First Watch

First Watch's Florida stores average -0.27 high-priority violations per routine inspection relative to their county baseline (95% interval -0.36 to -0.17), below the county baseline. Rank 1 of 9 breakfast and family brands, counted from furthest below the baseline.

-0.27vs county baseline, 95% interval -0.36 to -0.17

0.90 vs 1.17raw high-priority violations per routine inspection vs the baseline its stores face

143stores in 32 counties, 729 routine inspections, FY2023-24 to FY2025-26

The food: where these dishes come from

First Watch is known for avocado toast and pancakes. The stories are about the dishes, not the brand, and live on PlateTales.

By fiscal year

Relative to the county baseline, first visits of routine inspections. Open circle and * = fiscal year in progress (data as of 2026-11-09). Hover a point for n.

Most-cited violation codes

Citations per 100 routine inspections, First Watch vs all Florida inspections, FY2023-24 to FY2025-26 (n = 729). Descriptions are DBPR's.
Code	DBPR description	First Watch	Florida	Ratio
03	Food Out of Temperature	35.1	35.0	1.00x
12	Hands washed and clean, good hygienic practices, eating/drinking/smoking	31.6	23.0	1.37x
31	Toilet and hand-washing facilities, number, convenient, designed, installed	31.6	42.0	0.75x
24	Storage/handling of clean equipment, utensils	25.7	10.5	2.44x
08	Food protection, cross-contamination	24.8	48.1	0.52x

Outcomes

10.4% vs 19.6%routine inspections that needed a callback visit, vs all Florida (raw)

0.00% vs 1.01%routine inspections ending in an emergency order recommendation, vs all Florida (raw)

79%of 140 stores with 2+ inspections score below their county baseline after shrinkage toward the brand mean

Emergency closures

No First Watch store appears in DBPR's weekly closure extracts (2025-12-29 to 2026-11-06).

Other breakfast and family brands

Ranked breakfast and family brands, FY2023-24 to FY2025-26.
Rank	Brand	vs county	95% interval	Stores
1	First Watch	-0.27	-0.36 to -0.17	143
2	Cracker Barrel	+0.14	-0.05 to +0.34	60
3	Bob Evans	+0.17	-0.01 to +0.37	38
4	Waffle House	+0.21	+0.10 to +0.31	191
5	Denny's	+0.25	+0.12 to +0.39	123
6	Golden Corral	+0.29	-0.04 to +0.63	32
7	IHOP	+0.31	+0.15 to +0.48	84
8	Perkins	+0.79	+0.48 to +1.11	30
9	Keke's Breakfast Cafe	+0.79	+0.53 to +1.06	68

Look up a single First Watch location

First Watch elsewhere

First Watch franchise costs and FDD: FranchiseLens Where First Watch locates: PlazaLens

Store-level matching: a store counts for First Watch when its DBPR business name matches the reviewed aliases in InspectLens's brand list. Co-branded units (for example KFC with Taco Bell) are not counted for either brand.