By Jeanni Ritchie
Some meals become memorable because of the food.
Others become memorable because of who was sitting around the table.
This one became both.
Earlier this summer, my mom and dad, Cody, Amanda, Wensley, Kaden, Kelsey, Mary, and I gathered at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux to try items from the restaurant’s then-new menu.
It would become our last family dinner before Mom died. Just one week later she had a massive stroke. She did not recover.
That has made this article a little harder to write than most.
So while this feature on Walk-On’s new menu is arriving later than originally planned, the food we tried that night is still very much worth talking about.
Walk-On’s menu blends Louisiana favorites with sports-bar classics, seafood, sandwiches, burgers, salads, and Southern-inspired entrées. Our table covered a lot of ground.
We tried the Sweet Chili Shrimp Bowl, the Southwest Chicken Bowl, the Mango Tuna Bowl, the Tuscan Chicken, two Turkey Ciabattas, and a Double Bacon Cheeseburger.
The Sweet Chili Shrimp Bowl combined shrimp with rice, cabbage, mango, avocado, cucumber, and other fresh toppings, while the Southwest Chicken Bowl leaned into black beans, corn, avocado, and bold Tex-Mex flavors.
The Tuscan Chicken paired blackened chicken breasts with Tuscan salsa, broccoli, and rice.
The Turkey Ciabattas featured sliced turkey, havarti, avocado, tomato, lettuce, sriracha aioli, and ciabatta bread.
We decided we needed a couple of orders of their signature Devils on Horseback—grilled jumbo shrimp, cream cheese, and pickled jalapeños wrapped in bacon and drizzled with hot honey. I love those!
We passed the plates around Thanksgiving-dinner style and as the dishes became a favorite of someone at the table, they stayed parked in front of them.
Mom and Wensley were not interested in the potluck-style sampling. They stuck with their tried-and-true orders—Grown-Up Grilled Cheese for Mom and chicken tenders for Wensley.
The drink side of the menu was just as varied. Our table tried several cocktails and mocktails, including a Raspberry Lemonade Mocktail, Marg-No-Rita, Old Refashioned, Melon Ball Margarita, Blood Orange Spritz, White Peach Fizz, Black Cherry Manhattan, Passion Fruit Whiskey Sour, Blackberry Palmer, and Lemon Basil Spritz.
The Blackberry Palmer was the hands-down favorite of those who tried the cocktails. The Raspberry Lemonade Mocktail was the favorite non-alcoholic beverage.
Dad and I have been back twice since then specifically for the Southwest Chicken Bowl and the Tuscan Chicken.
That probably says more than any review ever could.
Walk-On’s has always been the kind of place that works well for groups because almost everyone can find something they like, whether they want seafood, burgers, sandwiches, salads, Louisiana comfort food, or something lighter.
But this visit will always stand out for me for a different reason.
It was one more dinner around one table with people I love.
And I’m grateful I have both the memory and the photos to cherish it.
Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux is located at 2956 S. MacArthur Drive, Alexandria. They are open 11 AM-11 PM Sunday-Thursday and 11 AM-12 AM Friday and Saturday.
For more information, visit locate.walk-ons.com/la/alexandria/restaurants-17.html
