Nathan Walker, co-owner of Walkers Restaurant and Bar (6245 Gravois, 314-553-9339, walkersrestaurantandbar.com), says it’s complete coincidence that “walkers” is the slang term for zombies on AMC’s The Walking Dead—and that his establishment has become the unofficial headquarters for one group’s viewing parties on Sunday nights.
“We laughed and laughed when we realized the coincidence,” Walker says of the hit show, based on Robert Kirkman’s popular comics about a group of survivors caught in a zombie apocalypse.
“We had some people who became regulars, we befriended them, and it turned out they’re in the Zombie Squad,” Walker explains, referring to the local disaster-preparedness group (zombiehunters.org). “I said we should show zombie movies on Sundays, and one lady suggested The Walking Dead instead.”
Nathan, with co-owner/brother Griffin Walker, has plenty of kitchen experience from laboring at Onesto Pizza & Trattoria, Chez Leon, and The Market at Busch’s Grove. But he didn’t reckon on a crowd drinking and dining while zombies devour people on television.
“We thought about serving something like sweetbreads, which can look like part of the brain, but I don’t know how many people would want to eat that,” he says. “That’s kind of hoity-toity.”
Perhaps he should consider offering that old-fashioned St. Louis fave, the fried-brain sandwich, instead?
