Hooters has opened a new spinoff restaurant that fans of the chain famous for its scantily clad female waitstaff may not recognize.
The new quick-service restaurant, called Hoots, opened Monday in Cicero with a few major changes: The menu is condensed significantly from a typical Hooters, offering only Hooters’ top takeout sellers. Customers order at a counter, get a number and pick a table. And the staff attire is different too: Employees wear either V-neck or polo Hoots shirts with khaki pants, instead of the traditional "Hooters girl" look of tight T-shirts and short-shorts.
Hooters’ parent company is trying to take advantage of the fastest-growing part of the restaurant industry, called "fast casual," which includes chains like Chipotle and Panera. But opening a new concept is a big risk at a time when growth is stagnant in the restaurant industry as a whole.
Hooters Chief Operations Officer Sal Melilli said Cicero was chosen for the first Hoots because of the strong carry-out business in the Chicago area. Takeout orders can amount to 20 percent of sales or more in some restaurants, Melilli said.
The Hoots menu is composed exclusively of Hooters’ best-selling carry-out items, so while it includes the signature wings and chicken sandwiches, there’s no burger. Snow crab legs, served by the pound with a side of butter, are there instead. Fried pickles, onion rings and tots are offered on the starters menu, with options like celery and sauces for an extra charge.
"That’s really how the menu evolved. We had these full-service Hooters that did so much to-go business and we thought, why not take the top-selling items of what is already selling in that to-go side, and make a fast-casual version of ourselves," Melilli said. "Right now, it’s a good mix, and I think customers are going to tell us what our business model will be going forward."
Hooters opens ‘Hoots’ concept without skimpy outfits in Cicero
Hooters is hoping people really do like it for its food.
Hooters Management Corp., a licensee of Hooters of America, says it opened a restaurant Monday that doesn’t feature waitresses in tight tops. It says the “Hoots” restaurant outside Chicago has people ordering at the counter rather than at…
Hooters is hoping people really do like it for its food.
Hooters Management Corp., a licensee of Hooters of America, says it opened a restaurant Monday that doesn’t feature waitresses in tight tops. It says the “Hoots” restaurant outside Chicago has people ordering at the counter rather than at…
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He said that part of the process came with some surprises. "We’ve always had a diversified menu … but even we were surprised the snow crabs made the top-selling to-go list," he said.
Although there’s no waitstaff in the dining room to clear customers’ plates, there is a full-service bar area that offers the food menu along with sangria, margaritas and beer, brought to the table like a typical sit-down spot. The customer-facing staff is also made up of both men and women, although there were no men serving customers at lunchtime Tuesday.
The conservative uniform choice was made to be in-line with other fast-casual restaurants, Melilli said.
"In the full-service Hooters, we have the same iconic Hooters girl outfit that we’ve had for 34 years now," he said. "On this side, because it was limited, it was fast, it was take-away and has servers just like the traditional fast-casual model, the Hoots shirts fit that profile," he said.
It’s not yet clear how the buttoned-up approach will fare with patrons. Just Monday, the same day the Cicero Hoots opened, Playboy said it was reversing a year-old ban on nude women in its magazine, suggesting that readers didn’t accept the move. But a restaurant’s success demands appeal that’s far broader than that of a magazine that’s relied on a largely male base since its inception.
Hooters’ newest experiment: Quick service, more fabric, coed servers Samantha Bomkamp
Call it Hooters 2.0: A new restaurant concept being rolled out by the chain is tossing out the skimpy uniforms and introducing counter service and coed staff.
Hooters’ parent company is set to open the first location of its new quick-service chain, Hoots, this month in Cicero. The smaller-scale…
Call it Hooters 2.0: A new restaurant concept being rolled out by the chain is tossing out the skimpy uniforms and introducing counter service and coed staff.
Hooters’ parent company is set to open the first location of its new quick-service chain, Hoots, this month in Cicero. The smaller-scale…
(Samantha Bomkamp)
Hooters is a private company and does not release sales figures, but it has made efforts in recent years to broaden its appeal, especially to women and families. Broadly, the casual dining sector, including Hooters and restaurants like Applebee’s and Chili’s, has been suffering for years as more Americans opt for grab-and-go options. Fast-casual options, meanwhile, which offer the portability and convenience diners are increasingly looking for, have grown at a double-digit pace. Hoots executives said this is the reason they’re so optimistic about the future of the brand.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hoots was humming with a lunch crowd that included corporate and CTA workers, groups of men, and students and couples having a quick Valentine’s Day lunch.
The Cicero Hoots restaurant is about 2,800 square feet and has 75 seats. The hunt is already on for more locations for the Hoots brand, Melilli said, but the company is waiting to measure the performance of the Cicero location before considering additional restaurants.
sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @SamWillTravel
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