New Daytime Dining Restaurant Concept Enters DC Market; Florida's First Watch Restaurants to Develop More Than 15 Locations in Virginia and Maryland.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- First Watch Restaurants, Inc., specializing in daytime dining with unique breakfast, brunch and lunch creations freshly prepared to order, has announced plans to develop more than 15 restaurants in the Washington, DC market.

First Watch will open its initial location around August 28 in Fairfax, Va. at 9600 Main Street at Fair City Mall. A second restaurant in Baltimore, Md., in the Pikesville Shopping Center, at 1431 Reistertown Road, will open later this year. Locations in Herndon, Va. and Rockville, Md. will follow in 2007.

"We expect First Watch to thrive in this sophisticated area," said First Watch President and CEO Ken Pendery. "It's a significant market that should ultimately be able to support between 15 and 18 First Watch restaurants."

The Bradenton, Fla.-based restaurant company plans to build company-owned and operated restaurants in the territory during the next four to five years. Plans also call for starting to develop the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa. markets in 2007. Typically between 3,500 and 4,000 square feet, the restaurants are often built in upscale shopping centers.

First Watch tends to win "Best Breakfast" and "Best Business Breakfast" designations in the various communities it serves. "Customers appreciate the fresh food, the presentation and the consistently outstanding service," Pendery said. "We aim to be the best breakfast, brunch and lunch establishment in this area, too."

One signature dish is Crepeggs (thin, sweet crepes layered with fluffy whipped eggs and flavored with ingredients such as: smoked turkey, fresh mushrooms, spinach, spicy chicken, and peppers). First Watch's culinary flair is evident in other popular items, such as its Eggs Benedict, the Chickichanga (think Chimichanga with eggs and spicy chicken), the Beefeater sandwich (thickly-sliced roast beef on parmesan-crusted sour dough) and the Power Wrap fluffy egg whites, smoked turkey, spinach and mushrooms in a sun-dried tomato basil wrap.

The rapidly-growing company currently has 61 restaurants in Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. Each new restaurant creates between 25 and 30 new jobs, and First Watch employs more than 1,400 and has projected annual total system sales of $65 million for 2006, making it one of the largest daytime-only restaurant companies in the country. For menus and more information see http://www.firstwatch.com.