Hooters Gets a Rube Job 0

I went to a Hooters once.

Back when I was a road warrior, I was stuck for a week in the suburban wasteland north of Atlanta and running out of restaurants for dinner. So, in a spirit of public service and exploration, I figured I’d try the Hooters in the parking lot of the shopping center about two blocks up the street.

Anyone who has ever traveled for business will tell you that dinner is normally the high point of the day.

I was not impressed. The aggressive mediocrity of the menu was slightly surpassed by the lackadaisical service, but not by the skill of the kitchen.

And, frankly, Hooters’s most publicized selling point doesn’t interest me, not because I don’t like to admire the flowers, but that I favor spotting them in the wild instead if looking through a glass at a garden on display. A stolen peek is more interesting than a burlesque show (not that the poor kids working in that dive would have qualified for burlesque).

Then there’s the smarmy sanctimony of Hooters’s efforts to rationalize their name . . . .

From Bloomberg:

There’s reason to look for a happy balance. After Hooters’ U.S. revenue peaked in 2007 at $960 million, the recession took a toll, pushing down sales every year since, according to Technomic Inc. Revenue dropped 3.4 percent to $858 million last year, while U.S. full-service restaurant revenue increased 1.8 percent, data from the Chicago-based researcher show.

Hooters, which is facing increasing competition from other so-called “breastaurants,” including Titled Kilt and Twin Peaks, is vying for customers as U.S. consumer confidence declines and prices for raw ingredients rise. Confidence among Americans fell in August by the most in 10 months as households grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook.