Walking On in Houston
Drew Brees-backed sports bar picks first 2 Houston-area locations
Houstonians have plenty of sports bar options, but enterprising operators continue to see the city as fertile ground for new concepts. Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar, a Louisiana-based restaurant that counts New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees as one of its owners, is starting to fulfill the promise it made two years ago to open eight to 10 Houston-area locations.
The first two Walk-On's will arrive in Spring and Katy in the first quarter of 2019, a representative tells CultureMap. While the Spring location is still TBA, the Katy location will be at Katy Grand. Local real estate developer New Quest is expanding the Cinemark-anchored shopping center to include Japanese book and gifts store Kinokuniya, Taiwan-based bakery and coffee shop 85°C Bakery Cafe, and another location of Kura Revolving Sushi.
While all of those businesses are Asian, Walk-On's brings a decidedly Louisiana vibe. The Cajun spelling gets backed with a full menu of fried seafood platters, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, and wraps. Offerings include po'boys, gumbo, fried alligator, boudin balls, fried oysters, and crawfish etouffee. Even the bread pudding is made with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
The bar's combination of food and atmosphere led ESPN to name it the best sports bar in America in 2012. It already has Texas locations in Lubbock, San Antonio, and Tyler with plans to come to Dallas and Waco.
Heather Nguyen and Rebecca Le of NewQuest Properties represented the landlord. Jeff Hayes and Caroline Daggett of NewQuest Properties and MacKenzie Landry and Charlie Colvin of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate represented Walk-On's.
