Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, once labeled by ESPN as the No. 1 sports bar in America, is coming to Lexington, Kentucky.

The new dining establishment will be located at 1030 S. Broadway, in the former Tilted Kilt space, and will use the next-door site of KSBar & Grille, which closed in June, as a game-day location with a Kentucky Sports Radio presence.

The first Walk-On’s location in Kentucky — although its Clarksville, Indiana, location is just minutes from downtown Louisville — will feature at least 50 TVs for fans to watch UK games and other sporting events.

Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux will open ahead of the 2026 football season. The new restaurant will be led by business partners Jamie Daniel and KSR founder Matt Jones.

“As a Kentucky native and die-hard Kentucky fan, opening a Walk-On’s here was a long time coming,” Daniel said in a news release. “By partnering with Matt and the KSR community, we’re serving a fan base that lives and breathes Kentucky sports. We believe this creates a destination unlike anything else in the market.”

KSBar opened in Lexington in 2018 and has been a staple for Kentucky sports fans. Jones wants to keep the space alive by opening it for game days and other special events while allowing fans to order from the Walk-On’s scratch-made menu.

“KSBar has always been about bringing Kentucky fans together,” Jones said in the release. “This partnership allows us to preserve that spirit while giving fans access to a bigger experience, a larger menu and the resources of one of the most successful sports bar brands in the country. We’ll still be here on game days, broadcasting KSR live and celebrating Kentucky sports, but now with Walk-On’s helping take the experience to the next level.”

Walk-On’s was founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2003 by former LSU basketball walk-ons Brandon Landry and Jack Warner. Since then, the restaurant has opened over 80 locations across the United States with partners like Dak Prescott, Dabo Swinney and co-owner Drew Brees.

Reach sports trending writer Alaina Morris at amorris@gannett.com and follow her on X at @alainammorris. 

Kentucky basketball is notorious for producing NBA talent. The Wildcats currently have the most active players in the league, with 30 players in 20 different franchises playing a variety of roles.

Karl-Anthony Towns ended the 2025-26 season with an NBA championship, starting at center and helping guide the New York Knicks to their first title in 53 years.

Towns averaged a double-double this season with 20.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. In the playoffs, the former Wildcat averaged 15.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest. Towns played a big role in the five-game NBA Finals against the Spurs, most notably tallying 21 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the Knicks’ Game 2 win on the road.

The Knicks center wasn’t the only former Kentucky standout to have a big season. Here is a look at how some of Kentucky’s best did in the NBA in 2025-26:

De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson helped the San Antonio Spurs win the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder and reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014.

Fox was in his first full season with the Spurs after being drafted by Sacramento and spending time with the Kings from 2017-25. He averaged 18.6 points, 6.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds in the regular season. Fox averaged 15.6 points in the playoffs as he dealt with a lingering ankle injury that cause him to miss games against the Thunder. He was also criticized for a disappointing NBA Finals performance against the Knicks.

Johnson etched himself in the record books by winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. Coming off the bench, he averaged 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds during the regular season. Johnson had four games in double-figures in the Western Conference Finals, but didn’t score more than seven in any game against the Knicks when competing for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Before the 2025 NBA champion Thunder saw their bid for a repeat title shut down by the Spurs in Game 7, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enjoyed another dominant regular season and captured his second straight MVP award.

Yesterday, Kentucky announced a few more of its non-conference games, and some folks are not happy about the quality of opponents that will come to Rupp Arena. The seven teams added to the schedule were Manhattan (November 3rd), James Madison (November 6th), Northern Arizona (November 13th), Grambling State (November 16th), Bryant (December 8th), Sacred Heart (December 22nd), and Gardner-Webb (December 28th).

One of those who voiced his displeasure was Dick Vitale. The college basketball legend took to X to say, “The Kentucky basketball schedule has many cupcakes on their pre-conference schedule & 5 legit challenges – BBN -Cats fans & players deserve a more challenging schedule in getting ready for the SEC – especially having a TEAM with over 21 MILLION in NIL dollars.”

I see where Dickie V is coming from here, but the reality is that every college basketball team is going to play these cupcake games. If Vitale is frustrated with the NET Rankings of these teams, I understand, but all of college basketball plays games like this.

I can see the frustration for BBN knowing the only really exciting home game coming to Rupp Arena this non-conference season is the matchup with rival Louisville. I have a feeling another big-time game could be coming to the schedule, knowing the Gonzaga matchup is no more. Hopefully, if a new marquee game is scheduled, it will be in Rupp Arena, but this is still to be seen.

The reality is the Wildcats have a top ten strength of schedule right now, and they do have games against Kansas, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina, and Virginia scheduled in non-conference play. During Mark Pope’s tenure, the Wildcats have played a very tough schedule each season, and that is not going to change this year.

Fans would like to see some more exciting games come to Rupp Arena, but the SEC will once again be very good, which will bring a lot of top 25 matchups to Lexington this year. I believe the five marquee games scheduled for non-conference play will have the Wildcats ready for SEC play, especially knowing they will play a true road game against Virginia.

If the Wildcats do add one more marquee game to the non-conference schedule, this should have Vitale bought into the schedule and how it will get Pope’s team ready for the gauntlet that is SEC play.

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