First Watch serves up more growth

UNIVERSITY PARK — The fast growth at breakfast, brunch and lunch chain First Watch continues this week, with a new store opening in Orlando and a new location announcement for southeast Florida.

The Orlando location is in Mills Park, according to a release. It's the eighth Orlando-area restaurant, and the 42nd in Florida for the east Manatee County-based chain. The restaurant occupies space within a freestanding outparcel building in a Fresh Market-anchored retail center and features a patio for outdoor dining, the company says.

In addition to Orlando, the company announced plans to open its eighth location in southeast Florida in early 2014. This restaurant will be in a Publix-anchored retail center, the Sea Ranch Center, in Broward County. The 3,949-square-foot location, in a space formerly occupied by the Sea Ranch Diner, will undergo a complete renovation, the company says, including the addition of a patio.

“Southeast Florida is a great market for us,” Tomasso says in a release, “and given the recent success of our other openings in the region, we continue to explore opportunities to expand.”

First Watch, named a 2013 “Next 20” emerging brand by Nation's Restaurant News, has more than 110 restaurants in 15 states.