A new First Watch cafe is headed to World Golf Village, with the breakfast-and-lunch chain planning to open its doors at 11527 St. Johns Parkway in late spring 2027. The roughly 4,000-square-foot restaurant will seat more than 170 guests, feature a covered patio and a locally inspired mural, and is expected to create about 30 jobs in St. Johns County.
The project was first reported by a company representative speaking to the Jacksonville Daily Record, which detailed the cafe's size, seating capacity and planned amenities. The restaurant will serve First Watch's core menu, including dishes like avocado toast, lemon ricotta pancakes and million dollar bacon, and will run on the brand's signature single-shift schedule from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. First Watch typically begins hiring for a new location about a month before it opens, per the same account.
A Single-Shift Chain on a Growth Tear
First Watch's daytime-only model is part of its corporate identity. The chain operates under a No Night Shifts Ever policy designed to cut staffing overhead and attract hospitality workers who want predictable hours, according to IPOScoop. That structure has helped fuel rapid expansion nationwide: the company now operates more than 660 restaurants across 33 states, the Daily Record's report notes.
Founded in Pacific Grove, California, in 1983 by Ken Pendery and John Sullivan, First Watch moved its headquarters to Florida in 1986 and now runs from a 39,000-square-foot standalone office in Bradenton, according to background compiled by Wikipedia. The co-founders reportedly chose the name in reference to the early morning shift aboard a ship. Florida remains the chain's deepest market, with 147 locations statewide, including eight cafes in the broader Jacksonville area, per location data compiled by ScrapeHero.
The company's financial numbers back up its expansion pace. First Watch, which trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker FWRG, reported fiscal year 2025 total revenue of $1.22 billion, a 20.3% jump over the prior year, while opening 64 new system-wide restaurants, as reported by Stock Titan. Industry coverage from Restaurant Business Online in December 2025 pegged the chain's annual unit growth rate at 9.2%, calling it the fastest-growing major full-service restaurant brand in the country even as many family-dining concepts stalled.
World Golf Village in Transition
The new cafe arrives as World Golf Village undergoes a broader commercial shift. St. Johns County issued a request for proposals in June 2025 to redevelop the former World Golf Hall of Fame building after the hall relocated its exhibits to Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 2024 following 26 years in St. Augustine, as Hoodline previously reported on the county's search for redevelopment partners. Open questions remain about how the county intends to redevelop the core Hall of Fame facilities and how St. Johns Parkway's infrastructure will handle the growing commercial traffic.
Meanwhile, legacy dining anchors in the area have struggled. Murray Bros. Caddyshack closed its World Golf Village location this past June after 25 years in operation. That exit left a gap in the area's dining scene even as new corporate concepts like First Watch move in.
Retail Boom Fuels Daytime Dining Demand
Just down the corridor, developers filed a master development plan in August for Legends Landing, a 40-acre retail project in World Commerce Center that will include a 140,500-square-foot big-box store and 10 outparcels, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. Stiles Retail Group and partners acquired more than 93 developable acres at the site for $45 million in February, the outlet reported.
The commercial buildout tracks with explosive population growth in St. Johns County. The county added 13,000 residents between 2024 and 2025, a 3.9% annual increase that brought its 10-year growth rate to 52.8%, per USAFacts. An IRS tax-data study published by St. Johns Citizen found that households moving into the county between 2019 and 2023 generated $4.54 billion more in annual adjusted gross income than those leaving, with net income migration peaking above $1.1 billion in 2020. That purchasing power helps explain why fast-casual and daytime-dining brands keep targeting the corridor.
