Jezebel
Hooters, the "breastaurant" chain birthed in Florida, is currently spreading like a virus around the globe and has set its sights on Mother England. There is one Hooters in Great Britain — in Nottingham — but the company plans to have a whopping 36 locations in the UK by 2012. In today's Guardian, Julie Bindel (who visited the Nottingham establishment) writes, "The Hooters concept combines simplicity and misogyny, offering food of the finger-licking variety — burgers, wings, fries — and young waitresses wearing uniforms reminiscent of 1970s cheerleaders." She seems plainly horrified to have seen a "No fat chicks" sticker and child-size T-shirts for kids as young as three that read, "Life Begins at Hooters." Kirsty Bowen is one of a handful of people coordinating campaigns against branches opening in their towns. Bowen claims that a proposed restaurant in Sheffield would affect the neighborhood and encourage sex-industry businesses to move in. And she has evidence:
An event company has a bachelor party package offering groups hotel rooms in Nottingham to see "the world-famous Hooters girls," followed by VIP entry to a lap-dancing club.
Although there are Hooters restaurants in 39 US states, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and Puerto Rico, there's something about Great Britain that seems different. It's the home of the Queen, of Shakespeare and Clive Owen! Yes, it also produced the trainwreck known as Jordan, but at least the US can't be blamed. One can only hope that the Brits realize for many Americans, it is deeply embarrassing that their country will be infested with scantily clad women holding Buffalo wings.
As for Julie Bindel's trip to the Nottingham Hooters, she found her waitress complained of an issue that knows no boundaries or borders: "Most men comment on the 'lovely jugs' when I carry pitchers to their tables," she says. "I just wish they would come up with something original."
Comments
theres a hooters in PR? i never knew.
=/
The real travesty is that I actually like the food there but I can't ever actually patronize that place.
My U.S. Hooter's experiences: mediocre food, lots of sports on TVs and tons of bad plastic surgery.
Hooter's will be HUGE in England.
Hooters is just...so...tacky.
Thick nylons and scrunched down tube socks? Unattractive.
No thanks, I'll get my wings at BW3s.
I totally lost my hard on for this dude who's been flirting with me when I came across an online pic of him wearing a Hooters shirt. I don't look down on the people who work there, or even eat there, but someone who wears a Hooters shirt? In real life? Without irony? You and I can't. hang.
Hooters grosses me out. Why would you EVER want to work at a place where fat middle-aged guys solely go to stare at your boobs and ass? Ew ew ew ew ew.
As much as I despise Hooters, it seems kinda bogus to use the law against it.
A Hooters in Nottingham? Save us from the injustice, Robin Hood!
How is it possible I have never heard/seen/thought of 'breastaurant' in my entire life?! Thank you Dodai!
they have decent wings. i use to do take out.
Hooters would actually fit in well in some of the seaside towns. Brighton and Great Yarmouth come to mind. Not that that's any consolation... I once flew on Hooters Air. I was singing with the Boston Holiday Pops, and the administrators booked us a flight to Jersey on it as a joke. I was really disappointed that the flight attendants didn't dress the part. I did, however, steal the inflight magazine, which was basically soft porn and kept me laughing for the entire flight.
England, my deepest apologies.
Enjoy the wings though.
There are some Hooters in some weird-ass places. Ever been to Interlaken, Switzerland? Cutest small Swiss town ever? Yep... they have one. Though I guess it makes sense since people do visit Interlaken to view the mountains...
@misssgolightly: Because fat middle aged guys tip extremely well and it's easy money. I worked at a Hooters for a while - there are far worse jobs out there.
Hooters is a national disgrace. Please, rest of the world, don't judge us!
Dodai, I love you madly, MADLY I tell you. But please never ever put the royals in the same vicinity as Shakespeare. There have been maybe 10 good ones in 1,000 years. Shakespeare is where life ACTUALLY begins
Sadly, I don't think this is America's worst export to the world... though those Hooters shirts for children are everything that I hate about EVERYTHING. Holy hell...
she wants to see me again! the raisins girl said she wants to see me again!
My only beef with this place is that the waitresses wear shiny nude pantyhose.
@KathrynwithaY loves Joan Collins: Jinx! You beat me to it!
@telecomic: Yeah, I actually wasn't all that impressed with their wings at all. It was disappointing as I love nothing more than fried chicken drenched in buffalo sauce. Mmmmm.
@BraidMyHair: yes, but the wings are just so darn good!!
@misssgolightly: Because it is mid-range between stripping and waitressing in terms of nudity and tips?
@JessicaLovejoy: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, ACK!: I don't think I could handle even wearing a Hooters tee shirt WITH irony.
I don't particularly care about Hooters. Going regularly is a sign of douchebaggery and its good to have some clues to that. But why on earth to they have to seel kids tee-shirts? How could anyone think that is okay?
I want to see a resurant called Johnsons with hot male servers dressed in.....well you get the picture.
@bigtittycommittee: Hahahahaha "Welcome to Raisins!"
Oooohhh I felt so bad for Butters in that episode (well, as bad as you can feel for a cartoon character).
Considering our newest "Bachelor" is English, this seems fair.
And by fair I mean I want to die.
The English have already perfected the art of the 'strip pub', where actual naked women come round with pint glasses (in which most people put 50p pieces) while you're trying to have a quiet drink. Hooters doesn't stand a chance against real live nipples.
@BraidMyHair: We as a people elected George Bush twice. Hooter's is much less of an embarrassment.
There is a Hooters in Bahrain where they pin the hooters outfits to the front of their burkas.
my dad and i actually tried to go there for Thanksgiving once. (sidenote..my dad is sooo not creepy, he just really likes sports and wings.)
it was closed so we went to Outback Steakhouse instead. swear to god.
@bigtittycommittee: Dammit! I was just about to say something about Raisins.
So, what's worse for the UK? Hooters or the Hills?
Wait, women eat at Hooters? I'm not judging but I really, really want to.
The Hooters restaurant in the town where I used to go to school held "trivia night" every week, and my guy friends would always drag me to it.
Decent food, but I died a little bit inside every week. And now I have no soul at all.
@Kazrene: Oh hell no! Not near my beer!
They opened the first Hooters in Germany while I was there, and actually, it was filled with American servicemen. I guess other than a tourist attraction it didn't really seem that big of a deal to the German community, but then they've got their own version every .
Or, really, in Bavaria in general.
@hamburgerhotdog: well played, well played.
@Kazrene: Wait, I don't understand. Why would anyone put money in beer? And why would anyone who wanted a quiet drink go to a bar with naked waitresses? I'm obviously missing something important here.
@westvillagegirl: I have eaten there twice and it was not worth it. Fire drill.
If you have a strong stomach, its not too bad...in my case, it was an unfortunate decision to have the wings.
@solaana: I can't believe I messed that link up. Arg. Anyway. Boobs are old news to Germans. Ask Heidi Klum.
@crescentia07: Thank you for my first audible laugh of the afternoon! Johnsons! Love it. I must say, I really do think Hooters is more "dangerous" than a 25 cent sticky video booth in a porno shop. Families get sucked into Hooters thinking it's benign and chortle about the racy jokes (but at least they're pretty clean jokes! It's not smut! har har! says the guy in the poly pants defending the place), but it's insidious. I'd rather find Juggs magazine under the mattress than Playboy. At least it's honest and usually not airbrushed...okay, my brother had a copy when I was growing up and it was awful, but STILL.
@Kazrene: That sounds like a creeptravaganza.
@clevernamehere: Honestly, neither could I. I just really, really, really wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt due to his insane hotosity. But there are some things that simply cannot be vodkaed away, and one of them is a Hooters tee. Sigh.
@Kazrene: Yeah... there is a whole different attitude to nudity in the UK. You can literally see bare tit in your daily newspaper every day (the "Page 3 girls"). I'm not sure if the sanitized titillation of Hooters will do it over there! They wear suntan pantyhose!!!
@solaana: "Image not available" -- you tease! Although one probably just imagines the beer wenches from the Germany scenes in European Vacation.
@crescentia07: I've always advocated for a restaurant called "Cocks." The men would wear speedos with a picture of a rooster on them.
I would claim to go there for the food, and act surprised that my boyfriend would refuse to go with me.
I wish they would have a restaurant where shirtless men who look like Jonathan Rhys-meyers serve women wine and hand feed us grapes.
Just a thought...
@Kazrene: I don't understand. Why would anyone put money in perfectly good beer? And why would anyone go to a bar with naked waitresses in search of a quiet drink? I feel like I'm missing something important here.
My 2 Hooters stories:
1: I knew the girl whose father started the chain in college. She was gay and (unsurprisingly) loaded.
2: A friend got a small scholarship our senior year of high school. Included with the actual scholarship was a Hooters gift certificate. No lie.
I don't know how well this will do in Britain...it's not a nation that eats chicken wings and if you splash out 30p for the Sun you can have tits with any meal courtesy of Page 3...
But Hooters have delicious wings!
Meh...Hooters is pretty decent chain food, and the women working make good money for wearing something that's relatively modest nowadays. The only thing I regret about going to Hooters is that I will inevitably eat way too many fried pickles...
Are there enough women with fake tits in the UK to "support" 36 locations?
I have a hard time believing that having a Hooters move into town is going to encourage "sex industry businesses" to move in. I mean, it's in phenomenally poor taste, but it's a far cry from the sex industry.
There is one across the street from my office in midtown Manhattan. It has been there for 5 years and has yet to bring down the neighborhood.
[americanobserver.net]
The REAL proof that the terrorists have won!
@TeeEmEff: Mmmm...fried pickles.