First Watch expands in Atlanta

BRADENTON — First Watch Restaurants Inc. announced it has acquired two J. Christopher's restaurants and the rights to purchase the brand, concept and intellectual property associated with them. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The two restaurants, located in Smyrna, Ga., and Johns Creek, Ga., were owned by the Atlanta-based company, which also specializes in the breakfast-lunch segment. First Watch, headquartered in Lakewood Ranch, says in a release the two eateries will be converted to First Watch restaurants during the next few months.

First Watch President and CEO Ken Pendery says the acquisition fits into the firm's expansion plans for the Atlanta area. “Acquiring these two high-performing J. Christopher's restaurants is an ideal way for us to establish an immediate, solid base upon which we can expand throughout not only Atlanta but Georgia and the rest of the Southeast,” he says in a release.

Founded in 1996, J. Christopher's has 22 locations in the greater Atlanta area, Franklin, Tenn., and Macon, Ga. According to its website, the company plans to add five or six new company-owned restaurants and 20 to 30 franchised restaurants over the next three to four years. The company's president, Dick Holbrook, is the former president and COO of AFC Enterprises, and its COO, Sam Haddock, is a managing partner of a group that owns and operates Moe's Southwest Grill Restaurants.

This story has been corrected to reflect that Holbrook and Haddock will not serve as consultants to First Watch on its Atlanta development for two years.