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Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux is executing a do-over in central Indiana, opening a Fishers location four months after closing in downtown Indianapolis.
The restaurant chain founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is set to take over a 7,900-square-foot building previously occupied by an O’Charley’s Restaurant + Bar northwest of the intersection of 116th Street and Interstate 69.
Todd Johnson, co-franchisee with NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks and Wade Kornblith, said he anticipates a reliable stream of customers for Walk-On’s at 11655 Fishers Corner Blvd.
Inconsistent traffic was a challenge, Johnson said, when Walk-On’s was open from May 2023 to January 2024 at 247 S. Meridian St.
“We were doing huge volume during Colts games and during conventions,” Johnson said. “All of that stuff was huge. But the stretches in between were absolutely brutal.”
Johnson considers the Fishers restaurant to be a relocation of the downtown spot. Most of the management and kitchen staff from downtown are shifting north, he said.
The Fishers restaurant is scheduled to celebrate its grand opening on Monday. Although Lucas Oil Stadium and Gainbridge Fieldhouse are no longer neighbors of Walk-On’s, the soon-to-open Fishers Event Center southeast of the 116th Street interchange at I-69 will host Indy Fuel hockey games, Fishers Freight indoor football contests and Indy Ignite volleyball games.
Best Choice Fieldhouse, where recreational basketball, volleyball and pickleball are played, is less than a half-mile north of the new Walk-On’s location.
Johnson, Brooks and Kornblith opened a Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux in Clarksville—an Indiana suburb of Louisville—last September.
“We found that we’re better when we’re a big fish in a small pond, or the suburbs,” Johnson said. “It just works out better for us.”
Johnson said Walk-On’s is building a relationship with Mudsock Youth Athletics, a not-for-profit that organizes recreational leagues for children who live in Fishers.
Brooks, who played linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, isn’t the only high-profile athlete affiliated with Walk-On’s. Drew Brees, who starred at Purdue University and won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints, is a co-owner of the chain. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is a franchisee.
Johnson, Brooks and Kornblith plan to open additional Walk-On’s locations in Indiana. The trio also has franchising rights for Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Johnson owns the 247 S. Meridian St. building where Walk-On’s made its first-floor exit.
The building’s second floor was occupied by Taps & Dolls bar from 2009 to 2022. Taps & Dolls was denied a renewal of its liquor license following a string of code violations and crime-related incidents.
Presently, Park & Rec bar occupies the second floor at 247 S. Meridian. Johnson said he’s seeking a tenant for the first floor.
“I don’t really want to do a [nightclub],” Johnson said. “I want to do something that’s going to be open seven days a week.”
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I am glad they got rid of all those trash bars on Meridian but the people that took over and opened a couple new bars did a terrible job at marketing and getting people in there.
I hope his prospective future tenants see his comments about the lack of regular business in that area. …Maybe not the best thing to say about a building that you are trying to rent out.