Baton Rouge, La.-based Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar will open its first Alabama location in Mobile "sometime in the second quarter" of 2018, said Brandon Landry, founder, co-owner and CEO of the fast-growing chain of casual eateries.

In addition to Mobile, Walk-On's is planning three locations in Birmingham as well as Auburn, Huntsville, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, Landry said. The first Birmingham location, which will be built on U.S. 280 in Hoover, will open after Mobile, in the fall of 2018, Landry said.

The Mobile Walk-On's will be located at 3673 Airport Blvd., in the former Bishop's building that was previously Baumhower's Wings. "We found a great piece of property," Landry said. "This building had good bones. It's a great opportunity to use an existing structure."

The move into Alabama marks a year of tremendous growth for Walk-On's, which currently has 15 locations in Louisiana and Texas. In 2018, the company plans to add 18 locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and North and South Carolina, Landry said.

On average, the restaurants are 8,000 square feet, with 160 to 270 seats, employing around 150 people. "Franchisees are attracted to our volume," which Landry said equates to around $5.5 million per year.

The Mobile location will be owned by Walk-On's largest franchisee, The Scott Morrison Companies of Baton Rouge, which operates locations along the I-10 corridor from Baton Rouge east, according to Landry.

Boudin, burgers and Brees

The idea for Walk-On's came about when Landry and his teammate, Jack Warner, were students at Louisiana State University, where they spent a lot of time sitting on the bench cheering on LSU's basketball team as walk-ons themselves. "We figured out early in our career we needed something else to make a living at besides basketball," Landry joked.

While traveling to a game, Landry and Warner sketched a layout of the sports bar they imagined building near Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, they both started working in different restaurants to gain some experience, and they developed a business plan in an entrepreneurship class at LSU.

Though they earned a C on their plan, Landry said their professor, Dr. Bob Justis, told them he wasn't trying to kill their dream; they just needed some assistance on the plan, which he provided. Recently, Landry spoke to Justis's class, as he does every year.

The pair attracted some angel investors, Landry said, but they still needed a loan. They were turned down by six banks. "That's when the walk-on mentality kicked in," he said. They wouldn't give up. On the seventh try, they were successful.

In 2003, when they were in their early 20s, the founding partners opened the first Walk-On's in Baton Rouge. "We didn't know what we were getting into," Landry admitted. "Sometimes ignorance is bliss."

As the restaurant became more popular, they opened additional locations in Lafayette, La., and in New Orleans near the Superdome. Warner sold out in 2014, and New Orleans businessman Rick Farrell came on board.

In 2012, Walk-On's was named ESPN's No. 1 Sports Bar in America. "That was a huge thing," Landry said. "It put us on the map. We decided we wanted to franchise the concept."

The ESPN honor also got the attention of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who reached out to Landry to talk about potential opportunities. Brees had been to the New Orleans location many times, Landry said, both with his teammates and his family, and he said that if he were to open his own sports bar, he wouldn't change a thing.

In 2015, Brees became a partner in the company. "Being a Louisiana boy, I've always been a Saints fan," said Landry. "I tell people all the time, if you're a good-guy fan, you're a Drew Brees fan."

The popular player is "very involved - although he does have that day job on Sundays," said Landry with a laugh. "There's a reason he's such a success on the ball field. He's a leader, a perfectionist, a great partner and a great person."

Walk-On's is "not a typical sports bar," he said. "We're a restaurant, first and foremost. Games and atmosphere are secondary."

The food centers around Louisiana cuisine: crawfish etouffee over catfish, voodoo shrimp (chargrilled and stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos, wrapped in bacon and served over grits), duck and andouille gumbo, boudin balls, fried alligator. But the restaurant's top seller is their signature stuffed burger, which debuted "on Day One," Landry said.

Mike Turner, the company's culinary vice president, "has definitely taken this to a new level over the past five years," he said.

Walk-On's is ready for the challenge of more than doubling its locations in the next year, Landry said. "On the corporate side, we're ready for growth. We're set up to have more than 40 restaurants now. We're staying ahead of our growth."

On Dec. 27, Walk-On's will be the title sponsor of the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. - another big coup for the company.

Still, Landry doesn't want to rest on his laurels. "We were named ESPN's No. 1 Sports Bar in America," he said. "We have to live up to that every day."