Smalls Sliders, Walk-Ons founder Brandon Landry shares the playbook to a scalable restaurant

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Brandon Landry, the founder of both Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux and Smalls Sliders, two restaurant franchises that have each grown to dozens of locations across the country. Walk-Ons, which is a full-service sports bar, was Brandon’s first concept, launched in 2003 as part of a business plan that he hatched while a business student and walk-on basketball player at LSU. The quick-service Smalls came later, in 2018, but already expects to have over 100 locations open by next year, with fast growth possible due to the concept’s modular, pre-fabricated build-out that leverages shipping containers. Brandon joined the podcast to talk about the similarities in growing both Walk-Ons and Smalls, the key ingredients to scaling restaurants no matter the concept, and about how Smalls is adapting to meet franchisees’ evolving needs.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• If you’re opening new units quickly, you must also learn from your mistakes quickly
• Customers shouldn’t have to work hard to understand your menu
• The coffee players are just the tip of the drive-thru iceberg
• Great concepts start with great people

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at sam.oches@informa.com.