First Watch: a menu to fill you with holiday cheer

At First Watch, they start bright and early each morning preparing exceptional ingredients to deliver fresh breakfast, brunch and lunch made to order.

And now that their holiday menu has arrived, there are even more delicious reasons to visit your neighborhood First Watch restaurant.

There’s no better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a healthy and delicious meal cooked fresh for you. First Watch welcomes each season with ingredients and flavors inspired by the position of the sun. And right now, that means a holiday menu featuring recipes infused with warm and inviting spices.

At First Watch they like to say they obsess a bit over their ingredients…and it shows. Just one bite of these special seasonal offerings will fill you with good cheer. Stop in and see why these dishes made it to the nice list this year.

Start off your meal with a fresh and festive Cranberry Crush juice, a tangy blend of cranberry, Fuji apple, lemon, cane sugar and cinnamon.

Fuel your holiday errands by indulging in the Barbacoa Breakfast Burrito— savory braised beef Barbacoa, scrambled cage-free eggs, fresh seasoned potatoes, black beans and Cheddar and Monterey

Jack cheeses. Wrapped in a grilled whole wheat tortilla, covered with red chile hollandaise and topped with lime crema, housemade pico de gallo, fresh smashed avocado, Cotija cheese and cilantro, it’s the perfect hearty start to a busy day.

Or, treat yourself to the Cinnamon Chip Pancake Breakfast, a holiday favorite at First Watch. Featuring two cage-free eggs cooked any style with a cinnamon chip pancake and your choice of hardwood smoked bacon or all-natural chicken, pork or turkey sausage.

Hash out your holiday shopping list over the Pork Green Chile Hash. Featuring hand-shredded pork shoulder tossed with freshly seasoned potatoes, Monterey Jack, fire-roasted green chile sauce and lime crema. Topped with two cage-free eggs cooked any style, housepickled red onions and cilantro. Served with warm wheat-corn tortillas and freshly cut lime.

And, an order of Gingerbread Spiced Donuts is sure to get you in a holiday mood—donut holes tossed with gingerbread spice and lightly dusted with cinnamon powered sugar, served with salted caramel toffee sauce and crème anglaise.

Great service

Amanda Lehmann, Director of Operations can be found cooking, hosting and guiding her staff in best practices at any time in her numerous First Watch locations (two in Springfield, one in Joplin, one in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri; and now three in Northwest Arkansas).

“Serving people is the best part about working for First Watch,” Amanda notes. “I love being in customer service, and having the fresh food focus just feels right. It feels good to me.”

Farm to fork freshness

There are so many inventive and intriguing dishes to explore at First Watch. Corporate Chef Shane Schaibly is always keeping things fun and fresh, farm to fork. Everything here is made from scratch, in house, from their French Toast batter and baked goods to veggies sliced and juices squeezed Fresh. Every. Day.

Indulge in First Watch classics like the Tri-Fecta: Two fresh cage-free eggs any style with either a light and airy Belgian waffle or a multigrain pancake. Plus your choice of bacon, chicken sausage patty, turkey or pork sausage link.

Keep it lean with the Tri-Athlete: an egg white omelet with house-roasted Crimini mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and green chilis. Served with housemade pico de gallo, whole grain artisan toast, all-natural house preserves and fresh fruit.

Or, do Avocado Toast the First Watch way: thick-cut whole grain artisan toast, fresh smashed avocado, EVOO, lemon and Maldon sea salt with two cage-free basted eggs.

If something sweet is what you’re craving, treat yourself to First Watch French Toast—custard-dipped, thick-cut brioche bread topped with whipped butter and powered cinnamon sugar. Or how about the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, with fresh, whipped ricotta cheese added to their multigrain batter, topped with marinated berries and creamy lemon curd.

Of course, no First Watch meal is complete without a side of their famous Million Dollar Bacon, baked with brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne and a maple syrup drizzle.

Hit refresh

In addition to this season’s Cranberry Crush, belly up to the juice bar for a refreshing concoction.

Choose Purple Haze, a refreshing and magical blend of lemon, cane sugar, butterfly pea flower tea and a hint of lavender. Or perhaps a little Morning Meditation (orange, lemon, turmeric, organic ginger, agave nectar and beet) or Kale Tonic (kale, Fuji apple, cucumber and lemon.) You can even boost your juice with a wellness shot of vitamins B3, C & D, zinc, echinacea and elderberry.

Pour me a cup

For their signature drip coffee, First Watch wanted a truly special roast, so they ventured to Colombia to find the richest beans and to personally meet the female farmers—the Mujeres en Café— who grow them.

The First Watch team visits and learns from that community, and gives back in ways like improving their schools and investing in their future; and they get some of the world’s best coffee in return.

With each visit to a First Watch restaurant, you’ll be greeted with a smile and a whole pot of their signature, award-winning Project Sunrise coffee to start your day off right. “Better Coffee. Better World.” That’s the Project Sunrise promise.

Start a new season with an oozing egg yolk moment, brunch cheers and a million dollar morning at your neighborhood First Watch.