Research & Strategy
- Digital Strategy
- Content Strategy
- Analytics & Insights
Digitizing the heart of
the bistreaux and bar.
Project summary
Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux — a national franchise built on culture, community, and culinary excellence — came to us to redesign both of their websites. One had to carry the “home away from home” feeling of the restaurants onto a screen; the other had to sell the brand to entrepreneurs and pre-qualify the right ones. Two audiences, one story, told twice.
- Industry
- National Restaurant Franchise
- Deliverables
- Design, Development, Strategy, Motion Graphics
Highlights
- Named ESPN’s #1 sports bar in America
- More than 80 locations nationwide
- Founded in 2003 in Baton Rouge by LSU basketball walk-ons Brandon Landry and Jack Warner
- Franchising since 2014; Drew Brees joined as co-owner in 2015
- 20 new restaurants opened in 2023, the year of this project
What We Do
Design & Development
- UI / UX Design
- Web Design
- Web Development
Digital Marketing
- SEO
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- Google Ads Management
Multi-Location Marketing
- Social Media
- Email Marketing
- Automation
The Problem
One brand, two audiences,
and a feeling that lived in a room.
-
Two sites, two jobs
Guests and prospective franchisees want opposite things from the same brand. One site had to make you hungry; the other had to make you invest — and filter out the people who shouldn’t.
-
A feeling that lived in the room
Walk-On’s trades on a “home away from home” atmosphere you can only really feel inside a restaurant. None of that survives a generic template.
-
A scratch-made menu, listed like a spreadsheet
The kitchen’s attention to detail is a genuine differentiator, but a menu that reads as rows of text sells none of it.
-
A palette with nowhere to go
Navy and red carry the brand on a sign, but with only two colours to work with, everything on a page competes for the same attention.
The Background
From two walk-ons
to a national franchise.
Walk-On’s opened in 2003 in the shadow of LSU’s Tiger Stadium, started by two LSU basketball walk-ons, Brandon Landry and Jack Warner. The name is the story: the heart of a walk-on, brought to the restaurant space.
The concept grew. Franchising began in 2014, Drew Brees came on as co-owner in 2015, and ESPN named it the #1 sports bar in America. By 2023 the brand was past 80 locations and opening 20 more in a single year.
That growth is what made the websites urgent. A brand recruiting franchisees at that pace needs a digital front door that does two jobs at once — and in 2023 Walk-On’s asked us to rebuild both.
Our Approach
Take visitors
inside the restaurant.
We designed the consumer site to emulate the same atmosphere that lives inside the restaurants. Imagery of quality food, of people comfortably enjoying themselves, and of the mobile app and rewards program runs throughout — the differentiators put where visitors actually encounter them, rather than listed on an about page.
We also widened the palette. Secondary colours were introduced alongside the original navy and red so the brand could feel uplifting and energising, and so navy and red could become functional again — reserved for primary content and the key points of interaction.
The Consumer Website
A mouth-watering experience
for a top-notch menu.
Walk-On’s prides itself on scratch-made dishes and attention to detail. We designed the menu experience to build an appetite as visitors explore it — quality food imagery doing the work that a list of dish names cannot.
The brand story sits at the front of the About page: how the concept was born from a love for the game, for community, and for bringing the heart of a walk-on to the restaurant space. A historical timeline walks visitors from the court to the restaurant and pays tribute to their Captains, and a Community page shows what being part of a neighbourhood actually looks like.
The Franchising Website
A growing and
one-of-a-kind franchise.
The franchising site had a different job: differentiate Walk-On’s as a franchise option for entrepreneurs, and pre-qualify the audience so the people who reach out are the ones who actually fit a brand built on high standards and self-improvement.
On the consumer side, the Rewards page opens with a dynamic card treatment — food, the restaurant experience, playful icons — then lays the benefits out cleanly. Screens from the mobile app show how ordering earns points, the programme is itemised into five simple steps, and the page closes on the sign-up form.
The Result
Two sites, one story,
told twice.
Both websites now tell the Walk-On’s story — the high standards of care, the self-improvement, the welcoming community — to the two audiences that matter, each in the terms that audience responds to. Guests arrive hungry and leave with the app; entrepreneurs arrive curious and leave pre-qualified.
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The team at Bowen are true professionals. The experience of our partnership has been incredibly smooth since day 1. The team has an incredible process that kept us on schedule. The team produced an incredible site that was on brand, modern, and is a conversion machine!
Keegan Lanier
Director of Restaurant Technology, Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux