BATON ROUGE — Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux is opening a new restaurant on Perkins Road, calling it the debut of its next-generation sports bar prototype.

The new location at 8150 Perkins Road is targeted to open in early 2027. It will be the ninth Walk-On's in Baton Rouge and the 20th in Louisiana.

The new restaurant will be significantly smaller than a traditional Walk-On's — 3,500 to 4,500 square feet, compared to the usual 7,000 to 8,000-plus square feet.

Walk-On's said the smaller space is built around better screen visibility, improved acoustics and a more efficient kitchen. Takeout and catering will also be available. 

Walk-On's is targeting a development investment of less than $2 million for the new format. The company said the design is meant to lower financial barriers, reduce development complexity and open new site opportunities for both new and existing franchise operators.

"This isn't a smaller Walk-On's. It's a smarter one," founder and CEO Brandon Landry said. "Today's sports fans have different needs, so we challenged ourselves to rethink the traditional sports bar from the ground up, from how much space we need, how the kitchen operates, where guests sit and how they watch the game. The result is a model that's simpler to operate and more flexible to build, without compromising the scratch-made food, game day energy or community that define Walk-On's."

Landry founded Walk-On's in Baton Rouge in 2003 and began franchising in 2014. The brand, named ESPN's No. 1 Sports Bar in America, has nearly 80 locations nationwide.

"This is a full-circle moment for Walk-On's," Landry said. "Baton Rouge is where we started 23 years ago, and it's the right place to introduce what's next. We're investing in our hometown while building on what we've learned over more than two decades about what makes a great sports bar."