Dive Brief:
- First Watch terminated Chief Operations Officer Dan Jones on Friday, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Jones had been with the company for more than four years, after a five-year stint as COO at Cava. He previously spent over 14 years in various leadership positions at Starbucks, according to his LinkedIn profile.
- The move is part of a restructuring of First Watch’s operations leadership, per the filing.
Dive Insight:
Jones joined the chain around the time of its IPO in October 2021, and oversaw its rapid expansion across the country from 435 units in 2021 to 633 units in 2025. The brand thanked Jones for his “substantial contributions during a transformational period for the company” and “wished him well on his future endeavors” in the filing.
“Our company remains focused and well‑positioned for the future,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive. “Our strategy, commitments and long‑term priorities remain unchanged.”
The company’s operations team will now report directly to First Watch President and CEO Chris Tomasso.
“We have a talented leadership team in place and dedicated employees who continue to drive our mission forward every day,” the spokesperson wrote. “Together, we are maintaining business continuity and staying fully aligned on delivering value for our customers, partners and stakeholders.”
First Watch is also going through a shift in its financial leadership, searching for a successor for Chief Financial Officer Mel Hope, who will retire once a replacement has been found.
Other chains have eliminated their chief operations officers in the recent past, including Starbucks and Jack in the Box. Both hired COOs as part of transformation efforts in subsequent quarters.
First Watch is among a handful of major chains to manage four-straight quarters of same-store sales growth in 2025. Last year, it also opened the highest number of units in a single year in the chain’s history, with 64 new restaurants. It has been working on improving menu navigation, as well as removing single-use SKUs, to reduce complexity for back-of-house staff, according to its most recent earnings call.
