Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux Shares More Prototype Details

Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux is offering a more detailed look at the inner workings of the streamlined prototype it announced in August. The first such store is set to open early next year at 8150 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, La.

The “next-generation sports bar model,” designed by Madrid-based restaurant design firm Livit, is for smaller 3,500- to 4,500-square-foot stores, and aims to help operators maximize space, improve operations and create a more engaging guest experience. A traditional Walk-On’s spans 7,000- to 8,000-plus-square-feet, while the Baton Rouge store is approximately 3,688 square feet and will seat 125 guests.

In the back-of-house, new clamshell griddles, among other equipment add-ons, aims to simplify training, improve consistency and reduce ticket times without losing the ability to serve Walk-On’s full menu, notes the release. Out front, the bar remains the center of the restaurant, with a peninsula-style configuration that can adapt to different layouts. Additionally, pickup cubbies near the hostess stand will fill off-premise orders without disrupting restaurant flow.

Rather than having one fixed layout, the new design is built as a flexible “kit of parts,” allowing franchisees to select or add key elements based on market, site and personal preference, notes the release. Renderings Courtesy of Livit.

The prototype builds on lessons from Walk-On’s existing restaurants, including its 3,700-square-foot location at The Battery in Atlanta. The Battery demonstrated that Walk-On’s can successfully deliver its full menu and sports-bar experience in a more compact, inline format, notes the release, so the brand is applying those learnings to a “purpose-built prototype” designed to give franchisees more options.

“We wanted to rethink what the Walk-On’s experience can look like without losing what makes us Walk-On’s,” says Brandon Landry, CEO and co-founder of Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux. “The new design gives our franchisees more flexibility in where and how they build, while keeping the energy, hospitality and community connection our guests know and love.”

Founded in 2003 in Baton Rouge by LSU Basketball walk-ons Landry and Jack Warner, Walk-On’s now has more than 80 locations nationwide.