said,' "What would you like to order?" I personally think that's rude to ask in that manner, but that's not the best part. I got double sat while she was reprimanding for 10 minutes, so actual customers had to wait because of this foolishness.
They don't rotate sections when seating, so it's a battle with other servers to get your section seated. You're expected to be a host once a week for $9 an hour. If you work the 6:30 am shift expect to be there till the end with no break for 9 hours. You take to go orders, bus your own tables, run your own food, which would be fine if you have a strong team to help and are compensated properly.
First Watch needs to stop being cheap. Hire a host, hire an extra c
Prosyou get out by 3:30 /4:00
ConsCorporate nonsense, lack of team work, long hours for little pay
The store I trained in was clean organized and had a good management team. My training was a bit inconsistent because of other managers being pulled into other stores. I did not get complete exposure to some of the areas before I was sent to another store.
When I arrived at my new location, it was completely different. Disorganized, dirty and staff seemed to be in charge. On my first day, I was left alone to close down the restaurant which their procedures were slightly different than the one I trained in. Additionally, the staff basically checked themselves out and left the restaurant unclean and disorganized without letting anyone know. This was standard procedure.
As time went by, my suspicions were correct. The staff was left to their own devices and had no supervision. This was an area that I had trouble trying to correct. After a few months, I moved from the area and was going to transfer to another store. The upper level management team were accommodating with the move. However, I was sat down with the Director of Operations, who was my supervisor, and the upper management team. I was asked about my general opinion of the restaurant and why I was not proficient in some areas. I told them my training was inconsistent but I was working on this. I did not disclose any opportunities of the restaurant or that I was not getting any support from my supervisor.
After careful consideration and the need to take care of family matters, I decided to leave First W
ProsGood food and clean restaurant at training location
ConsUnpleasant work environment and dirty at final location
So a black apron employee decided that she didn’t like me after a week of being there. She tormented and bullied me, while playing innocent when I would approach her and the manager. She causes problems for many other employees, using her position as her power. She would never come to work ready to work, taking a half hour to apply her eyelashes and makeup before coming on the floor to help with opening side work. She had me in tears numerous times and the manager did nothing about it. He literally would kiss her butt, allowing the nonsense to continue. On three separate occasions I had to listen to my coworkers talk about car crashes, pulling bodies out of cars, how they would never want to die in one- yet they all knew that my daughter died in a car accident. It triggers my PTSD and anxiety listening to that stuff and one morning after hearing that and that one employee being tacky and mean to me I told them I had to leave, while cryin and explaining to the manager what happened. I was told if I left it was considered me walking out and quitting so guess what? I no longer work there. So much for a great place to work. It all revolves around that one tacky little bullying waitress who had management and the owner wrapped around her finger.
ProsFood was good, money was alright
ConsManagement, horrible work environment, long shifts, new employees get bad section, same section every day, black apron employees get opportunity to make more money, hand write checks for kitchen, one cash register, hostess puts in credit card tips, Favoritism
Questions And Answers about First Watch Restaurants, Inc.
What is a typical day like for you at First Watch?
Asked Apr 4, 2020
Micro aggressions with staff
Answered Mar 26, 2023
Busy with poor managers
Answered Mar 24, 2023
What benefits does First Watch offer?
Asked Jul 4, 2016
Medical
Answered Mar 28, 2023
Really nothing. Most of the managers were over the top mean and thought that we weren't humans and weren't allowed to make mistakes
Answered Mar 22, 2023
What is the best part of working at First Watch?
Asked Apr 4, 2020
The hours
Answered Jun 25, 2022
The environment
Answered Jun 24, 2022
What is the promotion process like at First Watch?
