Hooters, Inc.

What Hooters, Inc. does

Hooters, Inc., founded in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida, is the original operating company behind the Hooters restaurant brand and was re-established as the controlling entity of the chain following the October 31, 2025 reacquisition of Hooters of America. The acquisition — executed in partnership with Hoot Owl Restaurants LLC after Hooters of America's Chapter 11 filing — returned the brand to founder control and gave Hooters Inc. oversight of approximately 140 of 198 domestic Hooters locations plus 60 international sites, representing $700 million in disclosed systemwide sales. Hooters Inc. directly operates more than 75 of those restaurants across Florida (Tampa Bay, Central Florida, Jacksonville to Palm Bay), Chicagoland, Texas, Northern Indiana, and Georgia, with Manhattan operations and franchise territories continuing under separate arrangements. CEO Neil Kiefer, who has led the founder group since 1992, has overseen the company's emergence from bankruptcy and the launch of a "re-Hooterization" brand strategy in November 2025 that revives original uniforms, simplifies menus, and emphasizes a family- and community-focused positioning.

The core product is the full-service Hooters sports-bar restaurant, built around wings (offered with a proprietary suite of 11 signature sauces and rubs), burgers, seafood, sandwiches, and a full bar, with the iconic Hooters Girl server concept retained as a registered brand asset. Since 2017, Hooters Inc. has expanded into fast-casual with Hoots, a small-footprint (1,000–1,200 sq ft) quick-service concept offering Hooters' most popular menu items via touchscreen self-checkout kiosks, oriented primarily around to-go, delivery, and catering. Ancillary revenue lines include the Hooters Calendar (since 1986), Hooters Foods packaged consumer goods (wing sauces, breading, hot sauce in grocery since 1997), branded merchandise via shop.hooters.com, and digital and physical gift cards. Distribution combines company-operated restaurants, franchised units, proprietary online ordering through order.hooters.com and order.hootswings.com, third-party delivery partnerships with Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash, OpenTable for reservations, and ezCater for group catering.

The revenue model is predominantly transactional: pay-as-you-go unit pricing across a menu with sub-$15 average ticket items (burgers $8.19–$12.99, wing combos $9.99–$12.59, beer $5–$6.99, cocktails $6–$8) augmented by weekday lunch specials ($7.99–$9.99, Mon–Fri 11am–3pm) and seasonal price-anchored promos. Complementary streams include franchise fees and royalties from independently operated and international franchisees, packaged goods wholesale through Hooters Foods, merchandise sales, and gift-card breakage. Marketing is anchored by community partnerships and sports sponsorships — Wings for the Kids has raised $1M+ since 1992, Habitat for Humanity sponsorships total $737,600 with 2,353 volunteer hours since 2016, and the Give A Hoot breast cancer campaign has contributed over $7.2M historically to the V Foundation. The underlying technology stack is largely third-party SaaS with limited proprietary build (online-ordering storefronts and Hoots kiosks being the main exceptions), reflecting a brand-led, operations-driven business rather than a technology-led one.

Name

Hooters, Inc.

Legal name

Hooters Incorporated

Website

https://originalhooters.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Founded 1983 in Clearwater, FL, Hooters, Inc. operates full-service sports-bar restaurants and the Hoots fast-casual concept, controlling roughly 140 of 198 domestic Hooters locations and 60 international sites representing $700M in systemwide sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)

akta.pro primary industry

Concession & Stadium / Arena Catering (THAFAIAG)

Keywords

• Sports bar restaurants
• Casual dining chain
• Chicken wings
• Fast casual dining
• Franchised restaurants

Headquarters

HQ city

Clearwater

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Restaurant food and beverage sales: Primary revenue from direct restaurant sales of food and beverages across company-owned and operated locations in Tampa Bay, Chicagoland, and Manhattan markets. Represents approximately $700 million in systemwide sales across 140 domestic and 60 international locations.
2. Franchise fees and royalties: Revenue from franchisee-operated locations through licensing fees and ongoing royalty arrangements. Original Hooters Inc. acquired majority ownership from Hooters of America in October 2025, now operating approximately 70% of domestic locations.
3. Merchandise and licensing: Sales of branded merchandise including Hooters Calendar, wing sauces, and apparel through Hooters Foods (grocery) and online stores (shop.hooters.com).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hooters, Inc. operates a global chain of casual dining sports bar restaurants featuring world-famous chicken wings, burgers, seafood, beer, and cocktails. The company also operates a fast-casual sub-brand (Hoots), licenses branded packaged foods, and sells branded merchandise, gift cards, and its annual calendar.

Product overview

Hooters, Inc. operates a family of restaurant and consumer products. The core offering is the Hooters full-service sports bar and restaurant chain featuring World Famous Chicken Wings, burgers, seafood, and full bar service. The company has expanded into the fast-casual segment with Hoots, a quick-service concept focused on to-go and delivery with self-service kiosks. Complementary products include Hooters Foods packaged goods (wing sauces and breading available in grocery stores), the annual Hooters Calendar, and gift cards. An online ordering platform integrates with third-party delivery services. Following the 2025 acquisition of Hooters of America, the company now operates approximately 140 domestic and 60 international Hooters locations representing $700 million in systemwide sales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hoots: Fast casual restaurant concept serving Hooters' most popular menu items including fresh never frozen wings in 11 sauces or rubs, hand breaded jumbo tenders, buffalo chicken sandwiches, crab legs, buffalo shrimp, waffle fries and dipping sauces. Features self-checkout kiosks and is primarily to-go, delivery and catering. First location opened in 2017 in Cicero, Illinois.

Quantifiable outcome

• $700 million in systemwide sales
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.

• Hoot Owl Restaurants LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2025Joint acquisition partnership with Hooters Inc. to acquire over 100 Hooters of America restaurants. Hoot Owl operates over 60 domestic Hooters locations in PA, DE, and NJ, having joined the system in late 1980s and becoming official franchisee in 1996. Together with Hooters Inc., they form the Buyer Group acquiring majority ownership.
• Chicago WolvesregionalGTM or Marketing PartnerChicagoland Hooters partnered with Chicago Wolves for 'Score For Charity' program, donating to Girls in the Game based on player points scored during hockey season.
• Holy Family SchoolsregionalOthersLong-standing partnership with Holy Family Ministries Chicago, running Wings for the Kids program since 1992 where one-third of chicken wing sales every Tuesday in February are donated to schools.
• ChiGivesBackregionalOthersPartnership with ChiGivesBack, a Chicago non-profit focused on empowering underserved communities, for scholarship selection and community initiatives including MLK Jr. Day events.
• Pulse of Perseverance (P3)regionalOthersPartnership with Pulse of Perseverance, a non-profit founded by three African-American doctors to connect and mentor minorities pursuing medical degrees, for scholarship provision.
• Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco CountiesregionalOthersOngoing sponsorship of Habitat for Humanity home builds in Tampa Bay area. Hooters has contributed $737,600 and 2,353 volunteer hours since 2016, dedicating eight homes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Chili's Grill & Bar: Brinker International-owned full-service casual-dining chain (~1,200+ units) competing for the same group-casual dining and value-meal occasions; significant overlap with Hooters on ribs/burgers/wings appetizers.
• Dave & Buster's: Entertainment-anchored casual-dining chain combining sports-bar food with arcade attractions. Overlaps with Hooters on group/social occasions, sports viewing, and adult casual dining; broader family entertainment positioning.
• Hard Rock Cafe: Iconic American-themed restaurant chain leveraging IP and brand memorabilia — comparable to Hooters as a long-tenured (~50+ years) American-themed casual-dining brand with global recognition and licensed-merchandise revenue.
• BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse: Craft-brewery-anchored casual-dining chain (~200+ units) with deep beer list, sports positioning, and group-occasion dining overlap with Hooters Chicago/Tampa customer base.

Direct peers

• Wingstop: Wing-focused QSR with ~2,300+ US units and growing 20%+ annually. Competes directly with Hooters' core wing product at higher unit economics and with an off-premise-optimized model that defines the threat to Hooters' wing traffic.
• Tilted Kilt: Celtic-themed "breastaurant" sports bar with skirted-server positioning that competes in the same demographic and use case as Hooters; smaller chain (~20-30 units) so a niche but direct peer.
• Yard House: Upscale casual dining sports-bar chain (~80+ US units) with broad beer list, wings, burgers, and big-screen sports — same occasion-based overlap as Hooters though with a more mature/adult positioning.
• Twin Peaks: "Mountain lodge"-themed sports-bar chain with scantily-clad server branding similar to Hooters. Direct competitor for sports-bar dining occasions, single-male-skewing customer, and similar unit-level positioning.
• Buffalo Wild Wings: The largest US sports-bar/wing chain (~1,200+ units), now Inspire Brands-owned. Direct competitor to Hooters on wings, beer, sports viewing, and casual-dining group occasions; the most head-to-head comparable.

Others

• Bonefish Grill (Inspire Brands): Upscale-casual seafood chain under the same parent (Inspire Brands) as Buffalo Wild Wings. Comparable to Hooters in casual-dining service format and seafood menu line items, valuable for multi-brand strategy benchmarking.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/originalhooters
• Facebookfacebook.com/originalhooters
• Instagraminstagram.com/originalhooters
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hmc-hospitality-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hooters, Inc.