Before doors open at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, Fred Walker fires up the grill and starts preparing egg rolls for the fryer.
Walker and his wife, April, own and operate the Fred’s Downtown Philly restaurant in Allen. Fred was raised in Philadelphia and moved to North Texas to become an electrical engineer before eventually opening a restaurant in the 90s, he said.
He couldn’t find a “good cheesesteak” in the area and his friends in Philadelphia always asked him to make them, Walker said. He started selling cheesesteaks to neighbors in North Texas and formally opened his first restaurant in 1995.
“My theory was if I was the best cheesesteak maker in the neighborhood in Philadelphia, I knew what I could do here in Texas,” Walker said. “I never looked back."
What’s on the menu
Fred’s Downtown Philly, which also has locations in Plano and Carrollton, serves a variety of Philly cheesesteak sandwiches cooked to order. The most popular menu items include a classic Philly cheesesteak, a pepper cheesesteak, a mushroom cheesesteak and a broadstreet cheesesteak, April Walker said.
The restaurant also serves salads, burgers and five cheesesteak-inspired egg rolls that are made in house, she said.
“We roll them in the morning and usually run out before noon,” April Walker said.
Meet the owners
April and Fred Walker met at his restaurant in 2000. April Walker, who was raised in New Jersey, was also looking for a good cheesesteak when she moved to North Texas.
"I'm just driving around looking for a good cheesesteak and kept coming to his [restaurant] when I finally found it,” April Walker said. “I just kept coming and he finally said, 'What's your name?' and asked me out.”
Walker opened his first restaurant in Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood and relocated twice before opening his flagship restaurant in Plano in 2001. Since then, Fred’s Downtown Philly locations have opened in Allen and Carrollton.
"We've jumped over a bunch of hurdles and we're here and happy to be here. ... He loves what he does,” April Walker said. “We all love what we do.”
