The Phenomenon that is Hooters

I'm a 29 year old male...so you'd probably assume that I'd had the pleasure of dining at one of the many Hooters that dot the American landscape.

You'd be wrong.

My first visit to Hooters didn't happen until...well...last night. There's one right around the corner from my office and just up the street from my softball game last night (which was at 8 p.m.). So, when John called and wanted to head over there after work to kill some time before the game...how can any self respecting man say no?

It was a good time. The wings were actually pretty good. I was going to go for the 911 ones (their hottest) but I went for a step down, the 3 Mile Island sauce. They were spicy but I could have taken more.

Funny thing was...the hooters side of Hooters wasn't all that impressive. I guess if I were a 14 year old I would have been really really happy, though, which brings me to the real reason for this post.

There were families having dinner at Hooters when we were there...which I found extremely odd. No, it's not a strip joint, but it this really the type of restaurant you want to take your kids to? I mean, I can see myself taking just my son there sometime...when he's a teenager...but these were entire families...mothers, daughter, father....

Maybe I'm making too big a deal of it, but it really struck me as weird...

Comments

[Rob]

Interesting...my sister and brother-in-law are both chefs for what would be considered 'fine dining' restaurants and they admit that Hooter wings are one of their guilty pleasures because they are breaded, unlike other wings in the area.

In terms of embiance of "Hooters" I agree that its more mystique and reputation than reality. I actually find it offensive as man that this place is the stereotype of what 'male paradise'. Its just so incredibly tacky and cheesy, besides I am pretty sure that "Male Paradise" would at least have full frontal...

[:r]

Ah, hooters. When we lived in an un-named strip mall laden town some years ago, you'd drive by the Hooters on a sunday and see families filing in AFTER CHURCH!
With their sunday best on.

Taking the family to Hooters, after taking them to church.
Classy.

[Ryan]

There is a Hooter just down the road from me (in Cali) and without fail, it is always packed. I personally find them a bit pricey for simple "bar-type" food but I must admit that the 'talent' is impressive.

Anyways- there are the families that dine there too. Back in Philly where I used to live, families would gather in herds. I'm sure its the husbands driving the idea but I look at it no different than going to any other novelty restaurant. The 'hooter girls' aren't showing much at all (hell, teenagers these days dress in skimpier clothes... disturbing)

As their tag line states "tastefully tacky"

You can't expect much with tag line like that...

[Randal L. Schwartz]

I really can't see the whole controversy about Hooters. I mean, it's just like any other sports bar, with big screen TVs showing sports from open to close, crappy beer on draft, and overly greasy snack food. And of course, those sorts of places always have waitresses with skimpy shorts and tight-fitting tops, fitting the male-dominated sports market. Hooters is just one of the genre. However, what Hooters has managed to do is create a pretense of being presumed to be "the last step before a strip club", when in fact it's really just a normal family restaurant. Like you saw, the regulars to a local Hooters are generally a cross-section of America, men, women, kids and so on, just as you'd find in any typical sports bar.

Hooters. A sports bar. Not a strip joint. Ignore the ads. {grin}