Baton Rouge-based Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar is continuing to expand outside of Louisiana, and has acquired land in Waco for its second restaurant in Texas.
The Waco Tribune reports the chain’s newest restaurant will anchor Legends Crossing, a development near Interstate 35 and West Loop 340. On Friday, Walk-On’s closed on the purchase of two lakefront lots covering 2.8 acres. Construction on an 8,500-square-foot restaurant should start shortly, says Waco real estate agent Jimmy Banks, who markets Legends Crossing.
“The chain is making a strong move into Texas, and a Lubbock-based franchisee has also acquired rights to the Waco market,” says MacKenzie Landry, who helped Walk-On’s find a site in Waco.
Walk-On’s has seen significant growth since it launched a franchising program in October 2014. Though most of the new restaurants have popped up in Louisiana, the restaurant is also aggressively seeking franchisees across the southeast. Its first Texas location opened in Lubbock, and the chain has plans to expand into Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Tennessee, according to its website.
Earlier this month, the Charlotte Business Journal quoted Walk-On’s co-founder Brandon Landry as saying he’s also in talks with a “very interested” franchisee in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“We don’t announce it until it’s signed, sealed and delivered, but we’re very confident we’ll sell that market soon,” Landry said of Charlotte.
Also this month, the franchisees of Ascension Parish’s first Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar purchased 2.5 acres next to the Lagniappe Center at 14635 Airline Highway that’s anchored by Rouses. They hope to have the restaurant open by the end of the year.
