Undercover Diner: First Watch keeps us coming back, even with the Sunday Morning Crowds

From a hearty breakfast to a lighter granola bowl and a classic turkey sandwich, First Watch delivers another consistently good experience.

Photos by Undercover Diner

FORT MILL, S.C. — If there's one thing we've learned about First Watch, it's that we're probably not the only people thinking about breakfast after church on Sunday.

The restaurant is almost always busy, and finding a table can require some patience.

Fortunately, we've also learned a little trick.

First Watch doesn't take traditional reservations, but you can get on its online waitlist before arriving. We've found that makes a big difference, particularly on Sunday mornings when the crowds seem to arrive all at once.

We've visited the Fort Mill location several times, along with First Watch restaurants in other markets, and our experiences have been remarkably consistent.

Good food, a busy dining room and a menu with enough variety to satisfy just about everyone at the table.

Our latest visit was no exception.

This time, our party of three included my wife, Lisa, and our daughter, Regan. And as usual, we managed to cover quite a bit of the menu.

I went with the Monterey Club, a sandwich featuring turkey, bacon, avocado, organic mixed greens, tomato, Monterey Jack cheese and mayonnaise on sourdough bread.

It's a fairly straightforward sandwich, but one that brings together a good combination of ingredients. The turkey, bacon and avocado work particularly well together, and the sourdough gives it a little more character than ordinary sandwich bread.

It arrived with a generous serving of seasoned potatoes, which have become one of the more dependable sides at First Watch.

As you may have noticed in some of our Undercover Diner photos, occasionally I get a little ahead of myself and take a few bites before remembering to photograph the food. This was one of those occasions.

Lisa took a lighter approach with the Sunrise Granola Bowl.

The dish features nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt layered with fresh seasonal fruit and housemade granola with almonds, finished with a light dusting of cinnamon sugar.

It's served with a freshly baked muffin of the day.

The presentation was attractive, and the combination of yogurt, fruit and granola offered a nice alternative to the heavier breakfast dishes that dominate many restaurant menus.

Then there was our daughter.

She has a habit of ordering with her eyes rather than her stomach, and this visit was no exception.

She started with a Honey Caramel Crunch Iced Coffee, featuring salted caramel and honey, sweet cream cold foam and toffee nut crumbles.

At 440 calories, it's almost a breakfast on its own.

But that was only the beginning.

She ordered Biscuits & Turkey Sausage Gravy with Eggs, featuring a large house-baked buttermilk biscuit split in two, covered with homestyle turkey sausage gravy and accompanied by two eggs and seasoned potatoes.

And because apparently that wasn't quite enough food, she added pancakes.

It was a substantial breakfast, even by Sunday brunch standards. The biscuits and gravy made for a hearty plate, with the eggs and potatoes adding to an already generous serving.

Everything was good, but predictably, her eyes were bigger than her stomach. A good portion of breakfast ended up in a takeout box.

At least she (me) had another meal to look forward to.

One of the things we appreciate about First Watch is the variety.

You can order a relatively light breakfast, a traditional plate of eggs and potatoes, a creative brunch dish or even a sandwich if you're not in the mood for breakfast.

That flexibility makes it an easy choice when everyone at the table wants something different.

A popular Sunday destination

The Fort Mill restaurant has a bright, contemporary atmosphere, with high ceilings, an open dining room and plenty of natural light.

It's comfortable and inviting, although the popularity of the restaurant means it can get busy and noisy, especially during peak breakfast and brunch hours.

That's where the online waitlist comes in handy.

We wouldn't recommend showing up on a busy Sunday expecting to be seated immediately. But getting on the list before leaving home or church has worked well for us.

It's not quite the same as having a reservation, but it can make the experience considerably easier.

The final bite

First Watch isn't a new discovery for our family. We've visited its restaurants numerous times, both in Fort Mill and elsewhere.

And perhaps that's the best endorsement we can give it.

The food has been consistently good, the menu offers plenty of choices, and we've generally known what to expect when we walk through the door.

This visit reinforced those impressions.

My Monterey Club was a satisfying lunch-style choice, Lisa's granola bowl provided a lighter option, and Regan managed to turn breakfast into something approaching a three-course meal.

Would we return? Absolutely.

We'll just make sure to get on the waitlist before we leave church.