Latest / Out of Bounds with Bo Bounds / Inside Walkers Drive In with Owner Joe Cravens 🔥🍽
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hippy in the city limits, restaurants, restaurant tours and chefs.
- 0:05Speaker 1: We're highlighting and spotlighting those wonderful places. One of them
- 0:09Speaker 1: that we are going to shine the spotlight on today
- 0:13Speaker 1: is Walker's Drive In in Fondron in Jackson. Iconic great
- 0:19Speaker 1: place changed hands as far as ownership last year and
- 0:25Speaker 1: we're excited to have restaurant tour and chef Joe Craven's
- 0:31Speaker 1: with Walker's Drive In and Fondren, Jackson, Mississippi. Check it
- 0:35Speaker 1: out for lunch or dinner. Joe Cravens, Good morning, how.
- 0:40Speaker 2: You doing, Good morning? Great, Thank you guys.
- 0:42Speaker 1: Yeah, hey man, thanks for hanging out with us. All right,
- 0:45Speaker 1: so tell me where are you from?
- 0:46Speaker 2: Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
- 0:50Speaker 3: So are you a Tiger or a Grizzly.
- 0:53Speaker 2: Or Grizzly I love the Grizzlies.
- 0:55Speaker 1: I love it that FedEx Arena is absolutely beautiful.
- 1:00Speaker 3: Love going to games there. So you grew up there, yes,
- 1:03Speaker 3: all right?
- 1:04Speaker 2: Born and raised.
- 1:05Speaker 3: Did you go to college or culinary school or bypassed?
- 1:09Speaker 3: Tell me what happened there?
- 1:10Speaker 2: You know everybody asked me that. So, No, I didn't
- 1:13Speaker 2: go to culinary school. I didn't love school. But you know,
- 1:18Speaker 2: that's not how I ended up in the restaurant industry.
- 1:20Speaker 2: So when I was fourteen, I started working at a
- 1:23Speaker 2: an Italian restaurant called Colettas, which was a staple in
- 1:27Speaker 2: Memphis and they were known for, you know, creating the barbecue,
- 1:31Speaker 2: pizza and all that good stuff. So I started as
- 1:34Speaker 2: a bus.
- 1:35Speaker 3: Boy fourteen years old.
- 1:36Speaker 2: Yeah, rocking and rolling at a young age. Yeah. And
- 1:41Speaker 2: then from there, I you know, started working in other restaurants.
- 1:44Speaker 2: But I learned at a young age that you know,
- 1:48Speaker 2: the best way and the way to make the most
- 1:51Speaker 2: money is being the best because when you're a bus boy,
- 1:55Speaker 2: there's a shared tip with all the other servers. So
- 2:00Speaker 2: but took names and tried to get all the other
- 2:02Speaker 2: bus boys out of there, and I did. And then
- 2:05Speaker 2: it I've kind of used that as I've kept going, Okay, yeah.
- 2:10Speaker 3: So you had that capitalism brain going early. Yeah.
- 2:15Speaker 1: So all right, so you're in the restaurant business by fourteen.
- 2:18Speaker 1: By the way, Jack is joining us too. Jack Cravens
- 2:22Speaker 1: is the mayor of Fondren and he is Joe's son,
- 2:28Speaker 1: and we're so excited that he's with us too this morning.
- 2:31Speaker 1: All right, So this goes to high school and college.
- 2:35Speaker 1: You're still working in the restaurant business.
- 2:38Speaker 2: Yes, So I moved to Oxford, Mississippi, Okay, and worked
- 2:43Speaker 2: for a bunch of restaurants there. Did everything under the sun,
- 2:47Speaker 2: from rolling donuts at one thirty in the morning to
- 2:50Speaker 2: the good old dive bar you know where you get
- 2:53Speaker 2: paid in alcohol, to waking up one day and trying
- 2:57Speaker 2: to progress and do better. And that's when I jumped
- 3:00Speaker 2: on board with Snack.
- 3:02Speaker 3: Bar, which is legend, I mean, for sure, great reputation.
- 3:06Speaker 2: Absolutely Bishrushpot was an amazing mentor amazing teacher.
- 3:11Speaker 3: James Beard nominee, absolutely so.
- 3:14Speaker 2: He did a fantastic job. We had a Southern food
- 3:19Speaker 2: Ways Alliance in Oxford, and I helped with that one
- 3:22Speaker 2: year and that's where I met Steven Ciderfield. And then
- 3:25Speaker 2: I moved to Atlanta, Georgia and jumped on board with
- 3:28Speaker 2: him for a little bit.
- 3:29Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, how long were you in Atlanta?
- 3:32Speaker 2: It was not very long. It was about a year.
- 3:34Speaker 3: Okay.
- 3:35Speaker 2: Atlanta drove me crazy because I wasn't ready for the
- 3:41Speaker 2: big city life, and I don't think it was ready
- 3:43Speaker 2: for me.
- 3:44Speaker 3: So yeah, fair enough, all right.
- 3:46Speaker 1: Joe Craven's, owner of Walker Drive in Fondre and Mississippi. Fondre, Jackson, Mississippi,
- 3:53Speaker 1: joining us on ESPN one oh five nine The Zone.
- 3:58Speaker 1: All right show, What did you start doing first? Did
- 4:01Speaker 1: you start cooking in Jackson or was it US food?
- 4:05Speaker 2: No? I started cooking, Okay, yep, so I was. You know,
- 4:08Speaker 2: I had that mindset that I think every chef does
- 4:11Speaker 2: at one point where it's like, you know, there's bigger
- 4:14Speaker 2: and bitter things. I got to get out of the
- 4:16Speaker 2: restaurant industry because for whatever reason, you know, it's long hours,
- 4:19Speaker 2: you it's different than any other industry.
- 4:24Speaker 3: It was my first job.
- 4:25Speaker 2: Yeah, I moved back and I had that mindset. And
- 4:28Speaker 2: then I sat in a booth at Walker's Driving and
- 4:31Speaker 2: I asked for a resume or I gave my resume
- 4:34Speaker 2: and I asked for an application, and next thing I know,
- 4:37Speaker 2: I was on board with them for a little over
- 4:39Speaker 2: five years.
- 4:40Speaker 1: Really Yeah, So you were with Derek, yes, and Walker's
- 4:45Speaker 1: for five years. So that's incredible experience. It was Derek.
- 4:49Speaker 1: Derek is super talented and he's a rock star in
- 4:53Speaker 1: your industry.
- 4:53Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, he honestly built. He's the building block
- 4:58Speaker 2: for Jackson and a coinary scene. Yeah, he did it,
- 5:02Speaker 2: So everybody's kind of moving off of what he did.
- 5:07Speaker 2: Him and Jennifer masterminds. I mean, they are absolutely killing.
- 5:10Speaker 3: It all right.
- 5:11Speaker 1: So five years with it and you spent a few
- 5:15Speaker 1: years with US Food.
- 5:17Speaker 2: Yes, so I you know, at that time, I was
- 5:20Speaker 2: married and wanted to have kids, so it was like,
- 5:23Speaker 2: I can't do it in the in the restaurant industry,
- 5:26Speaker 2: So I jumped out for a little bit and jumped
- 5:30Speaker 2: on board with US Foods, which, honestly, you know, God
- 5:33Speaker 2: works the mysterious ways. That was probably the most beneficial
- 5:37Speaker 2: part sure of it all, because I got to see
- 5:39Speaker 2: so many different restaurants and learn how they were doing things.
- 5:44Speaker 2: I saw ones that weren't doing great, I saw ones
- 5:47Speaker 2: that were killing it. And then you get to put
- 5:49Speaker 2: it all together and.
- 5:50Speaker 1: See what works and what does it work and you
- 5:52Speaker 1: get the ordering piece of the puzzle.
- 5:54Speaker 3: And the food costs piece of the puzzle.
- 5:56Speaker 2: Yeah you did and all that.
- 5:59Speaker 3: Jackson's I did that. His dad is on ESPN one
- 6:03Speaker 3: oh five nine The Zone.
- 6:05Speaker 1: We may get Jack to host the show tomorrow. And
- 6:11Speaker 1: Joe Craven's owner this is a this is a great story,
- 6:14Speaker 1: owner of Walker's Drive in and foundering Jackson, Mississippi. And
- 6:20Speaker 1: so what was it? What was it like when when
- 6:27Speaker 1: you've How did it go down where Derek talked about
- 6:31Speaker 1: selling Walkers?
- 6:32Speaker 2: Uh no, this is actually a funny story. I was
- 6:35Speaker 2: driving down twenty and Chas Lindsay called me and he said,
- 6:39Speaker 2: you need to go talk to Derek Emerson. And that's
- 6:42Speaker 2: when that's when I was like, you know, I'm not
- 6:48Speaker 2: going back into the restaurant industry. There's I'm not gonna
- 6:51Speaker 2: do it right now. And uh he said, no, he
- 6:54Speaker 2: doesn't want you to go work for him. He wants
- 6:56Speaker 2: to talk to you about buying walkers. And I said, wow, okay,
- 7:00Speaker 2: And the next morning I showed up at Sacred Ground.
- 7:03Speaker 2: He was out there doing barbecued at about six am, right,
- 7:06Speaker 2: and I just said, hey, man, what do we gotta do?
- 7:10Speaker 2: And he said, well, first we need to set up
- 7:13Speaker 2: a meeting meet you and Jennifer and I said okay.
- 7:15Speaker 2: And so there for about six months, every day NonStop,
- 7:19Speaker 2: I was just trying. I was creating a business plan,
- 7:22Speaker 2: get it, going to banks, talking to CPAs and everything
- 7:28Speaker 2: under the sun that goes into you know, buying a restaurant.
- 7:31Speaker 3: Wow. And so did this happened last July.
- 7:35Speaker 2: Yes, sir. Okay, well that's when we ended up closing
- 7:38Speaker 2: on the deal.
- 7:38Speaker 1: Right, yes, and then you you closed briefly for some renovations.
- 7:43Speaker 2: Right eleven days, yes, sir, so we yeah.
- 7:46Speaker 3: Wow.
- 7:47Speaker 2: We put a new new roof on the place and
- 7:49Speaker 2: repainted and did a little put some new art on
- 7:52Speaker 2: the inside, and that was it.
- 7:55Speaker 3: So you've been you've been the owner for a year.
- 7:57Speaker 2: Yep, we just said a year.
- 7:58Speaker 3: Okay, how do you think it's gone?
- 8:01Speaker 2: Man? The community, I can't think of enough. They've absolutely
- 8:07Speaker 2: blown my mind with the amount of business that we've had,
- 8:10Speaker 2: especially with losing a parking lot there. For a second,
- 8:13Speaker 2: it was like kind of nerve wracking, and then you
- 8:16Speaker 2: know you're taking over such a staple that you're every
- 8:19Speaker 2: day you're like nervous as heck. But we've had so
- 8:22Speaker 2: much support, like across the board, everybody every day is
- 8:26Speaker 2: like trying to push our name and trying to keep
- 8:28Speaker 2: us going.
- 8:29Speaker 3: So that's awesome taking over a staple.
- 8:31Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know that you're taking I mean you
- 8:35Speaker 1: were a part of it, and you were a big
- 8:37Speaker 1: part of it for five years, right, and you know
- 8:40Speaker 1: what made Derek and Jennifer successful, but still you have
- 8:43Speaker 1: to take over and keep it going and then probably
- 8:47Speaker 1: add some of the things that you want to do
- 8:49Speaker 1: while keeping some of the five star amazing dishes that
- 8:55Speaker 1: they had, right, So it's a balance.
- 8:57Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, Derek for twenty four years, he trial
- 9:01Speaker 2: and error and he ended up creating the perfect menu
- 9:03Speaker 2: in my opinion, and uh so we've ran with it
- 9:07Speaker 2: and people have That's really been why they've been so
- 9:11Speaker 2: excited is because we didn't go in there and just
- 9:13Speaker 2: change every right. You know, everybody's nervous about change. Right
- 9:17Speaker 2: when people get up and they move locations for whatever reason,
- 9:20Speaker 2: most people change the menus and that's usually there when
- 9:25Speaker 2: stuff hits the fan for him. So we've just kept
- 9:28Speaker 2: it the same because it's absolutely full proof. If it's
- 9:30Speaker 2: not broken, don't fix it.
- 9:33Speaker 3: Proven winter.
- 9:34Speaker 1: Yeah, when you were visiting with Joe Cravens, he's the
- 9:37Speaker 1: new owner of Walker's Drive in Fondra and Jacksonmissippi. But
- 9:41Speaker 1: he worked under Derek Emerson for five years and with
- 9:46Speaker 1: US Food for a couple of years and they are
- 9:48Speaker 1: crushing it.
- 9:49Speaker 3: They're still crushing it. Unbelievable food. It's phenomenal. Yeah, it's
- 9:53Speaker 3: it's awesome.
- 9:54Speaker 1: So what what would you say your specialty is when
- 9:58Speaker 1: it comes to cooking.
- 9:59Speaker 2: Oh, that's a tough one because it's you know you
- 10:05Speaker 2: you've got to stay relevant. That's the number one thing, right,
- 10:07Speaker 2: You've got to stay in the seasons. You've got to
- 10:09Speaker 2: bring people things that make sense. I'm not going to
- 10:14Speaker 2: run hardy, you know, savory dishes in the middle of
- 10:20Speaker 2: summer when it's ninety eight degrees. You want stuff that's light.
- 10:23Speaker 2: You want fresh vegetables that are coming out, and places
- 10:27Speaker 2: like two Dog Farms. I mean, they make it so
- 10:29Speaker 2: simple for us. But I do love the farm to
- 10:33Speaker 2: table aspect. Yeah, you know, fresh vegetables on a plate.
- 10:37Speaker 2: Marco Pierre White said it perfectly. Simplicity. That's what people.
- 10:40Speaker 3: Want, no doubt, no doubt.
- 10:42Speaker 1: All right, So tell me what your favorite two or
- 10:46Speaker 1: three items are.
- 10:48Speaker 3: I know this is hard, No it.
- 10:49Speaker 1: Is, And I'm sure for two or three months it's X,
- 10:53Speaker 1: and then for two or three months, the next two
- 10:54Speaker 1: or three.
- 10:55Speaker 3: Months it's something else.
- 10:56Speaker 1: But for right now on Joe Craven's Walker's drive in menu,
- 11:02Speaker 1: what is your what's your two or three favorite items?
- 11:06Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm a tourist, so we're repetitive. When we
- 11:09Speaker 2: go to restaurants, we get the same thing you did
- 11:11Speaker 2: at the same time, and we you know, that is
- 11:14Speaker 2: unfortunately comfort what we do. Yeah, exactly. So the four
- 11:19Speaker 2: times I ate at Walker's previous toning it, I had
- 11:22Speaker 2: the hanger stick every time. Hanger freez. You can't beat it.
- 11:26Speaker 2: Potatoes Australian wago hanger as best meal you can get,
- 11:33Speaker 2: big old pile of French fries. Just it's fantastic. Yeah,
- 11:39Speaker 2: I've gotten that every time. Now the crab cakes. Derek
- 11:41Speaker 2: made the perfect crab cake. When people talk about it,
- 11:44Speaker 2: that amazing, It's absolutely fantastic. And then you know, it's funny.
- 11:49Speaker 2: I've made a million red fishing in my life, but
- 11:52Speaker 2: I've actually never ate.
- 11:54Speaker 3: Really, are you serious? Yeah, I don't know how many
- 11:57Speaker 3: I've had.
- 11:58Speaker 2: Isn't that wild?
- 11:59Speaker 3: It is kind in the while.
- 12:00Speaker 1: So how many redfish Annas has Walkers drive in?
- 12:07Speaker 3: How many have they sold? I mean it's it's hundreds
- 12:10Speaker 3: of thousands, Yeah.
- 12:11Speaker 2: It is. I mean that's what everybody comes.
- 12:13Speaker 3: For, right. Yeah, that's Juice Kiffin. That was Lane Kiffin's talk.
- 12:18Speaker 1: I do want to tell you want to take it
- 12:19Speaker 1: over there by the count You've done a real good job, Rabbit,
- 12:22Speaker 1: a real good job of keeping Gary.
- 12:25Speaker 3: Like top notch.
- 12:26Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, I mean that's what you know.
- 12:28Speaker 3: That's great.
- 12:29Speaker 2: God blessed me with some amazing Like everybody that works
- 12:34Speaker 2: at Walkers, they're mature, they come in, they do their job,
- 12:38Speaker 2: they love where they're at, and it shows. But it
- 12:41Speaker 2: all starts with the people that you know, walk through
- 12:44Speaker 2: the door and lead them. And so we've been we've
- 12:48Speaker 2: really tried to implement, you know, positivity, trying to keep
- 12:52Speaker 2: these guys where they have kind of a normal way
- 12:54Speaker 2: of life, which it's tough because you know, they're there
- 12:56Speaker 2: from twelve o'clock until midnight most nights, and trying to
- 13:02Speaker 2: keep them on board and happy the whole nine yards.
- 13:04Speaker 2: But that's kind of been our.
- 13:08Speaker 3: Do you think it. Has it been baptism?
- 13:10Speaker 1: You've already been in it, so you are already a
- 13:13Speaker 1: chef under Derek for a super successful restaurant. Has it
- 13:18Speaker 1: been baptism by fire though being the owner and chef.
- 13:22Speaker 2: No? No, Because I heard a quote and bread it
- 13:27Speaker 2: the other day that you know, the best employee is
- 13:32Speaker 2: one that acts like an owner, and the best owner
- 13:34Speaker 2: is one that acts like an employee. So I'm in
- 13:37Speaker 2: there every single day, rocking and rolling with the guys.
- 13:41Speaker 2: We've just taken over a management agreement across the street
- 13:44Speaker 2: with the block, so that's been a new venture for us.
- 13:48Speaker 3: Okay, tell me about that.
- 13:50Speaker 2: Uh. You know, we we are doing everything and anything
- 13:56Speaker 2: we want the best for Fondurant. So we're helping out
- 14:01Speaker 2: David Farr and Jason Watkins on their absolutely beautiful establishment. Sure,
- 14:07Speaker 2: but there's definitely a lot that goes into it that
- 14:10Speaker 2: I am learning every single day. You know, I'm oiling
- 14:16Speaker 2: bowling lanes. I'm looking at uh you know what food
- 14:22Speaker 2: works for a bowling alley.
- 14:24Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, that's the yard.
- 14:27Speaker 2: It's it's definitely and it's all happening at the same time, right.
- 14:32Speaker 1: Yeah, you got to keep walkers at a super high
- 14:35Speaker 1: level for lunching, dinner, and then now you're tackling this,
- 14:39Speaker 1: uh basically being the food guy.
- 14:43Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 14:44Speaker 2: Yeah, we I mean we do everything.
- 14:46Speaker 3: Wow. Yeah. So it's it's exciting and challenging.
- 14:50Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, it definitely is because I mean one
- 14:53Speaker 2: day I could be fixing a motor on a you know,
- 14:56Speaker 2: string string pin system, which is the bowling lane, or
- 15:00Speaker 2: I could be I mean looking for a new poiner
- 15:05Speaker 2: for the wood in the dining area. I mean it's just,
- 15:08Speaker 2: you know, we do everything and anything.
- 15:10Speaker 3: Yeah, that's great.
- 15:11Speaker 2: Yeah, it's fun. That's definitely fun.
- 15:13Speaker 1: Challenging Memphis, Tennessee to Oxford, Mississippi, quick stop in Atlanta,
- 15:20Speaker 1: Jackson the rest of the time, yep, okay, interesting and
- 15:25Speaker 1: now the new owner of Walker's Drive in for the
- 15:27Speaker 1: last twelve months, almost thirteen months. Yeah, Joe Cravens and
- 15:31Speaker 1: his team along with Jack making the Jackson, Mississippi culinary
- 15:38Speaker 1: experience exceptional. We are the out of Bounds show ESPN
- 15:43Speaker 1: one oh five nine of the Zone. We've got Jack,
- 15:46Speaker 1: Juice Kiffen and Joe Cravens, Jay Meadows with me. I'm
- 15:51Speaker 1: your host bo Bounds and Jacks being a trooper because
- 15:56Speaker 1: he's all excited that Jack is.
- 15:59Speaker 2: He is well.
- 16:00Speaker 1: And now Jack has made his ESPN one five nine
- 16:03Speaker 1: the Zone debut.
- 16:04Speaker 3: You that's right. It's a cute kids.
- 16:08Speaker 2: Yeah, you know he's used to this. He's been doing
- 16:11Speaker 2: this with me for a while.
- 16:12Speaker 3: You say you take him on sales calls, you say
- 16:15Speaker 3: go Walkers.
- 16:16Speaker 2: Jack, Can you say go Walkers in the mic? Say
- 16:20Speaker 2: it into the mic go Walkers Go, Walkers.
- 16:25Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, well we'll get him to say it
- 16:26Speaker 3: here in just a sex So did he help you
- 16:29Speaker 3: on sales calls?
- 16:31Speaker 2: Yeah? He probably kept me a lot of accounts over
- 16:34Speaker 2: the years.
- 16:37Speaker 1: I've got josh Ard on my text line. Uh, he says,
- 16:41Speaker 1: tell my buddy Joe Hello.
- 16:43Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Josh is fantastic. He was on the team
- 16:46Speaker 2: with me at US Foods. Yeah. We that was a
- 16:50Speaker 2: great family. You know, I've been blessed over the years.
- 16:53Speaker 2: God works in the wildest ways. But everything is falling
- 16:56Speaker 2: into place, and I'm my sister says I'm the luckiest
- 16:59Speaker 2: s o being on earth. But I agree, I am.
- 17:03Speaker 2: I'm very fortunate, and just you know, stay true.
- 17:08Speaker 3: I know this all right?
- 17:09Speaker 1: What are your top what are your top three or
- 17:11Speaker 1: four sellers? And you may have to separate this out
- 17:16Speaker 1: for lunch and dinner. I'm fine with that. What are
- 17:18Speaker 1: your top three or four sellers lunch and dinner for Walkers,
- 17:22Speaker 1: drive in and fonder.
- 17:23Speaker 2: The number one seller Walkers, which is wild is the
- 17:27Speaker 2: eight ounce flay. That's the number one seller, and then
- 17:33Speaker 2: number two is redfish, and of course, of course, and
- 17:36Speaker 2: then from there it's been a few wed. I believe
- 17:45Speaker 2: it's a lunch at them. I want to say it
- 17:49Speaker 2: might be catfish.
- 17:51Speaker 3: Yeah yeah.
- 17:51Speaker 2: On Friday we sell this.
- 17:54Speaker 3: I bet. Yeah, that's the South Friday specials.
- 17:57Speaker 2: It's Simmons, it comes in fresh, it's absolutely fantastic.
- 18:00Speaker 1: Yeah all right, So what about as far as wine
- 18:07Speaker 1: and spirits?
- 18:07Speaker 3: Did you get into that along the way?
- 18:09Speaker 2: Oh?
- 18:09Speaker 3: Yeah, you know the whole boot. Like Elijah cragg.
- 18:13Speaker 1: Is a partner on the show. We've had wine makers.
- 18:17Speaker 1: We were talking about Mark Carter earlier from Carter Sellars.
- 18:20Speaker 1: He's been in studio on the show. So did you
- 18:25Speaker 1: get into the wine and spirit thing along the way?
- 18:28Speaker 2: So you know, I should have more. But I also
- 18:34Speaker 2: Taylor Gardner is our general manager and she absolutely blows
- 18:37Speaker 2: it out. Okay, yeah, so she just won the Wine
- 18:40Speaker 2: Spectator Award. She just got two glasses and.
- 18:45Speaker 3: Good for y'all.
- 18:46Speaker 2: In hindsight, you think, like, oh, she obtained all the
- 18:49Speaker 2: wine from Walkers previously. Note this she started from scratch, scratch, wow,
- 18:55Speaker 2: absolute scratch, and she's blown it out of the water.
- 18:58Speaker 2: We we have over five you're different options of wine
- 19:02Speaker 2: on our wine menu and it you know, I've talked
- 19:06Speaker 2: to wine guys all over that there. He I was
- 19:12Speaker 2: at a Sip and Savor the other day and he's like, man,
- 19:17Speaker 2: there was a wine that somebody sent me a picture
- 19:18Speaker 2: of and I'm sitting there like, holy cow, where are you?
- 19:22Speaker 2: Where are you seeing this at? And they like send
- 19:25Speaker 2: me a picture of the Walkers menu and I'm like
- 19:27Speaker 2: wait what And I'm like, yeah, I mean she's.
- 19:32Speaker 3: Her name's Taylor what Taylor Gardener? That's awesome. Yeah, she is.
- 19:36Speaker 3: She runs your beverage program.
- 19:39Speaker 2: She does, she does, and she manages all the front
- 19:41Speaker 2: of the house. So when you have an amazing server,
- 19:44Speaker 2: she's she's the one that creates that experience.
- 19:48Speaker 1: Shout out to Taylor Gardner, part of Joe Craven's Walker's
- 19:53Speaker 1: Drive in team founder and Jackson Mississippi.
- 19:56Speaker 3: Go and have lunch or dinner.
- 19:58Speaker 1: Soon and and you will have an amazing culinary and
- 20:02Speaker 1: dining experience.
- 20:04Speaker 3: Are you a sports fan at all? Oh?
- 20:05Speaker 2: Yeah, I've kind of had to fall out as funny.
- 20:07Speaker 2: Somebody asked me that the other day. They're like, are
- 20:09Speaker 2: you ready for football season? I'm like, man, I haven't
- 20:12Speaker 2: watched the football game and like six years. Even though
- 20:16Speaker 2: I do love it more than anything, it's just tough
- 20:19Speaker 2: to sure make the games and take the time to
- 20:22Speaker 2: do that because there's always something going on.
- 20:25Speaker 3: Yeah, but are you NFL or college?
- 20:28Speaker 2: I do not like the NFL. Pro sports are different
- 20:30Speaker 2: to me. Yeah, you know, college is fun because anything
- 20:34Speaker 2: could happen when you're watching it, and you're just like
- 20:37Speaker 2: the anticipation of what is going to happen.
- 20:41Speaker 3: Right, I love that.
- 20:43Speaker 2: So that's my favorite SEC football sec ole miss all
- 20:47Speaker 2: the way.
- 20:47Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah, I know you've you've spent how many years
- 20:52Speaker 3: were you not me?
- 20:53Speaker 2: Seven years?
- 20:53Speaker 3: You were seven years?
- 20:55Speaker 2: Seven long years?
- 20:56Speaker 3: Yeah, snack bar and so on. Yes, sir, that's great.
- 21:01Speaker 1: Well, look, congratulations my man. We're so happy for you.
- 21:06Speaker 1: We're glad that you know you're gonna keep you are
- 21:09Speaker 1: keeping the Walkers drive in legacy going. Yes, Derek was
- 21:13Speaker 1: highly complimentary of you. I appreciate he was in on
- 21:17Speaker 1: Friday and uh And we're spotlighting and highlighting all the
- 21:21Speaker 1: wonderful chefs and restaurant tears in the Jackson City limits.
- 21:26Speaker 1: And there's a bunch of them, as you know, from
- 21:28Speaker 1: from bell Haven to downtown to Fondren to east Over District,
- 21:32Speaker 1: Highland Village and and all around.
- 21:34Speaker 3: Yeah, do you still eat cereal?
- 21:36Speaker 2: Uh huh, you know I do because my kids are
- 21:40Speaker 2: addicted to Lucky Charms currently, which they but of course,
- 21:46Speaker 2: so next thing, I know, I'm usually eating a couple
- 21:49Speaker 2: of handfuls.
- 21:50Speaker 3: Yes, you're in survival stage.
- 21:52Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I am.
- 21:54Speaker 1: So you you decide to buy restaurant, You've got houses,
- 21:58Speaker 1: Jack's three, You've got and you've got a one year old.
- 22:02Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 22:03Speaker 1: So obviously your wife's a saint, right, yep, she does,
- 22:08Speaker 1: and you are too, and you've got Jack for the day,
- 22:12Speaker 1: which is awesome. He's also say yeah, and he likes
- 22:16Speaker 1: some our juice Kiff and Bible Head Doll, which I
- 22:19Speaker 1: don't blame him. He's like, look at I'm watching this cartoon.
- 22:22Speaker 1: It's amazing, and you've got to watch it with me.
- 22:25Speaker 1: Joe Craven's congratulations, thank you, Buddy, Walker's Drive In and
- 22:29Speaker 1: Fondron Jackson, Mississippi.
- 22:31Speaker 3: They are crushing it.
- 22:34Speaker 1: And Joe Craven's Taylor Gardner and the team want to
- 22:39Speaker 1: see you at lunch or dinner at Walker's Drive In
- 22:45Speaker 1: and Fondren, Mississippi. Good Show Today, Mike Ntilier WWL Radio
- 22:51Speaker 1: TV New Orleans Tomorrow at eight thirty have a good one.
- 22:54Speaker 3: We'll see you