The polished, high-capacity Superdome option: a Drew Brees-backed Louisiana sports bar built for the surge before and after the biggest downtown games, concerts, and convention-weekend events.
Walk-On’s is unmistakably a chain, and that is exactly why it works in this particular pocket of town: the room is built to absorb volume, keep the screens visible, and move a large mixed group through a game-day window without pretending to be a neighborhood dive. Its LSU origin story and Drew Brees ownership give the operation real Louisiana credentials.
02 / The playbook
A direct line to the Superdome
At 1009 Poydras, this is a strategic base camp for Caesars Superdome events. Use it for a full pregame meal, a weather-proof watch, or a postgame landing zone when the downtown crowd is already in motion. The density of the television setup makes it especially useful when the whole group wants the same game without the usual sightline negotiation.
01 · Why Walk‑On’s
A chain with a Saint
We don’t usually love corporate chains here. But Walk‑On’s was started by LSU guys and, more importantly, they brought Drew Brees on as a partner. In this city there is no Saint holier than Drew. He delivered the miracle we needed just when we needed it.
The night a city got its soul back.
02 · August 29, 2005
The water came, and then it stayed
Eighty percent of the city underwater. Nearly fourteen hundred lives lost. More than a million people scattered across the map like seeds in a storm. The Superdome, where thousands had huddled in the dark, became a symbol of everything that had gone wrong.
New Orleans wasn’t just damaged. It was being erased.
The country watched. Then the country looked away.
03 · The losing
Here is something you have to understand about the Saints
For nearly forty years, they were the Aints. Fans wore paper bags over their heads. Thirty-three seasons went by without a single playoff win, a franchise so cursed that losing felt like a birthright.
And in the fall of 2005, the team didn’t even have a home. Their home games were played in Baton Rouge, San Antonio and New Jersey, and they finished 3–13. A football team that was, like its city, a refugee.
Nobody expected the team to survive. Nobody expected the city to either.
04 · The believers
Two men made a decision most people thought was insane
Sean Payton, a first-time head coach with something to prove. Drew Brees, a quarterback coming off a torn labrum, with a shoulder so shredded that Miami’s doctors advised against signing him.
They could have gone anywhere. They chose the city everyone else was leaving. Brees didn’t just sign a contract. He moved into the wreckage. He rebuilt houses. He put his name on a city that had lost its own.
Some people play for a team. Some play for a place.
05 · September 25, 2006
The Superdome reopens
Monday Night Football. The whole nation watching. Then Steve Gleason, a Saints special teamer, blocks a punt. The building detonates.
Seventy thousand people. Not cheering, exorcising. Every night in that stadium, every night in those shelters, every night of that year of grief, released in one roar.
That sound was not about football. That sound was a city saying: we are still here.
06 · February 7, 2010 · Miami
The night
Halftime, and the Saints are down 10–6 to Peyton Manning’s Colts. Then Sean Payton does something no coach dares to do in a Super Bowl: he calls an onside kick to open the second half. Ambush. It worked, and the Saints never looked back. Final whistle: 31–17.
Back home, in a city that had been underwater, every street became a parade. Strangers wept in each other’s arms on Bourbon Street. Grandmothers danced on porches. Brees held his infant son in the confetti.
It was never just a trophy. A trophy is what you win when you’ve lost nothing. The Lombardi came home to a city that had lost everything.
That is why this was the greatest moment in sports history. Not because of the score. Because of the stakes.
Four and a half years earlier, the world had written New Orleans off. That night, New Orleans wrote back.
Some victories end a game. This one began a recovery.
Walk-On’s · New Orleans
01 / 06 · WHY WALK-ON'S
Saint Drew.
Drew Brees, as New Orleans paints him
Drew Brees joins the Walk-On’s team
Built by LSU guys.
Backed by a Saint.
Founded 2003
Brees invests · 2015
02 / 06 · THE WATER
Aerial footage after the levees failed
The Superdome, where thousands sheltered
0%
Of the cityunderwater
0
Lives lost
1M+
People displaced
Not just damaged.
Erased.
Erased.
03 / 06 · THE AINTS
Fans wore paper bags over their heads
The Aints.
Nearly forty years of losing
0
Seasons withouta playoff win
3–13
2005record
A team without a home.
Like its city, a refugee.
04 / 06 · THE BELIEVERS
Sean PaytonFirst-time head coach
Drew BreesTorn labrum, Jan 2006
Two men.
One decision.
Some play for a team.
Some play for a place.
Drew Brees
He put his name on a city that had lost its own.
05 / 06 · THE RETURN
September 25, 2006 · Monday Night Football
Gleason blocks it.
We are still here.
0
Fans inthe Dome
06 / 06 · THE NIGHT
Miami · February 7, 2010
Ambush.
Onside kick to open the second half
The French Quarter, the night of the win
Every streetbecame a parade.
Who dat.
Some victories end a game.This one began a recovery.
03 / Food & drink
Poydras-scale comfort food with Louisiana muscle.
At the main 1009 Poydras Street location, the kitchen is built for Superdome-scale demand but does more than merely survive it. Gulf seafood, crawfish cream sauce, duck-and-andouille gumbo, and indulgent bar standards give this Downtown/CBD outpost a more Louisiana-specific food program than its chain badge suggests. Arrive before the rush on major event days: the room can fill quickly, and the kitchen’s best work deserves a little patience.
The 1009 Poydras form book / four crowd-pleasers
This is the location to use when a large downtown group needs real food before kickoff—not just an open television and a basket of fries.
Dessert / share itKrispy Kreme bread pudding
“One of the best bread puddings I’ve ever had.”
Starter / Gulf signalDevils on Horseback
“Amazing—and a must-have.”
Entrée / seafoodBayou Pasta
“You can taste the freshness in every bite.”
Entrée / local classicCatfish Atchafalaya
“Pretty certain the best fried catfish I’ve ever had.”
Food & drink / menu catalogue
What’s on the menu?
Open a category to browse Walk-On’s’s food and drinks. Prices are shown as published; a missing price means it wasn’t listed.
Catalogue checked October 4, 2026 · Source dates vary
1009 Poydras location verified by official chain locator; PDF linked from that location, not a generic substituted chain menu
Published regular menus
Published menu listings from the supplied catalogue. Stock, service and prices can change.
Food10 categories · 63 listings+
Starters12 listings+
Starters — menu observations and prices in USD
Item
Description / serving
Price as listed (USD)
Source & date
Boneless Wings (14)
Buffalo; lemon pepper; Louisiana kick; hot honey; sweet chili
official location-linked 2-page regular food/drink menu
Burgers with Fries6 listings+
Burgers with Fries — menu observations and prices in USD
Item
Description / serving
Price as listed (USD)
Source & date
Hangover
Egg; American; bacon; standard dressing; medium-well default; lettuce, tomato, mayo, red onion and pickles unless excepted; veggie patty substitution available
official location-linked 2-page regular food/drink menu
Classic
Standard dressing; cheese or bacon +$1; medium-well default; lettuce, tomato, mayo, red onion and pickles unless excepted; veggie patty substitution available
official location-linked 2-page regular food/drink menu
Scholarship
Smaller Classic; American; standard dressing; medium-well default; lettuce, tomato, mayo, red onion and pickles unless excepted; veggie patty substitution available
official location-linked 2-page regular food/drink menu
Hickory
BBQ; cheddar; bacon; onion rings; dressing without red onion; medium-well default; lettuce, tomato, mayo, red onion and pickles unless excepted; veggie patty substitution available
Supplemental Toast / POS-style listing; availability and price not validated
Zydeco Salad
sweet chili-glazed fried shrimp, mixed greens, cabbage, candied pecans, jalapeños, tortilla strips, red onions, bell peppers, jack, pepper jelly vinaigrette sub blackened jumbo shrimp for a small upcharge
Supplemental Toast / POS-style listing; availability and price not validated
Mango Tuna Bowl
seared ahi tuna topped with sweet chili glaze and sriracha aioli, served with rice, avocado, mango salsa carrots, and edamame sub grilled shrimp (imported) for a small upcharge
Supplemental Toast / POS-style listing; availability and price not validated
Cajundillas
chipotle tortilla, grilled chicken, andouille sausage, boudin, caramelized onions, jack, side of red beans & rice *modifications are not allowed on this item
Supplemental Toast / POS-style listing; availability and price not validated
Cheddar Grits (5-8)
Description not listed
Availability: listed
Suspect source price: $1.00 for Cheddar Grits (5–8); larger size is $50 and comparable small trays are $30. Exact source text retained, not a validated selling price.
Supplemental Toast / POS-style listing; availability and price not validated
Menu notes & original sources5 sources+
No reliable closure report found. Official city locator and exact location page remain active; a May 28, 2026 local press-release report advertises June World Cup events at the same Poydras address.
PDF is location-linked; not silently substituted from national chain menu.
PDF and Toast disagree on some prices and descriptions. Example: Ribeye Sliders PDF $15.99 versus Toast $15.49; Redfish Tacos PDF $15.49 versus Toast chips-and-queso option $14.99; Banfi wine PDF $9 versus Toast $8. Preserve source variants.
Toast includes many out-of-stock, POS-style, modifier, and legacy records. A listed item is not confirmed in stock. $99.00 values are suspect placeholders, not validated selling prices. $2 cocktail entries marked plus are likely modifiers rather than complete cocktail prices.
Beer/spirits prices absent from the regular PDF; Toast has extensive size-specific prices but needs cautious use.
Daily lunch/happy-hour and seasonal promotions may differ from these regular lists; all current unpublished offerings cannot be certified.
This is the sensible pick for a mixed party, visitors staying downtown, a major game, or an arena event with a hard start time. Expect the room to fill around Saints and Superdome windows; arrive before the surge if you need a table. The polished operation is the feature: predictable service, many screens, and a location that keeps the evening on foot.