Eggs Benedict and more brunch offerings at new First Watch

The popularity of breakfast and brunch seems bigger than ever in Delaware. 

New restaurants are helping fuel the desire for the most important meal of the day. Metro Diner, a Florida-based chain, has opened several locations within the past year or so, and the options continue to grow.

First Watch: The Daytime Cafe is another Florida chain, though it started in California, that has put down stakes in Delaware. There are now more than 200 locations in 26 states.

It opened its first First State restaurant about two weeks ago in a new shopping center off Churchmans Road across from Delaware Technical Community College.

First Watch, a nautical term, serves breakfast, brunch and lunch daily from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at its 74 Geoffrey Drive location.

It's a spacious, attractive dining room, that's more cafe than diner, with a combination of booths and tables and hip, Einstein-style pendant lights.  WiFi is free, but if you're old-school about your morning reading, there are several different newspapers hanging near the host stand that you can take to your table.

First Watch has traditional breakfast offerings and daily specials such as cinnamon chip pancakes and "Million Dollar Bacon," hardwood smoked bacon with brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne and a maple syrup drizzle, are written on a large blackboard.

Servers bring and leave pots of Project Sunrise coffee ($2.89 per person) – it's a smooth, strong and single origin coffee from the Huila region of Colombia – along with glass containers of water. 

There's no liquor license, so you can't get a Bloody Mary or mimosa. But the juice bar has a variety of healthy "tonics," such as one blended with kale, Fuji apple, cucumber and lemon. Calorie, carbs, fat and protein counts are listed next to each menu item.

For a new restaurant, the friendly staff were on top of their game. Our server stopped by the table enough to be attentive, but not intrusive. 

There's a wide variety of riffs on classic brunch dishes. We tried the Florentine Benedict ($10.99), two poached, cage-free eggs atop toasted ciabatta. It was nestled in a pile of fresh baby spinach and slices of avocado and vine-ripened tomato. Warm hollandaise covered the eggs that, when they were forked into, oozed a puddle of sunny yellow yolk that mingled with the sauce.

You can get the dish with fried, lightly browned potatoes, but I went with a healthier side of lightly dressed organic mixed greens.

There's a lot to explore on the menu, and judging from the plates being delivered to other tables, portions are hearty.

I'll be back and look forward to a plate of lemon ricotta pancakes, Belgian waffles or maybe a "Power Bowl," packed with quinoa, Italian sausage, house-roasted crimini mushrooms and tomatoes, kale, Parmesan cheese and two eggs.

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Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico