/ Cory Doctorow / 4:57 am Wed Jun 8, 2011

"Breastaurants" are Hooters 2.0

"Breastaurant" is the neologism coined to describe the booming sector of restaurants that expand on the value proposition offered by Hooters -- large-breasted waitresses in short-shorts and skimpy tops -- by adding 60" plasma screens, top-shelf whiskey selections, frosty beer mugs, enormous beer-bongs, an emphasis on flirty interactions with servers, fresh food, and specialized, pre-scripted banter like "would you like your beer in a girl-sized mug or a man-sized mug." Several breastaurant chains are thriving now, including "Tilted Kilt" (described as "Hooters goes to Scotland") and Twin Peaks (servers in skimpy outfits and hiking boots). They ascribe their customer loyalty to "sports-viewing excellence" and "touchology" (frequent touching of the table by servers), along with a mandate for servers to be warm and outgoing: "Sometimes waitresses are providing the best part of a guest's day."

The following is a quotation from entrepreneur.com:

Tristano confirms that the servers drive the concepts. "The increased service is absolutely the core, not the food," he says. "I suspect a lot of this segment's success has to do with server training and hiring the right people."

Though this segment of the market is definitely heating up, none of the concepts thinks they are in danger of saturation, especially since their numbers are fairly small and they're not targeting the same geographical areas. Instead, they worry about competition from sports-oriented concepts like Buffalo Wild Wings. In fact, DeWitt says today's market is similar to the one from which Hooters emerged in 1983.

"It seems like Hooters had the whole segment to itself back then, but if you do the research, they had a raft of competitors that popped up--often with really crass names like Mugs 'N Jugs--before Hooters emerged as a clear national leader," he says.

'Breastaurants' Ring Up Big Profits

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  1. So… good service means something. Now if they’d only realize this holds true for women who are customers!

  3. Well…
    I can’t help myself drawing some parallel line with the way the former IMF persident, Mr Strauss-Kahn, sees women…
    Doesn’t that reduce girls to mammals and legs ?
    Body parts as «segment of the market» ?

  5. Same problem as with Hooters… nice idea, until you think of the extreme degree of discrimination taking place there, not to mention the more obvious objectification of women. I’d never eat at a place that openly admits that they make their money by practically whoring out their staff, especially at waitress pay rates.

  6. I rarely — if ever — go to crappy, big-box “restaurants.” But if I were to go and had to choose between being served by a pretty woman in skimp clothes or having to talk over some massive TV blaring sports, I’d choose the former in a heartbeat.

  7. I once went to an upscale version of this in Montreal, a sort of surreal experience. It was an italian restaurant where all the waitresses were gorgeous and in skimpy but fashionably matching outfits. The place was also a dance club after the kitchen closed. I had bison and risotto, it was quite good.

  8. This whole Hooters/breastaurants thing make absolutely no sense to me. I mean, yes, obviously, men are pigs and like to see sexy women serve food, but at that point, why don’t you just go to a strip club? I mean, you’re a horn-dog either way, so what’s the point of going half-way? At least there you get to see some actual tits.

    I feel the same way about dudes who get excited when there’s female nudity in a film or tv show. If you want female nudity, why not just watch porn? Presumably the reason you’re watching a film is that at that moment you’re not primarily interested in getting off, so what does the amount of boobs matter? If you need boobs, there’s an unlimited amount of them, for free, a few key-strokes away. And they’re going to be plenty more explicit than anything in a film or on tv.

    Maybe I’m just a bad straight dude, but I don’t particularly feel that I have to look especially hard for erotic entertainment in today’s society. If I’m horny, I’ll watch some porn. If I’m desperate enough for fake female attention, I’ll go to a strip joint. Until that happens, just bring me a good-damn cheeseburger, and get your tits out of my face, thanks.

    1. Oskar, if you have ever dared to eat dinner at a strip joint, you know where the hole in your premise lies. (ProTip: stay away from the clams)

        1. Nothing really, but it is a rarity. The usual thing is a warm buffet, already a dicey proposition for the germophobe, made worse by the real and/or imagined grimyness of the club.

    2. Well, there are a lot of lonely men with miserable jobs who just want someone to be nice to them in a risk-free way. Hooters guarantees that your waitress will pretend she thinks you’re a decent human being, and she’ll probably be more convincing than a stripper would.

    3. Well, Oskar, I think that you are somewhat too utilitarian in the way you see women, or even erotica. Perhaps you’re just too young to fully appreciate beauty?

      For a pretty girl is like a melody…

      …and…oh, forget it – just go watch your porn instead.

  9. “sports-viewing excellence” – three simple words that guarantee that I’ll be looking elsewhere for my booze and boobies.

    Bars without giant flat-screen TVs tuned to ESPN are an endangered species where I live now.

  10. Hopefully I’m a few years from the age where seeing 60% of a pair of breasts will make me feel pathetically grateful, but I’m not sure Oskar quite gets the point. Surely you can see that a smiley, attractive bit of attention is appealing, even if you know perfectly well that they’re only in it for the gratuity.

    Having said that, I remembered being sent this a few days ago:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394454/Hooters-bar-Bristol-served-boy-12-boob-birthday-cake.html

    What’s the issue here? That the restaurant chain served a laughably-shaped cake, or that someone’s parents thought Hooters was a good venue for a 12-year-old boy’s birthday party?

    I bet the 12-year-old thought it was aaaaawesome.

    1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394454/Hooters-bar-Bristol-served-boy-12-boob-birthday-cake.html

      What’s the issue here? That the restaurant chain served a laughably-shaped cake, or that someone’s parents thought Hooters was a good venue for a 12-year-old boy’s birthday party?

      I bet the 12-year-old thought it was aaaaawesome.

      I’m not sure either of those should be much of an issue… the kid’s just reached the target demographic anyway, as far as I can tell. What disturbs me is this snippet:

      Campaigners behind the petition also claim that on May 11 the restaurant staged a competition in which diners judged waitresses in bikinis while children were present.

      Never mind the kids being present; IMO beauty contests for the waitresses kinda takes this from tacky exploitation to something a bit uglier still… it seems pretty degrading, not to mention potentially problematic for the workers subjected to it.

      On another note, I’m tired of prudish hysteria re trying to hide sex from kids; IMO such saucy entertainment for teenage lads is only harmful insofar as it engenders any disrespect for women. And I’m far from convinced that women being paid for erotic endeavours are automatically subject to disrespect.

      I have a feeling this connection arises out of a fundamental societal immaturity towards sex, not to mention a fairly piss-poor grasp of basic concepts of justice, like tolerance. I can’t quite put my finger on the precise nature of it, but it seems like such issues are so rarely subject to rational scrutiny because people are scared of having to acknowledge their animal nature or something.

      Get over it, prudes. We’re apes. Now can we put some energy into being decent to each other?

      Can you imagine a day when sex didn’t embarrass anyone? Bit of a stretch to process all those implications…

      1. Get over it, prudes. We’re apes. Now can we put some energy into being decent to each other? Can you imagine a day when sex didn’t embarrass anyone? Bit of a stretch to process all those implications…

        Can you imagine a day when strange men in the street can start telling your 12 year-old daughter about who and how they fucked last night while grilling her about her own sex life? Sounds like utopia, doesn’t it?

        1. Our society doesn’t have much of a taboo about food.

          But if a strange man in the street came up to my 12 year-old daughter, started talking about what he ate last night, asked her what she likes to eat, and implied he’d like to have dinner with her sometime soon (I’m guessing here that with ‘grilling’ you meant to imply a sexually aggressive manner in your scenario) he would be very badly received, by the daughter in question and *certainly* by me.

          Your example is loaded. You assume and imply that a lack of taboo around sex would somehow result in a lack of respect for personal space and privacy. They have nothing to do with each other.

          1. I meant to imply that when it’s their 12 year-old son, all the dudes high five each other, and when it’s their 12 year-old daughter, you can practically hear the synchronized sphincter-clenching.

          2. True.

            I meant to say that part of the taboo itself is this notion that a more adult attitude towards sex would lead to mass rapes and chaos in the streets, when in fact it’s highly likely that the number and severity of sex crimes would decrease in such a society.

            I don’t need to conjure up scary scenarios of sweaty perverts stalking my helpless child. Every woman I know is already in significant statistical danger of being raped (or possibly has been already). Any sensible parent raising a daughter must acknowledge this in her upbringing. But people who think they can solve the problem that sex exists by sticking their heads in the sand and scaring the folks trying to pull them out are morons.

        2. Get over it, prudes. We’re apes. Now can we put some energy into being decent to each other? Can you imagine a day when sex didn’t embarrass anyone? Bit of a stretch to process all those implications…

          Can you imagine a day when strange men in the street can start telling your 12 year-old daughter about who and how they fucked last night while grilling her about her own sex life? Sounds like utopia, doesn’t it?

          Ew… yeah right, cause that’s what I meant. But you know what? I can just about imagine a similar scenario (minus the weird intimacy with strangers bit) where such a conversation could be regarded as no big deal, and far from necessarily an indication of predatory intent on the older person’s part.

          Seems to me, most of the psychological danger associated with sex is a direct result of our anxious attitudes to it; consider the stigma rape victims have to endure, and the spectrum of severity of that stigma across various cultures.

          Is it a coincidence that this stigma is worse if a culture’s attitudes to sex are more backwards and repressive? I think not.

          1. Seems to me, most of the psychological danger associated with sex is a direct result of our anxious attitudes to it; consider the stigma rape victims have to endure, and the spectrum of severity of that stigma across various cultures.

            Our anxious attitudes? Not everyone is bothered by our natural processes.

            Anyway, psychological “danger” (translation: insecurity) associated with sex is a direct result of our anxious attitudes to it for adults. Exposing children (girls or boys) at a young age to sexuality can have very observable unhealthy ramifications on their psychological development and their ability to form healthy non-abusive relationships as adults. I believe this was Antinous’s point.

            Conversely, parents whose own inability to cope maturely with their own sexuality or, especially, the fact of their children’s sexual development can cause them to completely shirk their responsibility to inform their children about the physiological and emotional complexities of sexual relationships as they go through puberty, leaving their children to find out the hard way.

  11. Sayeth the owner of Tilted Kilts: “We sell on sex appeal, but we are sexy classy, sexy smart or sexy cute. Not sexy stupid or sexy trashy.”

    Hmm, okay, help me out with this curious taxonomy of sexy X. How are we differentiating the various forms of ‘sexy’? Might we need a Venn diagram? And the service provided by these restaurants is clearly not encroaching in the “sexy trashy” domain, uh… how again?

    Also, how is this different from strip clubs that serve food? Is it the fact that you can’t see the womens’ nipples? I guess that’s your “sexy classy” right there! Nipples? Trashy. No nipples but plenty of cleavage and thigh? Classy.

    Slightly aside, but there was an incident a couple of weeks ago where a professional American football player put his credit card in the cleavage of a server. Sounds pretty classy to me–why use cash when you can just slide your platinum card?

  12. I’ve always felt that Hooters has terribly bland food (just drowning something in “hot sauce” doesn’t make it tasty) and the uniforms are the opposite of flattering, the orange shorts clashing with the ever present fake tans, and the stocking/tights being puse colored doesn’t really help IMO.

    but I’m also a guy who would rather see a decent Burlesque show than set foot in any “TittyBar” in the country.

  13. Hi, i’m a white American dude. If I have a choice between Brian at Tchotchkes or Ashliee at The Cleavage Corner… well, let me just say I only need two pieces of flair, not 15.

    Don’t lose in this that the service is paramount. Sure, tanned taut trim makes for good eye candy, but if they ignore you as much as servers at most chains, the illusion doesn’t work. At places like the Tilted Kilt and Hooters, you are often getting *served* by someone who makes you feel like they want you there. Again, it is an illusion but the result is a good one.

  15. Amazing how many businesses don’t want female customers and their money. Fuck places like this.

  16. I went to Tilted Kilt in Chicago with a buddy for drinks after his wedding ceremony. I was wearing an -actual- kilt, full Prince Charlie with a cape. It was a surreal experience for everyone there, I think. I did get a couple free drinks, though.

  19. It occurs to me that this is the North American equivalent of Japan’s maid cafes. Suddenly such cafes don’t seem nearly so bad in comparison.

    ~D. Walker

  20. I love the suggestion that Hooters COMPETITORS had really trashy or tasteless names. ‘Cause there’s nothing but Dignity about the name “Hooters”.

  21. People have been profiting on lonely men since FOREVER. This seems like one of the more wholesome ways it’s done.

  24. I don’t watch sports at all, I just love Hooters because of their wings … and I have no problem with waiters being nice to look at and being friendly …

  25. I am officially turning in my man card; when I saw the picture, I tried to come up with a snarky comment about watermarks before thinking “yowza.”

  26. I pass by a Tilted Kilt almost every day in downtown Chicago, and never realized it was anything more than yet another Celtic themed chain that pretends to be classier than a chain. I’m a big ‘mo, so I’m sure if I was more in tune to such things (breast-dar rather than gay-day), I’d have realized.

    That said, I’m all for places like this as long as the individual women don’t get treated like shit. But that said, the quote “Sometimes waitresses are providing the best part of a guest’s day.” is the most depressing part of my day so far.

  27. It’s amazing the way I see not only men but women and entire families flocking to Hooters. The food is terrible. And I’m no chain restaurant hater. There are so many places to get incredible hot wings. Hooters ain’t one of ’em.

  28. I’m Canadian and I really love the US but there’s one thing that I hate in US culture is that they rarely separate “sexy” and “vulgar”.

    I mean, I’ve been to Hooters and Las Vegas and while I’m no feminist, I find the way they portray women there is really disgusting.

    One of my favorite restaurant where I live (Quebec city) is the Star Bar. I would describe it a bit like the Breastaurant is described in the summary: great looking women in tights outfits being friendly with consumers. They are surely sexy, absolutely objectified, but in no way vulgar. I’ve been there with women (including my mother) and most of the times they don’t even notice the sexy servers.

    I’m not sure if I’m making any sense, but I feel that the US are still under pressured from their old Puritanism background.

      1. Well I guess I’m a feminist on the important issues but I enjoy too much women-objects to consider myself a full blown feminist! ;)

        2. Oh, the ‘important issues’… as decided by you, a man? AS if you have ANY CLUE?

          Nice. /s

      2. THIS. THANK YOU.

        Anyone that said ‘I’m no feminist’ to me would be talking to my back as I walked away.

        1. THIS. THANK YOU.

          Anyone that said ‘I’m no feminist’ to me would be talking to my back as I walked away.

          So even though I’m aware that my grasp of feminist theory is shaky at best, I should just appropriate this appellation I haven’t earned because you won’t acknowledge my existence otherwise?

          Guillaume was just saying that he doesn’t feel qualified to judge exactly how degrading this is towards women.

  29. we had a ‘gentleman’s club’ that advertised on the radio, here in the NYC area, with a simpering woman gushing “try our sushi bar”
    blech
    every time it came on we’d all go “sushi”! and crack up

  30. If you’re a bad straight dude, then I’m equally guilty. I think the concept is pretty crass: I like looking at boobies (lots!) but even I think this objectifies women in a negative way. While I am sure that the girls who work these places make plenty, and are (hopefully) protected against harrassment against them, it still sends a bad message about what’s acceptable in society and how we should treat women. I know I sound like a Bible thumper, but at the worst I’m a hypocrite. My stack of porn DVD’s is towering.

  31. i hate hooters.
    every time i go the actual service is garbage.

    once i went in w/my girl friend.
    my g/f went to restroom & i was @ our table.
    i was leaning up against the wall. the “waitress” started setting our table while keeping her boobs up AGAINST my face the whole time. she faux apologized. there was a whole table she could have stood around. & i was already leaning against the wall.
    she then forgot to get my g/f’s blue moon. when we mentioned it. she said that her bar already closed up.
    then she sat down while we were eating to tell us all about her daughter in a sappy way. then started mopping around our shoes.

    another time the waitress wanted to show me how cool a new printed bill looks. so she pressed her boobs & the side of her face to mine.

    if they spent half of their time doing what waitresses are supposed to do instead of flirting they might get more respect.

    1. This is the problem I have. I often end up going with coworkers (most people here love the sports bars with the loud tvs) and that is already irritating enough.

      But good service is good service. Unfortunately some, not all, of these kinds of places seem to have waitresses who think they are simply going to be paid to look hot and who really do a terrible job with women because I guess they assume you aren’t tipping or that you’re with some one who will not care that you have never gotten your drink.

      I had that happen at one of those places once actually. My friends (all guys) were ordering their second drink while I still waited for mine. I ordered straight whiskey. It’s not rocket science.

      The waitress actually rolled her eyes when some one finally said something and got around to bringing my drink in another ten or so minutes, and it was a freaking Jack and Coke (I ordered Makers, straight). Guess she didn’t think I would be tipping. Well, guess what, that was one of two times in my entire life that I left absolutely no tip.

      I don’t mind sports bars, even though I’m not a huge fan of sports, so long as they mix a decent Manhattan or at least have a few good bourbons around.

      1. What a lovely date idea for a girlfriend or a wife to go on! You get to sit there while some well endowed, scantily clad woman shoves her boobs up against your date/husband/boyfriend’s face and then either completely ignores you or forgets half or most of your order. Sound like a good time for any woman. Then if you complain about it, you’re a bitch, not cool, or just completely insecure (which I’ve heard many times when I’ve complained about HOOTERS).

        I wonder how the guys would feel if the roles were reversed. How many dudes we be okay with the waiter’s package hanging out and slapping his gal in the face, especially if that package was much bigger than his own.

  33. “If you need boobs, there’s an unlimited amount of them, for free, a few key-strokes away. And they’re going to be plenty more explicit than anything in a film or on tv. ”

    ever seen a dutch movie? :)

  35. These places make me think too much. It scares me when I see a woman flawlessly pulling off an I’m- into- you routine. Where do they learn to pull strings like that? Is there a secret book? There is a standing assumption amongst a lot of people that nonverbal communication always tells the truth, but these places seem to test that idea.

    1. Most women know how to act like a ‘chick’ pretty early on…it’s similar to the porn star persona you might see (and probably never recognize) during sex. It includes a lot of forced smiling.

      1. Straightwhiteheteromale here. That shit turns me right off, both in porn and IRL. I wish women wouldn’t do it – many who act like that would be much more interesting and attractive, to me anyway, if they would just act like who they are and not who they think I want them to be.
        As for the topic at hand, I only spend time in this kind of establishment when I want to watch a Bears game, as I live out of market. Usually I go to a (really great) local bar where the TVs aren’t loud and the service is tops. In my experience, it’s the service that makes these places successful more than the T&A – the boobs are just the hook that brings men in the door.

    2. Ummm…. they’re not that good at it. You’re just not paying attention.

      Once you develop an eye for the bullshit (in men or women actually) this kind of behavior will jump out at you like a fake designer watch.

  36. It’s too bad that ALL restaurants don’t just recognize that wait staff being nice and attentive to customers will get them more business, boobs or no boobs. If you need boobs for your hook, I just don’t feel like the food can be that good – but then, I’m a straight female, so I really don’t care about seeing cleavage. I care about decent food and good service.

    That being said, I hope to never, ever be served by any dude with half of his stuff hanging out of his shorts, no matter how nice the service is. That just seems unsanitary.

    1. I guess the problem is that regular restaurants that do proper training aren’t recognized in the media.

      Though I guess that the same suggestion on how to kiss up to a customer might be construed as sexual harassment more at a regular restaurant vs. a place where you know they’re hiring based on looks.

  37. Being an Aussie, I’ve never seen what goes on in a Hooters, except for that South Park ep Raisins.

    It sounds to me like poor man’s geisha or something…

    Once in a while I walk into some big joint owned by Yanks, and the staff sometimes have some artificial spiel going on and are extra respectful and call me sir and shit… it’s horrible; I feel for the poor bastards being paid to debase themselves.

    I think egalitarianism is strong enough here that it’s possible to enforce in the vast majority of situations if you hit the right buttons. To me, people in shops are ‘mate’. If I get ‘sir’ back, I usually get the feeling I’m talking to a broken man. Or maybe just a snooty one

  38. I’ll get behind this as soon as they have restaurants where ripped, tanned men in bike shorts serve wings and beer to ladies, all the while complimenting their looks, shrugging off clumsy advances, and ignoring any men they’ve brought along.

    1. Anon #45:

      Don’t such places exist? At least in NY, LA, Chicago?

      One would think that such a place would indeed make $$ if men and women were “the same”…but we are not.

      A friend once said to me that, “All men are voyeurs, and all women are exhibitionists”; and, although I don’t think that I wholly agree, I think her remark has gotten something right.

  39. I hope that when the customers find their mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, girl friends & nieces working there its still okay with them.

    1. Hey I am curious about your comment…why should that not be “ok”?

      I take it that you dis-approve of women working at Hooters, nevermind the actual sex trade, and you think that other people ought to feel as you do…why? Ashamed by the actions of other people, are we?

      No doubt you’d “show your respect to the women in your family” by cutting any such from your Christmas card list (or worse), if you happened to find that they worked at such a “shameful, immoral” place as Hooters, eh?

      Or would you just seek to shame them in some other way?

      Perhaps saying bad things about their “lack of moral character” to other people would suffice to assuage your feelings of shame and outrage brought about by “your women” doing such unapproved-by-you labour!

  40. Several comments swirling in my head, so I’ll just bullet ’em out in one post.

    – About food in strip clubs, it can be just fine. There are a couple of strip clubs in Dallas with great food. The buffet at my local joint is OK, the waitresses (who wear far more clothes than you see on Hooters girls) are attentive and professional. And if I want to see tits, there are some to view, way over there on the stage and occasionally walking around. All in all, not a bad deal for the occasional $20 lunch. Granted, most strip club food is substandard and I’ll pass but I could say exactly the same thing about most strip clubs, period.

    – About Hooters, I go about once every five years just to remind myself how much and exactly why I hate the place. For a bit of perspective, I’m an astoundingly unattractive male. I always get the same reception at Hooter’s – slow to jaw-droppingly incompetent service from a clearly pained server who can’t believe she’s drawn such a short straw today. They don’t act friendly, they don’t smile and, as a result, there’s no facade of titillation to conceal just how lousy is the food. Come to think of it, it’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve been in a Hooter’s.

    – About the exposure of kids to things peripherally related to sex, it sure would be nice if we in the U.S. would grow up. My parents were madly, passionately in love with each other all their lives and, as a result of merely living in the same house with them, I learned pretty early on that they weren’t moving furniture in their bedroom every night, despite the evidence of furniture bumping on the floor and audible heavy breathing. I don’t think such revelations warp the minds of children. I just don’t. But I seem to be in the minority in my community. Are there places in the world where this puritanical, love/hate relationship with the physical acts of sex doesn’t exist? Where parents don’t freak out at the prospect that their 12-year-old son might catch a glimpse of unrestrained boobies? I think I’d like to visit a place like that some day.

    1. about the last paragraph, its called Europe, look it up: loads of flavors to choose from.

      1. I think I was asking in a sort of rhetorical way; I’m aware that pretty much anyplace but the U.S. and certain religion-influenced societies would meet my stated criteria.

        Thanks, anyway, for the observation that Europe might be a nice place to visit. And thanks to Chutz for the tip on Quebec.

        I retired last week (literally; I cleaned out my cubicle 8 days ago). I intend to travel extensively and Prague was already first on my list. Perhaps I should add Quebec. :-)

    2. Are there places in the world where this puritanical, love/hate relationship with the physical acts of sex doesn’t exist? Where parents don’t freak out at the prospect that their 12-year-old son might catch a glimpse of unrestrained boobies? I think I’d like to visit a place like that some day.

      Yes, Quebec (Montreal and most of the rest of the province), is for the most part like that. Of course there are varying levels of concern, but mostly here people realize that sex isn’t a big deal.

  42. Bit unusual to see a full-image watermark on BB, what’s the source of this image?

    It doesn’t appear to be from the linked article, and the watermark implies it came from the ‘example’ section of a stock photo site.

    1. It took some close and repeated examination, but the admittedly tacky [yet unrefined, cue Hooters jokes] watermark is “TK” (as in Tilted Kilt).

      The image is from their website: http://www.tiltedkilt.com/gallery.html – There are plenty of other examples to check out as well… for science… you monster. ;)

  43. I’m female, so I can’t really comment on the value of boobage in restauration…

    But I’ve always believed that you get the very best, friendliest and smiliest service when waiters- of either gender- are treated well and enjoy their work.

    There was this pub I used to live by and would go there 2-3 times a week after work for dinner and a beer. I’d bring a book and relax on my own. The waiters were all wonderfully friendly. They were chatty but professional, they knew many customers by their names; by my 3rd visit, they knew my order and just asked “The usual tonight?” with a big smile and had it ready fast… I went there semi-regularly for 3 years and the staff rarely changed, which made me suspect that they were treated- and paid- well. They were good at their job and you could tell that their smiles and chatter were genuine, not a gimmick they had to learn from a company binder. They also didn’t need to be half-naked to be pleasant and enjoyable to be around.

    Man, I miss ‘my guys’ at the Mayflower… Maybe I’ll go for a bison burger this week and say hi.

  44. I think it’s interesting that there isn’t a comparable female oriented version. Maybe not as widespread, but I would think there would be some form of this for that demographic.

    1. I find it pretty interesting that there aren’t any female oriented versions of these restaurants either. No “dickaurants,” How about “Shooters” or “Peters?” No you don’t find any of those. Could it be that women can actually go through daily activities without being completely controlled by their vaginas every minute of the day, constantly needing a penis shoved in their face, needing everything we do to involve sex in someway. From the looks of things, Men can not! Obiviously, women are the more evolved creatures. Obiviously, men can’t even take a plane without needing the Hooters girls with their boobs popping out and shorts up their asses. Its bad enough that these men need this so bad,every minute of the day, in every aspect of their lives, but now you also have to bring your wives, girlfriends and even the kids along to see the boobs and asses too. Its pretty disgusting!

      One guy even goes there after his wedding ceremony! Gee, I’m sure that marriage is going to last. “Look Honey, I love ya and all that, but I just gotta see if I can see the waitresse’s at the Kilted Kunt’s nipple!” They probably even had the Holy Sacrement and everything at their wedding. A definite holy matrimony there.

      Thank God for the few who actually say leave the boobs and asses in the strip clubs where they belong or in the pornos. Do we have to mainstream this shit and make it a part of everyone’s daily life? If you want that, then go to some seedy part of town and get it, but keep it out of my face.

      How stupid have we actually become? The women who go to work for these restaurants are ACTUALLY surprised they’re sexually harassed or that someone made a rude comment??? Come on, really, you work at HOOTERS and you’re surprised that these pigs you work for don’t see you as anything more than a set of boobs???

      Or even better, is the fact that parents bring their 12 year olds sons to these places and then are surprised at the teen pregnancy rates, or they are shocked that 12 year old girls look like mini prostitutes.

      With these new breast themed restaurants, there’s a whole lot more going than just some pathetic loser getting his rocks off because he gets to see the waitresses boobs. These places are completely shaping society (and not for the good) and we’re just too dumb to realize it.

  45. I’ve always found it somewhat intriguing that Corporate America has never understood two things:

    1. Misogyny is a real turn off for around 51% of your potential market.
    2. That 51% controls spending in the majority of their households. This is 100% true in households where a woman is the head of house.

    I went to a Hooters once. With my hockey team on the way to a tournament. They’re all men, so I wasn’t going to begrudge them this one visit. The food was heinous, the service was worse than shitty and the facility wasn’t very clean. Is the cleavage meant to hide the fact that the food and service will be far below par? Yes. Yes it is. Will the situation be any different at any ‘new’ restaurant applying the same gimmick? Unlikely.

  46. I always wanted to open a car wash in Los Angeles that featured scantily clad over-plastic-surgeryified men and women. I’d call it, “Hand Jobs.”

    If you have ever lived in Los Angeles, you know I’d have a gold mine.

  48. I’m not going to debate the pros and cons of Hooters or Tilted Kilt (I’m kind of over Hooters, but I did enjoy the one time I’ve been to Tilted Kilt), but it did remind me of a weird thing.

    Back in 2004 I flew Hooters Airlines to my high school reunion (they’re now defunct).

    I didn’t do it because I was a horn-dog, it was the cheapest flight. It, like the restaurants, was a fairly wholesome experience. Actually, there were a lot of families with kids on the flight.

    I should note: they didn’t serve wings. I suspect because
    1) they didn’t want anybody choking on a chicken bone in-flight.
    2) They didn’t want a horrible accident with turbulence and the deep fryer.

    What they served instead was a little plate of celery, cherry tomatoes, etc. with ranch dressing.

    They also apparently didn’t want, in case of catastrophe, Hooters waitresses in short shorts sliding down inflatable exits covered in flaming jet fuel. So they wore Hooters outfits at the gate, then at takeoff they were in more traditional flight attendant garb, then they’d change back to Hooters garb to serve the food, then they’d be back as Flight Attendants for landing, then as you exited, they’d be back in Hooters waitress garb.

    Honestly, it was more titillating thinking of all that clothes-changing they were doing back in the galley or wherever.

    But anyway, so, I get to my high school reunion, and people knowing I live out of state wanted to know how I got there. So I keep telling them I flew Hooters Airline, and I keep getting weird looks.

    Finally I realized something —- Hooters Airline flew into the secondary, smaller airport in this town (Columbus, Ohio). Nobody at this reunion had ever HEARD of Hooters Airline. When I was telling them I was flying Hooters Airline, they thought I was doing a “bit.” Finally, I had to convince people — no, really, there REALLY IS a Hooters Airline!

    1. I’m from Columbus & I didn’t know there was a Hooters Airline. Weird. Sounds obnoxious for the flight attendants to change back and forth.

      On a different note, does anyone know if Hooters will hire men as waitstaff? Or how about handicapped women? I know “attractiveness” is not a protected status, so I already know they can refuse uglies all they want and not get sued. But what about gender/race/other protected statuses?

  49. I want more separation between certain body parts and my food.

    I consider myself to be a feminist (insomuch that I believe the idea of “femininity” in culture is damaging to women, but “masculinity” does the same damage to men. It’s not completely one sided) so I have the painfully obvious qualms with this restaurant trend, but recognize that the problem is rooted in something far less trivial than novelty themed restaurants.

  50. Not sure if any boingers are my coworkers, but I work at the Dell world headquarters in Round Rock, TX.

    The top 3 of this type, seriously, are all less than a half mile from the campus. Hooters, Tilted Kilt and Twin Peaks, all directly across the street. Plus there’s a Bone Daddy’s not far away in Austin. I guess it says something about where the money is to be spent in this area.

    The best “breastaurant” I heard. We were all talking about going to Twin Peaks for lunch or happy hour or something. An outsider of the group asked “Really? Isn’t the food horrible at that place?”. An insider of the group responded “They serve food?” =)

    Generally the food sucks (but Bone Daddy’s is actually decent) and the service is mediocre. The poster above has it right, the girls, for the most part, expect to be rewarded just for being hot. So basically they have a stripper attitude without actually having to endure debasing themselves at a stripper-nudity level.

    1. *waves*

      I used to work there (though now I live and work in Dallas) and I am also laughing at this because that is just so North Austin too.

      1. *Waving right back*

        I actually came to ATX from Dallas (Addison, specifically) 8 years ago. Lived right off the tollway at Frankfort.

        And I agree. Austin, specifically the suburbs, are slowly creeping toward a Dallas mindset re: status/cash. I point this out to naysayers by referencing The Triangle (= The Village in Dallas), The Domain (= The Shops at Legacy) and the 2nd st renovation (= The Market St renovation). No one wants to admit it, meanwhile I keep seeing the 500Sls lined up to Valet at Joe D’s. ;) Totally Addison Circle.

  51. This kind of thing is huge in Thailand – which is famous for prostitution and sex clubs and whatever, of course, but most places are actually more like this, and the girls are actually classy.

    I once accidentally stumbled into one looking for a place to have lunch – I was by myself, in a shopping mall in Chiang Mai. Somehow I missed that the waitress who came out to invite me in (when I was looking at the menu posted outside) was drop-dead gorgeous.

    I’ve only been to Hooters once (dragged along by someone else) but it wasn’t a very good experience… the food was not very good, and the waitresses weren’t that attractive to me, and weren’t particularly nice.

    But the place in Thailand, man… all six or seven girls working at the time were unbelievably attractive, and wore classy but insanely cute outfits. And – this is key – the service was amazing. I asked the waitress for a recommendation, but she didn’t speak english very well, so she called over another girl… who also didn’t speak english very well, and eventually I was surrounded by all six or seven unbelievably cute girls, laughing with them and having a good time.

    Still, I will continue to avoid this type of place in the US. Restaurants in general in the US are a rather different experience than most everywhere else in the world, and I don’t think anyone will “get it” in a way that would make it enjoyable for someone like me who detests the stereotypical stuff associated with Hooters and the like. Also, I have a girlfriend.

    I have a photo from the place in Thailand here

    1. Yes, I’m sure those Thai women weren’t trapped doing that kind of work (with no opportunities for a higher education), or exploited or abused in any way. /s

      Sounds delightful- if you’re oblivious to reality and don’t see women (and brown ones at that) as human.

  52. I went to a Hooters once because I thought the place was about owls. Seriously. On seeing the server I thought: “Shorts and a t-shirt- she must have just come from the gym or something- doesn’t she get cold?” Then I noticed all the servers were young women, they all dressed like that, and that when they picked something up, they never bent their knees- always from the waist. I thought: “That’s gotta be hard on their backs.”

    It was actually a couple of minutes before the filament began to glow…(Ooooohhh…Hooters!) Yes, I am the squarest dude in the world.

    This is OK with me as long as the women like the job, but I can’t go back for thinking of the ones who may not.

    1. The mere fact that you were enthusiastic about trying out an owl-themed establishment earns you an ‘Awesome Person’ badge in my book ;)

  53. Here in Chile, there is a similar institution that boomed during the nineties: The so-called “Cafés con piernas”, or Legcafés.

    They range from borderline-topless to classy central places, that used to be the only place you could get actual (non-instant) coffee downtown.

    While obviously sexist, it is considered a key phenomenon of the post-dictatorial destape, the wish of the Chileans to excercise their new-found freedoms.

  54. I find it hard to believe I’m going defend Hooters, but in my experience the service has been very good. By that I don’t mean waitresses sticking breasts in my face. I mean good waiting service. The foods okay, relatively cheap. The women have never acted smutty or overly sexy. I haven’t seen any posing or deliberate sexy behavior. I’ve been there with family, including young children. The waitresses treated everyone well and were good with the kids.

    They aren’t all big breasted, hell they aren’t all even attractive. So at least locally their hiring practices have changed. I don’t find the outfits to be ridiculously skimpy.

    If you think Hooters is sad, it’s nothing compared to the Asian buy-me-drinkee bars we have around here. Men spend hundreds of dollars to just have a girl listen to them complain about their work day. You don’t even get mediocre wings!

  55. Hookers 2.0?

    Oh, my bad… Hooters 2.0… two very different things… Jeebus is cool with Hooters…

  56. Never been to a Hooters so can’t really comment on what the places are like, but I have to say what a brilliant marketing ploy the “Man-sized” vs “Girl-sized” drinks are!!! THAT is probably exactly where all their profits are coming from. Given the insecurity of so many men about their masculinity, and the male social norm of attacking those men that don’t feel the need to subscribe to anything that gets labelled as manly, I can hardly imagine many men turning down buying the largest drink or meal available if the alternative is going to somehow label them “less than a man”. Very well done there, Hooters! When are guys gonna learn how easy it is to exploit them by threatening their perceived masculinity?

  57. I went to Hooters once for a first date. This was with a guy I had been friends with for a long time and he actually had a gift card to the place, so I let it slide. But the food was fracking awful. The service was sub par. My pitcher of booze was weak. Thankfully we fixed the night by going to a liquor store and going home to play hours of Super Mario and drink. But I will never again go to a Hooters. Let me know when there is a restaurant that showcases butts and legs instead of boobs though, I will give that a try too.

  58. So are there any ‘Cockaurants’ yet? I may have to look into getting some venture capital flowing my way.

    1. In my ideal world, that employee handbook would be illegal for sex discrimination, among other factors.

  60. “It’s hard to say exactly why these public man caves took hold in the last few years. Some think a shift away from political correctness or toward a more sexualized culture made the concepts more acceptable.”

    How does one write an article like this without recognizing Hooters to be but a frat boy sequel to the Playboy Club that preceded it by two decades?

    Add that it was founded the year after Porky’s was the sixth highest grossing film in the United States.

  61. First: I LOVE the industry analyst in the article, who accused Hooters’ competitors of having “crass” names, like “Mugs & Jugs” – Because, there’s nothing but classy wholesomeness about the word “Hooters”.

    Second – ALL chain/gimmick restaurants suck the same roadkill they cook up and serve. When a Lone Star first opened here, I went for the hell of it, and immediately noticed several glaring oddities – Like, the placemats being a map of the USA, with a red star showing the locations of other Lone Stars – And not ONE in the actual state of Texas. Bit of a Red Flag there, if you know what I mean.

    Plus – Can anybody alive tell me what a stuffed MOOSE HEAD was doing on the wall of a Texas-themed joint? Or the annoying fact of the female servers employing bad fake “Tex-Sis” accents while they took your orders – Accents which disappeared as soon as they turned in their orders to the cooks, but returned when they asked you if you needed a refill?

    It’s ALL bullshit. The quibbling about the relative worth of the “food” at these shitholes is besides the point. They all pimp an utterly fake atmosphere of friendliness and concern for your eating enjoyment and good opinion. Give me an honest, overworked-but-sincere waitstaff, of any gender, anytime over a rictussed phony whose only aim is hoodwinking you into leaving a bigger tip than your common sense would allow.

  62. They took a perfectly good name for a David Lynch theme restaurant and turned it into a Hooter’s wannabe chain? The bastards!

  63. It’s weird that this is essentially an entertainment business founded on women having shape to their bodies while so much of the major entertainment business (particularly those related to modeling/acting, for example) are obsessed with showing us nothing but really skinny women with very little shape (read: the opposite of normal).

    Whatevz. I’ve never been to a Hooters and sincerely doubt I’ll ever visit any of these places, either.

    Another facet of this “breast-based” service industry is “Knockouts”, a national chain of barber shops built around the concept that men want their barbers to be tight t-shirt-wearing sexy women in their 20s. It makes sense, I guess. “I only go there for the haircut” will probably soon replace “I only go there for the wings” and “I only read it for the articles”.

    1. Anon #95:

      There’s an old saying: “Her face is her fortune.”

      Here’s another: “Beauty, like rank, has its privileges.”

      History shows that the world has always and ever had a stock of venal beauty – in all societies, too. Is that fact really anybody’s – or any culture’s – fault?

  64. Give me a bartender who’s there to take a tenner from me for food and drinks, and a refill when I set the empty on their side while they’re waiting on someone to hit royal and presumably tip them a c-note. You think the loud TVs are a problem, try slot machines embedded in every bar. Loud TVs prevent you from hearing what people say, the slots prevent them from saying much at all. /sigh, I think it’s time to move again.

  65. 2 things

    1) Last time I went to Hooters I was asked to go by a woman with other women. So no, 51% of the population is not against Hooters. There’s a large percentage of women that are not threatened by it and find it fun and part of human nature just like plenty of women are fine with strip clubs, burlesque, hula, Lady Gaga and many forms of females on display.

    2) Someone mentioned Thailand but getting paid for being a pretty woman is pretty common all over Asia.

    Living in Japan there are hostess clubs everywhere. You pay $100-$200 just to enter for which pretty girls sit with you and talk. I know several women that worked them. All of them did it by choice and made amazing money and no, they don’t have to put out. In fact it’s well known if you put out you lose the customer. The women can make $400-$1000 a night easily and all they have to is talk. Many of them find it safe and fun work. I’d call that stealing candy from a baby.

    Sounds like women taking advantage of men rather than women being taken advantage of.

  66. Okay. I’ll admit it. I was skeptical before. Very skeptical.

    But the more I think about it, the more likely it seems. I think we must be under quarantine and the galaxy is actually teeming with intelligent life.

  68. Enough self righteous drivel. Men like boobies, get over it.
    Perhaps you would be more at home at restaurant were all the wait staff wear lots of wool and look like Ayn Rand?

    1. Enough self righteous drivel.

      I don’t have any problem with it. I like sex as much as the next H. sap. and shame over it is utterly irrational. I suspect the priggish puritanism – regardless whether the rationalization is religious or just a need to control others’ lifestyles – stems mainly from a sense of sexual insecurity. Admittedly, that glosses over this truly bizarre phenomenon whereby most humans act, to a greater or lesser degree, nervous about the very activity that allows our species to continue existing.

      I just find it funny how much time, effort and money most members my species use up on their mating dance. Sex is enjoyable, but it isn’t particularly interesting. Think of all the hours spent on mating rituals that could be applied to life’s myriad more fascinating pursuits.

      To each their own, but I won’t apologize for being amused.

  69. my main issue with these restaurants is that i can’t help but feel like the objectification will have some sort of butterfly affect on me down the line. i’m fine with (or at least try my darndest not to judge) the employees and customers if that’s what they enjoy, but when we remove the shame from staring at boobies, i feel like that freedom might leak into other areas of those mens’ lives, specifically professionally. i worry that it knocks their respect for women down a knotch. but you can make that argument for the porn/fashion/movie/EVERYTHING industry, and those aren’t going anywhere, so maybe i should just learn to deal.

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