Walk-On’s Doing Well

[LSUDad]

Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar Is Making A Dent In The Sports Bar Competition

Gary SternContributor

Food & Drink

I cover the restaurant industry.

 

The Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar located in Gonzales, Louisiana.COURTESY OF WALK-ONS

A college athlete who makes a sports team as a walk-on has to work much harder than the scholarship players who are guaranteed spots. Brandon Landry, founder of Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, named his sports bar on the fact that he was a walk-on player on the Louisiana State University basketball team.

Landry opened the first Walk-On’s restaurant in 2003 near LSU’s Tiger Stadium. When Drew Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, who wasn’t a walk-on player, gained familiarity with it, he invested in it and joined Walk-On’s as a partner.

Since then, Walk-On’s has expanded to 28 locations, all franchised, and it’s growing fast. In 2018, it opened eight locations, four more were added in 2019, and it’s on target to add 13 more franchises later this year.

While other sports bars have faced some declines, according to Technomic’s list of the top 500 U.S.-based restaurant chains, Walk-on’s revenue spiked a healthy 56% in 2018.

It’s currently located in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina and is slated to add Florida in the summer.

Though considered a sports bar, it prides itself on innovative food, such as voodoo shrimp, char-grilled jumbo gulf shrimp stuffed with cream cheese, and pickled jalapeños wrapped in bacon. Its average entrée costs around $21, and average dinner check is $33.

 

But Yelp customers also responded to its basic sports bar fare. One praised the “waffled bacon cheese fries, mozzarella sticks, grilled chicken platter and bread pudding.”

Here’s what founder Brandon Landry said about Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar’s growth:

So why did your revenue rise 56% in 2018?

 

 

Landry: As we opened around the country, we’ve seen our volumes increasing. By opening new locations through franchising, our opening volumes are growing as the brand grows. In 2012, we were named New Orleans’ number one sports bar and restaurant. We’re a restaurant that happens to have sports. Along with burger and beers and sports bar food, we have gumbo and fresh gulf seafood.

Besides opening new franchises, what are you doing to boost same store sales?

Landry: It’s all about our quality. Typically sports bar are known for having guys who hang out. You drink beer, watch a game and, if you’re hungry, you get something to eat. We’ve broken the mold of being a traditional sports bar. Our guests are coming in to eat first. In fact, our revenue is based on 70% food and 30% alcohol. At lunch, we have people coming in where there are no sports on TV.

You named it Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar to illustrate your background as a walk-on collegiate athlete. What does this say about your restaurant’s culture?

Landry: It says a lot. Everyone has a little bit of being a walk-on. Everyone wants to be the underdog. But it has to do with the true love of the game and putting a team before yourself. As a walk-on, I knew I wasn’t going to play on Saturday against Kentucky. But I knew from my commitment that I was making the team better.

You’ve opted to franchise locations to boost revenue exclusively without owning any of them. Why?

Landry: It wasn’t all economics. That was part of it. More important, it was having that true partner in these cities and towns that we wanted to grow in, and someone who would represent our brand the right way. We’re not selling markets to everyone who shows up with a checkbook. You have to fit our system and treat people right. 

How do you maintain quality when you’re totally dependent on franchisees?

Landry: We invested in infrastructure in the very beginning. Our first franchise had all the support and resources of (what will be) our 30th. Our franchisees are our partners. We only have 10 stores under each regional coach; some franchisers have 30 or 40. We work with them day-to-day on P&L, operations and everything we need to be successful.

How did Drew Brees get involved?

Landry: He would stop in to our New Orleans location two blocks from the Superdome. He called me and said, “If I were to open my own sport bar, I wouldn’t change a thing.” I’d never met him before but he asked to meet with me. He said he’d love to be a partner. He bought 25% of the company. Even though he got a scholarship, he understands team mentality. When time permits, when we go into a new market, he’ll visit. We just opened in Dallas, the home of the Cowboys, and people came to meet and greet Drew. He promotes the brand in person and on social media, with millions of his followers.

You have very ambitious plans of opening 100 Walk-On’s, which is four times what you have. Why?

Landry: I’m an ambitious person. People thought it was crazy to go from one and double it to two. There’s no certain number we’re after, but we’re looking for the right franchise partners. We’ve had some franchisers who opened one, then gone to two, then four or eight. It steers itself.

You offer signature dishes like voodoo shrimp, blackened mahi mahi and bayou pasta, not just wings. Why?

Landry: That’s the point of differentiation. We were born in South Louisiana and what is that and New Orleans known for: its cuisine. We don’t call it Cajun food, but the voodoo shrimp signifies South Louisiana.

What if a customer wants to eat a healthy meal? What are their options?

Landry: We have many options including grilled chicken, chicken pecan salads, salmon dishes, chicken avocado sandwiches. Our customer base is 50% female and 50% male.

Two years from today?

Landry: We’ll be around 60 restaurants and maybe 70, depending on development. We’ll be in 16 or 18 states, and there could be some international development. 

Describe the three keys to Walk-On’s future success.

Landry: First and foremost, the right franchise partners; making sure we’re food first, and our culture is of the utmost importance, and that involves human capital, and treating people the right way.

[dachsie]

They started building one less than a 1/2 mile from my house. Can’t wait for it to open

[houtiger]

Hatcher and I had dinner at the one on Kaliste Saloom Rd. in Lafayette and it was very good.  Dachs, it should be a big hit in College Station; when my daughter was there the good options were limited.

[dachsie]

Oh we have all kinds of new places now.  Its not the same place it was 10 years ago

[LSUDad]

11 hours ago, dachsie said:

Oh we have all kinds of new places now.  Its not the same place it was 10 years ago

I had started going to College Station back in the early 90’s for Industrial Fire Training. There was little to nothing there. Jason’s Deli was one of the few places, along with a steakhouse in Shook, Tx. A few of my friends in the coaching profession are friends with Joe Tortorice, the founder of Jason’s Deli, they have a large tailgate party every game, a former Delta pilot is also in that group of tailgaters, I met him back in the early 90’s. I’m invited anytime there’s a game in College Station. The third week of football season, Lamar will play aTm, a friend of mine is the OC at Lamar, going to try and make that one, stop by the tailgate. The OC for Lamar and Jimbo worked on the same staff at Auburn back in the mid 90’s, on the staff with Terry Bowden. 

Last trip to the station, a friend of mine and I flew in his plane from Tomball Airport to the airport there. The airport will provide you with a loaner car, we drove around got something to eat, then flew back. Took 20 mins to fly back, nice flight. 

The bigger mistake there, having the fire training grounds next to the Airport. The bigger mistake is in Lamar/Beaumont, having theirs right next to I-10, making it almost impossible to fight a large fire, putting too much black smoke across the interstate. 

 

[Nutriaitch]

so we had some excitement at Walk-On's in Houma thursday night.

as a word of advice, if you and the GM have a verbal agreement on the pricing for reserving a room, RECORD THE CONVERSATION (or get it in writing).

[Fishhead]

Interesting

[LSUDad]

Brandon Landry's new restaurant scheduled to open on Perkins this spring. Walk-On's founder Brandon Landry. Originally planned for late 2021 or early 2022, Brandon Landry's new restaurant concept on Perkins Road is now scheduled to open in April.