IT’S the world-famous “breastaurant”; known for chicken wings and hot chicks.
In tight T-shirts and skimpy shorts, waitresses have been dishing up fried chicken in Hooters restaurants worldwide for more than 40 years.
But now the parent company, Hooters of America, has filed for bankruptcy in the US, amid mounting debts.
It means 151 of its directly owned restaurants may face closure.
However, its 154 franchisees, including three UK restaurants, in Nottingham, Newcastle and Liverpool, are safe for now.
But the controversial chain’s sorry fate in the States points to a bigger problem, which might have heavier implications for Hooters employees and patrons everywhere: Is there still room for a brand that has been slammed for its “regressive”; views on its female staff, and has faced lawsuits in the past for its “discriminatory”; employment tactics?
The company’s desperate attempts to stay profitable in recent years — including a dramatic “rebrand”; in 2022 to be more “family-friendly”; — suggest the writing has been on the wall for a while.
The much-loved institution was founded in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983 by six businessmen, Gil DiGiannantonio, Edward C Droste, Billy Ranieri, Ken Wimmer, Lynn D Stewart and Dennis Johnson.
The self-titled “Hooters Six”; were, by their own admission, “six clueless knuckleheads”; with one vision.
“We wanted to open a neighbourhood joint with a beach theme, that we couldn’t get kicked out of,”; Droste told USA Today.
They named their restaurant Hooters — double entendre slang for owls and women’s breasts — leaving no doubt what their selling power was.
And, to the group’s surprise, the concept took off.
The following year, food entrepreneur Robert H Brooks bought the small chain of Florida-based restaurants, expanding it to a worldwide brand with 430 outposts, plus an airline, an auto racing series, a golf tour, Las Vegas hotel, magazine and even a Hooters Mastercard.
With their barely-there outfits, the Hooters Girls represented its core values — giving Hugh Hefner’s Playboy bunnies a run for their money.
From day one, Hooters expected its waitresses to capitalise on their sex appeal and flirt with customers.
They had to agree to three statements: To wear the uniform, interact and entertain the customers, and that “the Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal”;.
Yet some employees reported the rules changed over the years, especially when it came to their eye-popping outfits.
In 2021, the chain was rocked with complaints, after it emerged it had made the shorts even skimpier.
I ran around in tights and a leotard all day long anyway
Amy Adams
One waitress, Kristen Songer, said on TikTok: “There’s no longer anything covered by these shorts.
“This is why all the Hooters girls are upset — this is not what I agreed to wear a year ago when I was hired.”;
Despite its controversial fashion choices, the popular chain managed to attract a sea of recruits.
Comedian Katherine Ryan says waiting tables for the brand in Ontario, Canada, gave her a platform to flex her comedic muscles as she took part in bikini pageants and won Miss Hooters Toronto 2004.
This year she told TV relationship guru Paul C Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast: “Women can find empowerment in any situation, even one that objectifies them.
“Hooters was the place I found the most empowerment.”;
In 2019, actress Amy Adams revealed she had worked for Hooters aged 18.
“It was a really good job because, at the time, minimum wage was $3.85 and they were willing to pay $7 to the hostesses,”; she said.
“I ran around in tights and a leotard all day long anyway.”;
US model Chrissy Teigen also has fond memories of her days there.
I have nightmares about that job
Naya Rivera
But sharing photos of herself in the uniform on Instagram in 2021, she pointed out: “The shorts, they have changed!!!!”;
But late Glee star Naya Rivera had a different take on her time at Hooters.
“I have nightmares about that job,”; she told Allure magazine in 2013.
“When I was working there, I was really skinny.
“But I was always self-conscious.”;
While the first British Hooters — in Birmingham in early 1998 — was short-lived, the brand found success later that year with a franchise in Nottingham and, in 2022, a second in Liverpool.
The owners of the Nottingham outlet — which in 2009 hailed Sven- Goran Eriksson’s new Notts County director role on its sign — recently opened a new outpost, in Newcastle.
As news spread this week that the US parent company was going under, its UK franchisees insisted they were staying open — and had high hopes for the future.
Over the years, the US chain has managed to survive some serious controversy and criticism, including alleged racial profiling and discrimination against trans women when it came to hiring its all-female staff
In 2000, it paid £275,000 damages to former waitress Sara Steinhoff, for unwanted sexual advances, demeaning behaviour and recrimination from managers at the Newport, Kentucky site during the 1990s.
But while customers continued to pour in throughout the Noughties and 2010s, the rise of the #MeToo movement, plus desires for healthier food, cast it in a less flattering light.
Then the Covid lockdowns hit, devastating the restaurant industry.
By 2025, the company’s financial struggles, controversial image and declining footfall could not guarantee its future on US soil.
Insiders say Hooters of America now hopes to keep as many restaurants open as possible, with plans for some of its original owners to buy and revive the failed shops.
Meanwhile, the brand lives on in the hearts and minds of every wing and breast lover — of every variety.
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