First Watch restaurant coming to Bailey's Crossroads

A First Watch restaurant in Jacksonville, Fla. [Photos from First Watch]

A First Watch restaurant is coming to 5880 Leesburg Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads. 

The restaurant will occupy a vacant storefront that formerly housed a Next Day Blinds store that moved across the street to the Shops at Bailey’s Crossroads.

First Watch cocktails

“We’re in the early design phases of the space right now, and we’re hoping to open in the summer of 2020,” says spokesperson Eleni Kouvatsos, communications manager at First Watch Restaurants Inc. “We’ll hire about 30 people for the new restaurant.”

The First Watch chain only serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch and is open 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily. The menu features traditional breakfast items, like bacon and eggs, pancakes, and burritos. The lunch menu focuses on sandwiches and salads.

“The new Falls Church restaurant will be our first in the D.C. area to open with our new crafted breakfast cocktails,” Kouvatsos says. “It won’t have a full liquor bar, but it’ll offer brunch classics like Mimosas and Million Dollar Bacon Bloody Marys, in addition to our signature cocktails made with freshly juiced fruits and veggies.”

Avocado toast

Other First Watch restaurants in the D.C. area, including those in Fairfax and Chantilly, do not serve alcohol.

The First Watch company, based in University Park, Fla., has more than 200 locations in 26 states. 

“Our development team is looking at several other potential sites in the D.C. suburbs and throughout the state of Virginia, so you’ll likely be seeing quite a bit more of First Watch in 2020 and 2021,” Kouvatsos says.

The name “First Watch,” reflects the restaurants’ early hours. First Watch is a nautical reference to the first work shift aboard a ship.