Walk-On's Culture Boosts Staffing, Sales Volume

up this cool idea. Yeah, Like my wife and I owned this time share, Like what do you do with the time share? And like we always had these extra weeks and so we just started thinking about how can we, you know, give out this week like somebody on the team for doing cool stuff. And so we just came up with this idea of Fiestas. It's four games of chance, no skill required. So starts off with um dice and if you make it through that round, then you get

into rock Paper scissors. If you make it past that round, then you get into like war like the card game, like ever gets the most and then it's blackout Bengo and whoever wins Blackout Bengo wins a trip, and all we tell them is like, you're gonna need a passport and sunscreen, or you're gonna need this or that. And then so this year we sent a guy to Putzkana. One of the guys in our it department was just super cool, So just a culture builder. And of course

it's a half day. We started drinking margarita is at like eleven, So I guess that's where the blackout comes from. Yeah, everybody kind of blacks out at the end. But yeah, you blot all your numbers, you get that's great, and we'll get grandma, Yeah, that's awesome, and we'll get more into the culture because I think it's very important to the story here. But uh, for the listeners that don't uh that don't know walk ons, uh, can you talk a little bit about how the chain got started? Sure?

So uh founders were both uh walk ons on the LSU basketball team back in the late nineties, and so if you don't want to walk on as a walk on as a non scholarship athlete. Basically they're the practice squad, they said them. They had the last two seats on the bench. Um, but you know, their job is a practice against the starters to make them great, you know. And uh, you know, Brandon landry Our is our founder and chairman of the board here and I think his stories.

He played twelve minutes a senior year. For the whole season, they didn't play a lot. You know, that's like you're doing super super clean up or either winning really big or just getting destroyed. So like put the walk Ons in,

let them get them in, you know. But what's cool about it is, you know, first off, they figured out real quick they weren't going to play in the NBA um and so came up with this idea, you know, traveling around the country going all these great college campuses in the SEC you know, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and all these campuses had that place to go, you know, right by campus by the football stadium and bat Rouge and LSU didn't have anything on the on the side of

campus where he had all the basket the Maritage Center, the Tiger Stadium, alex Box for baseball, and so they there was this great piece of land that came available to share a private done with the LSU, and Brandon got his dad to like buy it quick. Had this idea for a restaurant, and his dad says it was good real estate. I don't know if my son would ever be a good restaurant tour, but it wasn't a bad investment. So he bought the dirt, you know. And then these guys are in college kind of did this

as a school project. Um, the walk Ons restaurant got to see on the project just because they weren't restaurant guys. Um, you know. And uh, but what was cool the the professor said, hey, if you guys are serious, I like the idea. I'll help you long term put this together in a business plan, which he did. Very cool. Um. Then you know, get out of school. They aped a little bit bartending here there trying to figure out the restaurant business, you know, started going to banks the finance

kind of to get this thing going. And you know, first six banks and you guys are great, but no way, too much risk get on the restaurants. You have no assets, like we're not gonna do anything. And so you know, but they went to the seventh bank. That Walkome mentality kicked in. Never take no, you know for an answer, and seventh banks said, you know, if you guys are willing to bust your tail, We'll back you, you know.

And so they got that SBA loan back in the two thousand and two and open the original restaurant, which is right across the parking lot from our office here in two thousand and three September two thousand and three. So it's been a cool run bag. Think about that date real quick. We come back to do it September. What's happening in the fall September if you're in a campus in South Southeastern Conference freaking football, So you're going to open a ten thousand square foot three and fifty

seat restaurant with no experience right from football starts. So yeah, like the early nickname for walk ons were weight ons or walkout or you didn't want to get you want to eat it? When you got it, it was just like it was just bad, bad, bad as it could be. And you know, but you know, the brand really kind of grew with these guys, and I think the fact that they were walk on so they just endeared themselves

to the community. And you know, like, sorry, Michael, we messed up your lunch for the sixth time in a row, and please give us another try and here's more gift cards and you know, and so you know, those early years of just you know, getting kicked in the teeth and not know what you're doing, they just kind of figured it out and enrolled. But I think that sense of humility, sense of just you know, being honest and always being open to help, just trying to get better,

not being big head. I'm the founder, man, don't you know, Like they really kind of figured it out as they went. And here we are today with in seventy five restaurants and eleven states and growing and the fact that they were well in the list, and I guess that's part of the reason why you're still here. Can you talk about, you know, how you when and how you first got Volpa walk Ons. So it's it's a it's funny story. So, you know, the restaurant business a small business. Everybody knows everybody.

And so you know, I've been with Befo Bradies in Tampa and we'd sold our concept in private equity and I had this you know, period of time I was helping with the transition and then I had some time I could chill. They were paying me, you know, to sit at home, and I think one week into riding my bike, I'm like, this sucks, Like I gotta do something. And then a friend of mine reached out so that she was working with these guys in Baton Rouge. Do you mind your funny story, I won't say it, like,

can you help me write a food safety program? That's kind of where they were at still in twenty ten, and I'm like, sure. It came up and you know, got to meet with some of the team and saw some of the opportunities that were here from a food safety standpoint at that point, and there was you know, for a freshed eyes coming in. There was just so much that needed to be done, you know, and it's like, how do you like deliver the message? I know what your baby, but your baby needs a bath and some

new clothes, you know. But it's it's got a great concept, and these guys were like, man, if you can help us be better, we just wouldn't be better. Man, thank you for coming. And I'm like, I'd never met entrepreneurs founders that were so humble and just like tell us what we need to do, like we just want to be better. And so that that's kind of where it clicked.

For me, and I was going back and forth from Tampa for a while before I decided I would move my family to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and uh, but we moved here, and you know, in twenty eleven, I've been here. Gosh, well in thirteen years. It's been a good run, very cool. So, uh, you know, I covered Buffalo while Wings before I went private, and the impact of the sports calendar on sales was incredible and you kind of alluded that alluded to that

talking about the walk On's first first store. How much to do sports impact your planning and how seasonal is your business? You know, early on it was very seasonal, you know, And you know the original location or LSU sales would fluctuate. Even in twenty ten, we would fluctuate. Sales would drop off sixty seventy percent when campus was empty because we were just that place for students or when there was a game. Today, I think our sales dip maybe ten percent when the students are gone, because

we're very much a restaurant. And you know, early on walk Ons walk on those on that path to being a prototypical sports bar for a long time, and so we're relying on games and food was kind of secondary. But we've really changed that mindset where we're very much a restaurant. So you know, uh, sporting events are kind of we call land yap. You know, it's a little extra, but no, man, we don't rely on sports. It's Football's fun, but it's crazy and people sit longer, you know, I

like a Wednesday night. Man, people are coming in and roll and returning tables and we can do the same kind of volume because they're coming for the food and that's kind of the hero. Now. Yeah, and you have a unique menu. Are there any signature dishes you think your customers have to try? And what are some of the most popular items that you sell? Yeah, so, I mean, you know, we have amazing burgers. We sell a bunch of burgers. But I think the duck and on dewey

gumbo will change your life. I think the crawfish a tooth fe which is just a traditional South Louisiana don't call the soup because it's not a soup, it's not a gravy, it's not a bisk i don't language call. But it's just really good, fantastic. So that's probably twenty percent of the menu is traditional Louisiana cuisine, but I would do you know, the Voodoo shrimp and grits, you know,

big jumbo sixteen twenty golf shrimp. We peel in house fresh stuff with cream cheese, halapino wrapped with bacon served or sweet corn grits. I mean, some good stuff. And then also if you're if you're a dessert person, if you're not, we make Chris Crispy Cream donut bread pudding in house with all all donuts in it. Um, it's ridiculous, dude, it is ridiculous. So you definitely I would do that the donut put it for sure. Oh that sounds fantastic

and making me hungry. I had earnings Darden's earnings this morning, so I haven't been able to eat yet. Oh, so have you changed the menu since the start of the pandemic. You know a lot of peers in the industry have have kind of paired the menu and they've tried to put some more maybe new items on the menu that travel well, um has what's been you know, what's been

walk onto policy on that? Yeah, So you know when the pandemic hit, we were we were watching like we were probably some of that people saw it coming that they could be like what it was was shutting everything down. But I was like, man, people are gonna be getting to go like something, They're going to freak out, Like, let's just have some things in queues. So we added a lot to our menu with to go family meal pack things like that. We were doing margaritas to go

because it's Louisiana, you can do that. We had that stuff kind of rolling early. Um. And then when the when we had to shut down our dining rooms, we kept the full menu or a lot of restaurants I think cut way back because of labor and which, like we just wanted to continue to serve what we serve. And and so you know, things we've added, things that

have changed. You know, to Go is still I mean, god, start to Go went from like you know, seven eight percent to like fando of dining rooms, right, But we were we were fortunate because we had had created this love for the food that we clawed back eighty eighty five percent of our sales at new dining rooms just which was ridiculous. And so you know, I don't think most sports you know, think of most sports bars and people like let's get those freeze with or fire cheese sticks.

You know, like they were coming in for a fresh salmon and stick, like maybe really good food. So but you know, certain things travel better than others. Fried foods tough, and so we looked at packaging, We looked at alternative things for sides, introduced some different stuff that you know probably traveled traveled a little easier. But um, we've always kind of had our our thumb on the pulse of like just being innovative with the food. It's got to

be flavorful. You know, we don't buy anything that's pre bredit or frozen that goes in a fry, I mean very much a scratch kitchen. So you know, it gave us a chance to kind of innovate. And then you know, there was a value point where people were freaking out and they didn't have jobs, and so you had that. But you know, we kind of settled back into just like this cadence of like quality food and then driving

technology on the side of like carry out okay cool. Uh, and we touched on the culture at the top and uh, it really seems to be a strong differentiator differentiator for the brand. So can you talk a little bit about the culture. The rumble uh and uh if you if you'd like to share any you know, employee turnover turn So like cultures everything, man, I think, um, you know, I think restaurant people in the restaurant business. It's it's, uh,

we're just not supposed to be successful. Like if you're a kid and you tell your parents that I'm gonna be in the restaurant business, So like, are you kidding me? Like when you're gonna get a real job. I remember my parents like, when are you going to get a real job? Stop doing that restaurant thing. What'd you go to college for. I'm like, oh my god, you know

you can make money, mom and dad. Right. But um, so there's that underdog mindset that we have at walk On, which is that, you know the walk On you're the underdog, and so we kind of leverage that in our culture that you know, everybody's got a story team before self about the name on the front, not the back. And so we corral everybody there because like I said, we're just not supposed to be good, right, And even even our elected officials set we were unskilled workers at some point.

So I'm like, come, come work, Come work on the line out of Friday Night. I'll show you. But nobody's saying anything, right, so you know, but for us cultures, everything, you know, the rumble is something. It's really cool and I was just talking to somebody about it the other day. It's it's authentic because it came from a point of like when we sucked the worst in what we were

doing and we'd opened a restaurant. It's twenty eleven, you open a restaurant in the laugh yet and we'd never been owned for our food and we were fifty fifty food alcohol in Baton Rouge and we opened this first restaurant out of the market. But it was really I was I was still coming back and forth. It was my menu with Brandon, but we basically just amped it

up fresh everything. Food was amazing. As we opened this restaurant and seven million dollars restaurant, we're doing eighty percent food and just getting our getting our ass kicked, honestly every day. And so the fourth day we were open, somebody, I don't know who did it, said we should start doing to go worse because we were like barely keeping our head above water, not doing anything to go and

so I remember like seeing all these tickets. There's when we had tickets and I'm like, what all these tickets were to go? And like the guy on expo had like tickets wrapped around and packed and like nobody know where, what food was going where. I'm like, we're just like crashing and burning and people are pissed off. And I was like, man, I went up to the hostess and we put this little note on the door that said closed for a gas leak. We didn't have a gas

but it was done. It was the only way that we could get everybody out of the restaurant somewhat orderly fashioned, and they didn't hate us. They were more like, oh my god, you guys gonna be okay, Like, yeah, we're gonna be okay, We're gonna be fine. We're worried about your safety, you know, and it's like they've got it contained back there. It's just more of a cautionary thing, you know. And we emptied the restaurant out and just sat there and looked at each other like, man, we

have got to stop being scared. We've got to be better prepared. There were some things we needed to change and how we opened up, but like the biggest thing is like, man, we've got to come in here prepared to kick ass, not getta ask kicked every day and so that rumble was a release of frustrations. We busted plates, punched holes and walls. I mean just like went nuts and let's get it all out now. Because we closed

at two o'clock, we were closed for the day. We may have drank a beer or two, but like when we come in tomorrow morning at seventy am, we're gonna be ready because we're gonna we're gonna kick ass. And so that rumble we do it every day, twice a day at every restaurant, and it just signified it's it's our rally call to like let's kick ass. No, it's I really appreciate your ability to think on your feet.

The guess like was fantastic, and a mentor that said, man, just shake stuff up, and I was like, I remember texted and I was like, guess what I did. He's like, dude, like kind of it's like kind of sucks, but it's cool. Yeah, no, very cool. Um, whatever you need to do to survive, right, Um, is there any you know, employee turnover data that that you're willing to share. I mean, has that that kind of culture helped helped you in that aspect? Yeah, you know so I think, um, people go back to code,

it'll be like it's still there, I guess. But like, you know, when you had to furlough all your people, you know what a shitty word like nobody like, but you had to basically let all your people go because you didn't have a job or a bartender or a server or a bus or and most of your kitchen staff. And so you know, we're a debt free company. What had happened. I remember having a conversation with Brandon and Drew Brees when our partners, like guys were probably gonna

have a little debt. We gotta take care of our people, and we made sure we fed everybody every single day at every restaurant, like come get a meal, meal for your family. And we just kept in touch with them every week and a newsletter what's going on, try to get them all unemployment. I remember talking to these third party delivery guys just getting our people set up to

drive vehicles to deliver. So he just had jobs, you know, And then then listen, I'll give the credit Randy to win his crew and Dallas came up with for a little kitchen and I saw it. Actually, my wife saw it on Facebook and something. She's like, Scott checked this out. So I hit a Brandy said, man, I said, I

love your idea. I want to steal it, but can we partner because I want to get our people back to work too, And so he was like, yeah, we had a marketing Remember we had a marketing zoom with his team and our team, and there's somewhat competitors day on Twin Peaks at the time too. I'm like, let's just figure this out. And and gosh, like eighty thousand meals we've served with for a little kitchen. But all that being city's about turnover. We got our people back

to work. We didn't put a note on the doors call this number for your final check. We engaged, we stayed engaged, and like when we were able to hire people back, they came back and the people that treated like their teammates like crap came to us to work. So we've not had an issue getting staffed up. We don't have a now hiring banner in front of our restaurant, but a lot new because we just treat our people right and then not turnover. I mean, everybody's got turnover.

I think if we have turnover a lot of times, yeah, we could hire the wrong persons whatever, But man, I think that we got over a way to try to figure out how we're going to impact somebody's life. And that's like when I talked to our to our operators, I'm like, man, yeah, this is a rough business if if it doesn't have a higher purpose somewhere, like it's just kind of you get beat up, punch in the face a lot, you know, a lot, a lot of

grace and appreciation. But you know, if you go back and see how you're creating a path for somebody and creating an environment where the team is bigger than the individual and people just feel like they're part of something even though they don't stay in the restaurant businessman just haven't had some moment where you impacted that individual. So that's that's like such a mission with the team, so

they don't typically leave. Yeah, just feel like they're part of something cool and we're gonna be there for them. So yeah, no, it's awesome. Um, how many units do you have right now? And what's the split between the company owned and franchise units. So we have seventy five locations was opened in Auburn just outside of Auburn, Alabama.

Last month. We have seventy two franchise, three corporate. We had up to nine corporate which we sold strategically to franchise groups when they were coming in, so they kind of have a training location, you know. But our our plan is to continue to add some corporate locations because you got to skin in the game, and you know, franchise he's always wondered, are you living off the top line or do you understand what it's like to live

off the bottom. And so we've got a understand and reap the benefits and feel the pain, you know, so that we're making good decisions. But our strategy can be more kind of like getting into a newer market, maybe planning a flag and building out some corporate locations and maybe you know, working with a franchise group to take those over. Then we'll go do it again so we can be good. You understand the costs to build them, the costs to operate them, all that stuff. Man, if

you're if you're just sitting on the sideline going. I know it's more expensive, you know, but you gotta do it, Like, we just need to be in it so we can feel it. So I think there's something to be said for building and running them, selling and building and running them, selling them as even being fully engaged in the cycle. So that's kind of yeah. I think it's critical to have no I think that's critical to having a healthy relationship with your franchisees for sure. Okay, so how fast

you're growing? How many units are you looking to build this year? Are they? You know, how many of those are franchised? And I guess what percentage of franchisees opening units are coming from within your system? So hopefully we'll open fifteen to eighteen this year, um, and our pace, we'd love our pace to be at that twenty UM, because there's a lot that goes into opening a restaurant. We put a tremendous amount of support with seventeen eighteen

people on the ground for three weeks. I mean, it's just a we're in it, right and so uh it's uh, it's it's not it's it's quality versus quantity on that side. Um. But you know, early on it was a lot of kind of somebody who knew somebody with the early franchise e Um, but man, we've got we've got folks that were NFL athletes. It's interesting. Our deal is a almost like we're matchmakers because you've got somebody who's got the net worth that wants to get in it, but they

have no desire to run it. And you've got somebody who's a seasoned restaurant executive that wants to kind of work for themselves. Maybe they don't have everything to put it together to do the deal, and we kind of put them together and it's kind of magic from there. So, um, that's kind of where we will if we really focus on it. But yeah, I mean corporate growth. I said, we'll do some things probably in twenty four, but this year we all franchise growths. Okay, very cool. What are

you using to help inform your site selection? So we work with East Site Analytics, which kind of lays out and they're a great program. There's a lot of them out there. You know, the more the more data points and the more you have restaurants have been opened for

a while, the better the data. But the perfect scenario is a franchise in the market that's from that market because at that point, obviously the locations I'm almost kind of irrelevant as long as you can have good access and you don't have to be off the interstate with a sign and you know, we don't have a certain traffic count number you have to have because honestly, the most best performing restaurants for in these tertiary markets where you know, you're just kind of the big dog in town,

and and so it really has the franchise e has a lot to do with the site selection, and the size of the market has a lot to do, you know, with the franchise too. And we love these little markets. Yeah, and it's great if the franchise e has a connection already to that market, right, because community is so huge, right, it's a big part of what Chick fil a does, right, absolutely, Man, They'll they'll outperform a corporate restaurant all day long because

they're just they're in it, man. And then even with think about COVID, you know, if you own it, your livelihood, everything's on the line for you. Like you're you're resilient, you're innovating, you're out there, like you're not taking anything put at you, you're going after it. And so that's why I think franchise systems with great franchise ease survive. Man. They didn't just survive, they thrived because failure was not an option. Man, that's you've gotten, you know, everything on

the line. So, um, I think that's what helped us. Quite. That's great. Uh, that's for sure. Man. Restaurant the restaurant industry and restaurant tours are definitely very resilient. They've they've proven that over the last year few years. Nothing else I was gonna say, you know, I think what's what's pretty cool about our deal? So, you know, franchising, I think a lot of people get into it just because like, oh,

it sounds great to make a bunch of money. And you know, you know, Drew Brees bought our company in twenty fifteen. You know, the two founders separated in twenty fourteen, and so Brandon uh stayed here and with us. But

we were just talking about franchising. I'd come from a franchise background, Drew Brees as a franchise he was Jimmy Johnson, So him coming in and I remember Drew Brandon, myself and our other partners sitting down just talking about like if we're gonna franchise, you know, what do we want

to do? And I remember Drew's agent talking about kind of their experience as a franchise and they had a good experience, but like, you know, what were the points of pains with franchise eas And it's typically marketing money and then what do I have to buy? And how much money you're making on the back end and when you make me buy right? And so it's like why don't we if we come up something that's transparent, there's no gotchas. You know that they can see where their

marketing money comes in. That all actually gets spent in marketings, not paying part of my salary or a bonus. It's like it's media's media. And then if we're getting supply chain, we're negotiating on your behalf. We're not making gumbo and then shipping and you got to buy it from most of the marketing it up ten bucks. Just being transparent and open and clean would be the way to start it.

And then the other part being man like let's build the infrastructure, let's let's let the higher for the vision not to need the vision is be you know, the best franchise or possible. It means we've got to get those people nout, make sure they're the right culture fit, they don't flame out that we need. We have them

on board before we have to have them. And so those are things that you know, I'll give a shout to Drew and Brandon and Rick and at the time, just like, you know, we're not going to make any money for a while, but let's build something on the front end so that it'll pay the dividends on the back end. And it really has because we've done very well today. But I think if I be not invested in all of that on the front end culturally support wise, we wouldn't be where we're at today. Very cool. Is

there any unit economic data that you'd like to share? Yeah, well, sales, I can talk about that, right unless some of the issue with NFDD. So we're excited to know out there. I think we have one of the leading kind of

avs in the industry. We're just shy at five point one million per unit, so the economics are good at that volume, right, and uh, you know, we we focus on one thing we've learned during COVID, which is crazy is that, you know, we opened restaurants with no dining rooms, which is crazy to go on because they were in a construction they had to open. And then we opened gosh seven or eight with fifty percent ocumancy, you know,

twenty five percent ocumancy, but we saw it fifty. We're setting national sales records, like doing more volume with half the dining room shut down. So it's like, we don't need all these seats. Number one, the kitchen was way more efficient. We could turn tables faster and get the food out faster. So you know, from the eight thousand square foot model, we went to seven and now we would have a six just over two hundred teats instead of two hundred and eighty seats, and it generates the

same volume. But the economics flow from the cost of labor to build it. Everything just flows so much better. So that's that's always our focus, like how do we what do we take out we're not getting credit for and then if we don't need that, let's just streamline it to to do it. So the economics are getting better and better and the sales are fantastic. Are there any tech upgrades that you're working on? And can you talk about the process of selling franchisees on the benefits

of upgrading their technology early. Yeah, So, I mean every single piece of tech I think we're upgrading changing this year. I mean pretty much everything POS system, loyalty, online ordering, order aggregate or order the table our Kadias system in our kitchens. We are absolutely upgrading every single thing across

the board. What we were able to do was work with suppliers and sentenced to fund most of that for our franchisees because it could be a big sticker shock, you know, but once again, you're you're you're working with the supplier. It's like work with us here because one day we'll be here and like, let's have a long term partnership. So we spend a lot of time figuring out how to get this to the franchise em without hitting them with a big shock price tag. Well listen,

it's all been tested embedded. So like we know when you put in an online order aggregator and what that means basically you've got Ubree, store, Dash, all these different things. And so unless you have an aggregator, you've got all these tablets in your kitchen and you've got to take this order, then you've got to transpose it and put it into your pos and there's errors and it's clunky. And when that aggregator hit man to go sales, boo. We went to handhelds with toast from a loha um table.

Turn times went up faster, the food got the kitchen was less stressful. So like there's there's a positive to every single thing we've done in the franchise ees or just let's roll, you know, because they know that, you know, tech is going to be what drives functionality and efficiency, and so that's this year is all about functionality and efficiency. But we have a whole side little thing going this innovation cool stuff on tech that how do we differentiate

you know, fourth bar environment ATTDS? What can we do with tech to mac? You know, when a game's not on, what are you doing inside the four walls to kind of you know, create some things and AI like it's super weird. I don't know a lot about it other than it's like can do everything. And so how do I get to know you that you're a Yankees fan and you like to eat out on Tuesdays? And I connect with you somehow? And I just hit you up at the right time when you're thinking about me, and

you come in and we're always friends. And so there's just there's this whole relationship that you can create with technology with customers and it doesn't have to be about points and a free cheese fry once you spend one hundred bucks. We can do a lot. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, And going back to you know, and this kind of ties back to what you said earlier on how important it is to have some restaurants having some skin on the skin in the game, right, so you can roll

out the technology first yourself. Yeah, we're testing it all ourselves. We're experimenting on ourselves big time. And so and they like that. Listen, we punch ourselves in the face and a couple of things too, and they're kind of like, okay, giggling a little bit, but like, at least we did

it to ourselves. Ye, so that you know, we don't want to I mean, your your integrity is everything, right, So you want to put something out there if you don't have it fully thought through and vetted, and the data has got to support all the decisions you're making. Because thus use a franchise. Ord's so easy to like just here you go, you gotta do this, you got to do that, And I think that's where you got

these weird relationships with franchise ords and franchise ease. But man, they see the painstaking process we go through and that we make these decisions based on the data, not because it's something I like or the Brandon wants to do or it's like no, it's like it's going to drive the business and here's what supports it, and then they're all in. You know, nobody likes to be told to do unless they see the you know, the benefit of it. Um, how are you seeing financing tightening up at all for

your for your franchise ease? Yeah? You know what's it's interesting, Like, um, depending on what you're trying to go after. There was a point you know, when you look at real estate, there's ground leases. Ground leases are crazy because you know, they own the dirt and you got to try to build on something which you can't finance that. So those

are always hard. Um, but it's not really there's there's so many different ways to do it and um, you know what what's been interesting and you know, kind of a sad byproduct Onega in covid Is. There's a lot of available real estate of former restaurants that are great locations, and like man our strategy, we can get in there and bring life back to a building that was a TGI Friday's or a different brand, and let's go in there and do that because it opens quicker, the economics

are there. Um, it's less for the franchise, he out of pocket and we can get up and run. And and those guys did a great job on real estate selection. Maybe they're they're brand just kind of lost its way over time, but and that's not a dog on Fridays, like I like Fridays. But you know, there's just just real estate available. So that's that's kind of gone after it. That is way more bankable. Um, because you're doing equipment

loans and renovation loans. You're not doing big takedown buildings and um, so we found creative ways to work it out. That's great. And I'm sure the fact that you know you have seventy five units and you're growing your AUVs is helping as well. Oh yeah for sure. Um. All right, so I recently read that small Sliders Small Sliders was spun out out of walk On. So I had the pleasure of meeting Maria Rivera recently we did a panel together. Um Ri is awesome. Yeah, she's great man, super sharp.

Um does walk On still have an investment in that chain or any of the other brands? Um that the guy's kind of created early on in the process. So you know, it's interesting. This is Brandon is the consummate entrepreneur brandan Landry, So this was his idea and we helped him bread to lie in the first one here that opened in Baton Rouge, and you know, uh from just procedures and recipe like just to kind of get

it launched. Um. But no, that's it's fully independent. Um. Uh it's a really cool brand, you know with the uh the storage containers and that deal the avs there. I mean, like said Maria's rock Stars, He's gonna do amazing things there. But no, we're just fans from the sideline. Uh, it's all my way home. So actually I eat too many of them. Um. I would say they're like healthy, might be lying they're not, but they're delicious, so you know they're Uh, they've got a really cool brand and

and uh uh Single Focus, which is even better. Right, Burger's rise like shakes and you know, and that's that's pretty sweet. And they're doing some good volumes. So but now we're uh, we'll watch. Now Brandon's got some other cool things he's developing. There may be another one down the line that will kind of help birth. But you know what, I'm happy we're focused. We used to years

ago we had uh pizzerias called Schlitz and Giggles. We had these ires pubs, we had nightclubs, we had catering companies. And it's nice to have one brand to focus on because we can put all our love, attention and effort to drive walk Ons. And I said, we'll just cheer from the sidelines for Marie and her team. They're gonna kill it. Yeah, that's great. Um, And I guess going back to um Brandon being the creative guy. Is it true that the first walk Ons uh didn't have a kitchen?

So no, it's uh so you know, part of that journey for those guys, you know, like walk Ons traveling, but so the story is traveling back from University of Tennessee. I think they got we're able to score was the LSU do not do well? Um, so all the starters are sleeping, you know, Jack and Brander wide awake in play a minute. So I just started douling on a napkin. And of course you're nineteen twenty, twenty one, twenty two, you're thinking about the bar, and so like the drawing

is god of funny. She got like detailer, where the TV's are gonna go, the Papa shot, We're gonna put helmets here, all this stuff, and like the dining room. Really the bar they drew pretty cool, but not even an arrow to like kitchen this way or so you know, like that's kind of what happens when you open up. And they said the early days, um, they knew how to pour a crown of code, but all right, getting burgers out of the kitchen on it was a journey. But uh yeah, so we like to tease teas burn

about that. That's why the early the early years were a little rough, because you can think about a kitchen. No, it's cool, man, but you know it's such a great story and and uh, you know, I appreciate that walk on mentality. Man. You know it's it's uh, it's great, and it's taking the chain really far. It's it's been it's been great to see. It just resonates. Man. Everybody's got a story. Everybody's got an underdog story, and you know,

and and you just kind of go through that. And like I said, you know, starting any kind of a business, you know, it's our twentieth year, really twenty years old in September. Most restaurants don't make it a year, you know, So to make it twenty years as a testament to the brand and really to Jack and Brandon the day to fight through those early years. And then but man, we've got an amazing team. We've built her now that

truly that's where the that's where the magic happens. And then met dude, I'm just a guy on the zoom with you today, but like the rock stars or not on here today. But man, I couldn't be more proud of the team that works here. And they're what's making this happening. And they're all underdogs. Man, They're all got their story. Everybody's got their deal here, and we're pretty humble. I tell everybody. Man, Like, we get a lot of accolades,

but I'm like, do not get caught up in your headlines. Man, just keep your head down and stay focused. And I used to tell them, let's try to suck less today than yesterday. We're never really good, it's gonna suck less, so kind of just stay humble man, like no egos, keep it light, you know, but never get caught up in your headlines for sure. Yeah, well you're doing a great job there, and you're doing a great job of staying humble. All right, We're gonna close out on a

closet a question about the NC Double A tournament. Who do you have winning it? Ah, Yukon, Man, I'm so you know I was. We'll see, We'll see. I don't know, like I've got depends which bracket you asked me about what the walk Ons bracket Yukon, I actually have it to be in the first place, So all right, nice man, because there's a lodge of people picked Alabama. So I'm just and I've got Alabama going a little white a little ways into it. But like as soon as they fall, man,

like twelve people for all out of the brackets. So like, yeah, for sure. See, I'm I'm a big East guy, Georgetown guy, and Yukon with all their crazy chants and all that stuff. Yeah, I had them dropping out in the first round. Obviously I was very wrong, but I think that was more wishful thinking than anything. Yeah, dude, I'm a Florida Gator. We didn't even make it in the first round. The n I t you know, so like yeah, motion, I'm not a Yukon fan, but like, I don't know, just

they find a way to get it done. Man, we'll see, we'll see, I'll touch basically the one that's done. See see pulled it off. All right, good luck, man, I'm rolling with the UCLA. All right, there you go, there you go. So all right, well listen, thanks again for doing this happening. Man. This was fun. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. You're great. Um, I'm excited to continue to follow all the success that walk On's uh going to continue to have moving forward. For our listeners,

thanks for joining us. If you liked the episode, please tap on the bell to subscribe, and don't don't be afraid to leave us a review. See man. Thanks Thanks Scott,