What First Watch Restaurant Group does

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. is the leading U.S. daytime dining restaurant chain, operating 648 system-wide locations (572 company-owned and 76 franchise-owned) across 32 states as of Q1 2026. The company serves made-to-order breakfast, brunch, and lunch daily from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. through dine-in, pickup, and third-party delivery. Its menu is built around the proprietary "Follow the Sun" culinary philosophy, with chef-driven seasonal rotations (approximately five per year), a fresh juice platform (Kale Tonic, Watermelon Wake-Up), and a Crafted Cocktail platform rolled out to over 300 restaurants. Signature items include Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Quinoa Power Bowl, and Million Dollar Bacon, supported by supplier partnerships such as Jones Dairy Farm and Mike's Hot Honey.

The core technology stack is conventional restaurant operations technology: POS-enabled ordering, a digital marketing platform for customer acquisition, and integrations with third-party delivery marketplaces. There is no public-facing API, app, or disclosed AI/ML capability; the company is primarily a physical retail operator with a growing digital layer.

The business model is transaction-based restaurant sales plus a small franchise royalty stream. Total revenue reached $1.2 billion in 2025 (up 20.3% YoY) and system-wide sales were $1.4 billion. Franchise revenues contributed $10.3 million in 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was $120.9 million in 2025 with restaurant-level operating margin of 18.5% in Q1 2026 (up from 16.5% a year earlier). Pricing is set at the unit level and is not publicly disclosed. The company sells to mass-market daytime diners, with a secondary family segment served by a kids' meal program that has raised over $2.1 million for the V Foundation's pediatric cancer research. The company completed its IPO on NASDAQ at $18 per share on September 30, 2021 under ticker FWRG; sponsor Advent International has been exiting via secondary offerings since late 2025.

Name

First Watch Restaurant Group

Legal name

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc.

Website

https://investors.firstwatch.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

First Watch Restaurant Group operates the leading U.S. daytime dining chain, serving made-to-order breakfast, brunch, and lunch across 648 system-wide restaurants in 32 states under a primarily company-owned model. It generates revenue through restaurant transactions and franchise royalties, with a chef-driven seasonal menu differentiated by its "Follow the Sun" philosophy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Daytime Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (7225)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Breakfast & Brunch Fast Casual (THAFABAL)

Keywords

• Daytime dining restaurants
• Breakfast brunch lunch
• Casual dining chain
• Seasonal menu programs
• Company-owned restaurants

Headquarters

HQ city

University Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Sales: Revenue from company-owned restaurants serving made-to-order breakfast, brunch, and lunch. Total revenues increased 20.3% to $1.2 billion in 2025 from $1.0 billion in 2024. System-wide sales reached $1.4 billion in 2025.
2. Franchise Revenues: Revenue from franchise-owned restaurants including royalties and fees. Franchise revenues were $10.3 million in 2025. The company operates 73 franchise-owned restaurants across 32 states.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

First Watch Restaurant Group operates a chain of more than 640 daytime dining restaurants across 32 U.S. states serving made-to-order breakfast, brunch, and lunch under its "Follow the Sun" chef-driven culinary philosophy. The company earns revenue primarily through restaurant sales at company-owned locations, supplemented by royalties and fees from a smaller franchise base, with menu items including signature offerings such as Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Quinoa Power Bowl, Million Dollar Bacon, and fresh juices like the Kale Tonic.

Product overview

First Watch Restaurant Group operates as the leading Daytime Dining concept in the United States, serving made-to-order breakfast, brunch, and lunch through a company-owned restaurant model. The core First Watch brand (640+ locations in 32 states) is supported by a rotating Seasonal Menu Program following its 'Follow the Sun' culinary philosophy, a Fresh Juice Platform (Kale Tonic, Watermelon Wake-Up), and a Crafted Cocktail Platform. The company also offers Kids' Meals with charitable donations. Menu items include signature offerings like Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Quinoa Power Bowl, Million Dollar Bacon, and the Million Dollar Breakfast Sandwich.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• First Watch Daytime Dining Restaurant Concept Made-to-order breakfast, brunch, and lunch served at company-owned restaurants operating from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. across 32 U.S. states under the "Follow the Sun" culinary philosophy, offering elevated executions of classic favorites, fresh juices like Kale Tonic, and signature items such as Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Quinoa Power Bowl, and Million Dollar Bacon.
• Summer 2026 Seasonal Menu Limited-time seasonal summer menu launched across First Watch restaurants, featuring on-trend brunch favorites and the Watermelon Wake-Up fresh juice.
• New Year 2026 Seasonal Menu Limited-time new year seasonal menu offering brunch favorites and new flavors across First Watch restaurants.
• Major Menu Redesign Major restaurant-menu redesign in nearly a decade, including the new seasonal menu program structure.

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieved 3.6% same-restaurant sales growth in 2025 with positive same-restaurant traffic of 0.5%
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• V Foundation for Cancer ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Since 2022, First Watch has donated a portion from every kid's meal sold to the V Foundation's Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. Partnership has raised over $2.1 million to date. Company also sponsors the annual Dick Vitale Gala and collaborates on awareness and funding efforts.
• Mike's Hot HoneycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership featuring Mike's Hot Honey on menu items including the Million Dollar Breakfast Sandwich. Mike's Hot Honey founder Mike Kurtz cited as saying they are 'proud to partner with someone who takes flavor as seriously as we do.'

Scale indicators20 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Texas Roadhouse:
• Darden Restaurants: Largest full-service restaurant operator in the U.S. (Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, etc.); First Watch's CFO and Chief People Officer both previously held leadership roles at Darden, and it is a relevant broad-based comparable.
• Bloomin' Brands: Multi-concept casual dining parent (Outback, Carrabba's, Bonefish, Fleming's); First Watch's incoming CFO and SVP of Supply Chain both came from Bloomin' Brands, and it serves as a public-company peer benchmark.
• Dine Brands International: Public parent of IHOP and Applebee's; provides a directly comparable public-company proxy for breakfast-focused franchised casual dining economics relevant to First Watch.

Direct peers

• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: Casual dining chain with a strong breakfast daypart offering; CEO Tomasso previously led strategic branding and marketing at Cracker Barrel, making it a direct operational and menu comparison to First Watch.
• Denny's Corporation: Iconic breakfast-focused family dining chain operating 1,500+ restaurants, the closest direct competitor in breakfast daypart casual dining and a primary alternative for First Watch's target customer.
• IHOP (Dine Brands International): Breakfast-focused casual dining chain and the most direct competitor to First Watch in the premium breakfast/brunch daypart; both compete for the same brunch occasion consumer.
• Waffle House: Iconic breakfast-and-daypart 24/7 chain with 1,900+ locations concentrated in the U.S. Southeast; directly competes for breakfast traffic and offers a relevant operating model benchmark.

Emerging players

• Another Broken Egg Café: Specialty breakfast, brunch and lunch franchise concept with ~80+ locations competing for the elevated brunch occasion; closely comparable in menu and price point to First Watch.
• Black Bear Diner: Causal dining chain specializing in breakfast and comfort food with ~150 locations; comparable in daypart focus, family orientation and per-check economics to First Watch.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/first_watch
• Facebookfacebook.com/firstwatch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/first-watch-restaurant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Watch Restaurant Group