30-year-old concept with more than 200 “Best Ofs” Opens in Derby City
Local restaurateur Tom Longshore and his partners Gary Holland and Ron Rosen opened Louisville’s first First Watch restaurant today at 201 South Hurstbourne Parkway. The award-winning restaurant, which was founded in 1983, features traditional Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch favorites alongside fresh, one-of-a-kind recipes made using only the finest ingredients such as cage-free eggs, house-made granola and salsa, house-roasted vegetables and 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice. The restaurant will also serve its exclusive Sunrise Select Premium Blend Coffee, which is made from slow-roasted, hand-selected, high-grown coffee beans from mountains across the Americas.
The new First Watch is part of an agreement with Kentucky-based Holland Rosen Group to open seven First Watch restaurants in the Louisville and Lexington markets. The group has already opened three restaurants in Lexington since September 2012 and has now set its sights on expanding into and throughout Louisville. Longshore, who brought Skyline Chili to Louisville with his family in 1987, is a partner in Holland Rosen Group and has now fulfilled his dream of diversifying his restaurant portfolio in Louisville to include Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch.
“Louisville is home. We raised our children here, and we’ve worked and lived here for as long as I can remember,” said Longshore. “After experiencing First Watch in Lexington, I knew immediately that our friends and neighbors in Louisville would appreciate their fresh approach to Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch.”
“We’re very excited about our expansion into Louisville,” said Gary Holland of Holland Rosen Group, LLC. “People have been driving all the way to Lexington for their favorite First Watch dishes, and the number of requests we have received from customers asking us to bring our unique approach to Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch to Louisville has been overwhelming. We’re glad that we were able to answer their requests and fill a much-needed gap in the marketplace.”
The restaurant occupies a free-standing, newly built 4,100-square-foot building on the corner of South Hursbourne Parkway and Shelbyville Road next to Goodwill, and it is part of a new generation of First Watch restaurants with an Urban Farm design that combines big-city elements with a small-town farm feel that’s sure to make every guest feel at home.
First Watch serves its entire menu seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. The restaurant also offers guests complimentary newspapers and free Wi-Fi Internet access.
For First Watch franchise information, please visit http://www.firstwatch.com/franchise/.
First Watch specializes in award-winning, made-to-order Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch. A recipient of more than 200 “Best Breakfast” and “Best Brunch” accolades, First Watch offers traditional favorites, such as omelets, pancakes, sandwiches and salads, and unique specialty items like the fan-favorite Chickichanga and Fresh Fruit Crepes. Named a 2013 “Next 20” Emerging Brand by Nation’s Restaurant News, a 2014 Top Franchise Value by FSR Magazine and the recipient of the 2014 Menu Masters Award for Best Healthful Innovation for its Quinoa Power Bowl, First Watch is the largest and fastest-growing daytime-only restaurant concept in the U.S. with more than 120 restaurants in 17 states. It also operates 19 restaurants under The Good Egg name in Arizona and one Bread & Company restaurant in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.firstwatch.com.
