First Watch eats away at Oklahoma competition

First Watch eats away at Oklahoma competition

First Watch, the Lakewood Ranch-based breakfast, brunch and lunch chain, has taken a bite out of the competition: An Oklahoma City-based restaurateur has sold his interest in five IHOP restaurants in order to sign a multi-unit franchise agreement with First Watch.

Ghassan Dabbour, owner of the IHOPs, ate at a First Watch in Kansas City last spring and was instantly hooked. After that meal, Dabbour initiated a series of conversations with First Watch executives that culminated in a mutli-store agreement announced earlier this month. The first of three stores in Oklahoma City is scheduled to open this summer.

“First Watch has set a high standard not seen in any other breakfast and lunch establishment and to me represents the future of the segment,” says Dabbour in a statement. “I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of its growth and success.”

First Watch was founded in California in 1983 and for its first 25 years it grew through company-run stores, to 80 restaurants in 11 states. In 2008 the company began to seek franchisees for the first time, with the goal of adding 20-30 stores by 2012. The company had $82 million in 2008 revenues.