First Watch, a popular breakfast chain based in Florida, is making its New England debut with a new Massachusetts location.
First Watch’s Hanover restaurant is slated to open on Jan. 20, 2025.
Located in Hanover Crossing, the 3,500-square-foot restaurant will offer 118 seats, a covered patio and indoor/outdoor bar.
The address for the restaurant is 1775 Washington St., Suite 700. Once this location opens, First Watch will have more than 540 restaurants in 30 states.
First Watch, the Florida-based breakfast chain, is making its Massachusetts debut in January.First Watch
First Watched formally announced that the company was setting up shop in New England earlier this year, according to Chief Brand Officer Matt Eisenacher. He said First Watch was getting “a ton of outreach from people in New England,” so the company wanted to cater to residents’ needs.
“Breakfast is very different in the Northeast,” Eisenacher said. “We really just don’t think there’s many doing breakfast like we do, and that was the biggest reason for us coming to the Boston area.”
First Watch was founded in Pacific Grove, California in 1983. The company later moved its headquarters to Bradenton, Florida in 1986 and is now headquartered in Sarasota.
First Watch sets itself apart by being a chef-driven brand that serves freshly prepared meals.
The chain’s seasonal menu changes five times a year and features signature dishes such as the Quinoa Power Bowl, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Chickichanga.
“We try to time when we use certain ingredients and the rotating seasonal menu is part of that freshness,” Eisenacher said.
“We have some of the favorites that you’d love,” he added. “But we do try to push the envelope a little bit and be a little bit more progressive with culinary trends by what we introduce through that seasonal program.”
First Watch’s fresh juice program is a company staple, as well. The juices are made in-house every morning and change based on the season.
Examples include the Morning Meditation, Kale Tonic and Purple Haze. Another juice, called Red Medicine, has developed a “cult following,” according to Eisenacher.
First Watch, the Florida-based breakfast chain, is making its Massachusetts debut in January.First Watch
“That’s one that we’ve had before during the holiday period and people have just gone crazy for it and asked for it to come back,” he explained. “So that’s one that’s on the menu for this holiday period, as well.”
First Watch also has a cocktail menu with drinks such as the Million Dollar Bloody Mary, Spiked Lavender Lemonade and Cinnamon Toast Cereal Milk.
In addition, First Watch strives to make every location unique to the community and “a place to gather within our individual neighborhoods,” according to Eisenacher.
For example, every First Watch has a mural designed by a local artist. This will be the case in Hanover.
“People don’t come to you because you have a lot of locations. They don’t care about the other locations they have,” Eisenacher said. “They care about the one that’s in their neighborhood. And so we try very hard to make sure that each one has a local feel and it’s connected into the neighborhood.”
First Watch will also host a pre-opening friends-and-family event for the Hanover location that will raise money for cancer care and research in the Boston area.
More information about First Watch can be found on the chain’s website.
