Tales of Graves and Landry - Out to Lunch - It's Baton Rouge

It is not unusual for entrepreneurs to tell you that the single
biggest attribute you need to succeed in business is "passion."
Even if you ve heard that a thousand times you won t fully
appreciate what it means till you hear the business tales of Todd
Graves and Brandon Landry. These two homegrown Baton Rouge
entrepreneurs have defied the odds and the expressed wisdom of
their elders to follow their dreams and act on what they knew was a
good idea. Both of their companies are now powerhouse restaurant
chains based right here in Baton Rouge Raising Cane s and Walk Ons
Bistreaux and Bar. Todd Graves founded Raising Cane s 20 years ago
on the corner of Highland road and State Street, just outside the
north gates of LSU. In the years since, his chain of fried chicken
fingers restaurants has grown to almost 300 locations in 20 states
and the country of Kuwait. Cane s is also one of the 10 largest
private companies in Baton Rouge, with revenues last year of 580
million and the company shows no signs of slowing down. Todd s
story is legendary in Baton Rouge but it s just the tip of the
iceberg. On this edition of Out to Lunch you get to meet Todd in
his own words and have him show you around his world. Brandon
Landry could be Todd s entrepreneur double, if there was such a
thing. Brandon s string of successful sports bars sprung from the
same sort of poorly received business plan as Todd s and from being
a walk on on the LSU Men s Basketball team. Walk On s has seen
phenomenal success, spreading beyond Baton Rouge and being crowned
by ESPN as the Best Sports Bar in America. In 2015, Drew Brees
became a partner owner and an ambassador for Walk On s. Even if you
don t eat chicken and don t care for sports, you ll walk away from
this conversation inspired. Photos at Mansurs On The Boulevard by
Ken Stewart.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.