One Brooklyn neighborhood is in a fight.
A fight against… Hooters.
The neighborhood is Park Slope, of course. The New York Post (of course) reports:
A move by Hooters to open near the new Nets arena has gone bust so far — but brownstone Brooklyn is melting down at the very thought of the risque restaurant invading their neighborhood.
Hooters reps have been trolling through the stroller-friendly neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Park Slope for a possible storefront — but local moms say they are ready for battle.
“It’s a disgusting national chain with bad beer and bad food,” said Lee Skaife, mother of a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy.
“It’s just not a family place.”
The Good Feed Blog’s Jamie Reidy agrees that Hooters is definitely not a family place, despite the company trying to market itself as such.
What do you think?
Should Hooters follow the Nets? Would you campaign to keep Hooters out of your neighborhood?
Or do you consider Hooters the least of our problems these days?
And for bonus points: Find all the boobie puns in the Post article. I haven’t counted but I think there are at least 91.
Double bonus points if you can come up with any boob puns The Post missed.
PS – Check out this awesome Mother’s Day idea from Hooters.com
It depends on the place and crowd. http://www.lipulse.com.
It’s all about the mixed message. I don’t think watching a porn with your uncle counts as “a nice family evening.” You would be more than a little worried about the guy down the street who takes his pre-teen daughter to a strip club “for the cheap buffet.” So WTF is a “family” titty bar? For the record, yes, kids eat at bars in Park Slope ALL THE TIME. Law says that if the bar serves food, they can sit at a table and have some. And they see as much ass as anyone else mentions above on the street,… Read more »
It seems to be about some folks having a problem with that, and not recognizing that nobody’s forcing you to take your kids there.
If you don’t approve of a “family titty joint,” by all means don’t patronize it. But don’t patronize the rest of us by insisting that nobody else be allowed to go there either.
I think her concern is with people taking other people there who shouldn’t be there. It’s a misplaced concern. I’m sure almost every boy who’s grown up in the U.S. has seen some rated R movie with gratuitous nudity. There’s nudity on cable. Look at Spartacus, Game of Thrones or True Blood to name a few. She may have some concern over its effect on young girls, but those TV shows also had male nudity. A few female friends have lamented the lack of male strip clubs, but I doubt they’d go to them often anyway. There was one club.… Read more »
Many restaurants these days feature young attractive women with their breasts heavily accentuated. Hooters just has it in the name. Any restaurant serving 20-30 year olds has these type of waitresses. The only thing that distinguishes Hooters from these types of restaurants (which are extremely popular with young women) is that Hooters IS more of a family restaurant. I guess the real question is should young people be exposed to it. I think they should. I remember my mom not wanting me to watch Benny Hill when I was a kid because of all the boobs. I got a kick… Read more »
Or switch out the name “Hooters” with a non-English slang word, like “Chi-chi’s.” Perhaps a bar and grill named after the India carmaker “Tata.” You know, something much more subtle than “Hooters”….
I assume you know there’s a restaurant chain called Chi-Chi’s… I was in 4th grade when I tried to explain to my mom that Chi-Chi’s was spanish for boobies, and she didn’t believe me.
No, I didn’t know that. It doesn’t surprise me, though. Perhaps the owners said that it was named for the golfer Chichi Rodriguez…..
I’ve heard that “Chi Chi’s” also referred to the loose bits of flesh around your waist…
Right. Aside from Hooters, family men would never seek out a place because they like the look of the waitresses…. The outrage seems to be sparked by the name and reputation. It sounds to me like there’s a niche market out there for a restaurant like Hooters but one that has a more unofficial policy about hiring women in tight outfits. There must be copycats out there that have comparable hiring policies and uniform policies but that aren’t named after a synonym for breasts. Call it something more anatomy-neutral. That way moms will not be self-conscious telling their kids they’re… Read more »
Interesting. And maybe its me but I again see a mixed message going on. On one hand guys are supposed to be so hard up for sex (see what I did there) that we will ogle any and all women but on the other we are so picky about our tastes in women we specifically seek out places that focus on a single attribute. But anyway I think you’re right its the reputation that is drawing the fire. If the chain had been called something that was not a direct reference to a body part it would be flying under… Read more »
I think at the back of many people’s minds is the idea that Hooters is going to attract “sex-crazed perverts” to the neighborhood, that “bad men” going to Hooters are going to spill out onto the streets and do who knows what in front of the children. Perhaps in their minds Hooters will attract rapists and flashers and other criminal elements, because of course nice family neighborhoods never have those kinds of people. All men need is a hint of breasts and they become rapacious beasts. You know, the only difference between breast and beast is one letter….
I think there is something to what you say here. There are probably some folks in that area that think opening this Hooters is on par with opening a casino and a brothel or something.
It’s also a neighborhood without a single Denny’s or Shari’s or Friendly’s or Dallas BBQ or Hard Rock Cafe or other large chain “sit-down” restaurant. Chain restaurants can have resources at their disposal not available to the smaller, locally owned places, and undercut them or overpay for their rent until the smaller places are crowded out. It’s like a Starbucks or a McDonald’s or a Wal-Mart – with tits! Put it in your strip mall, put it in Times Square, but who wants one in between the small toy shop and the locally owned shoe store and the masses of… Read more »
I am a 32 year old straight male and I honestly have never been to a Hooters and don’t have any interest in going to one. I would pick any other establishment that offers the same food and beer before I pick going to Hooters. Because no matter what you say, if you tell someone you went to Hooter’s last night, you get judged as a perv because you obviously ONLY went there for the boobs on display. In fairness, I think they have every right to open that business there. If the community does not want it, they can… Read more »
Been to Hooters 3 times I believe. Had good food 1 out of those 3 times as I’m not a fan of greasy food. When everything on the plate comes out one shade of tan I kind of gross out a little bit. But that’s just me. I didn’t find the girls dress to be particularly offensive. We have a local dive bar here where in the summer they don’t turn on the A/C and nothing is hotter and stinkier than that bar with it’s attached restaurant. The girls there run around impossible daisy dukes and less than hooter girls… Read more »
“You can get your greasy food at a better price from sweaty girls wearing less.”
Now THAT is a advertisement just waiting for an ad campaign. I look for that to be copyrighted soon…. : – )
LOL!!
O.k. I stopped reading the comments about half way through. Have any of you actually been to a Hooters? All of the ones I’ve ever been to were basically just a more honest take on the traditional Sports Bar+Grill… The only difference is that the shifted the emphasis from the Bar to the Grill. For the food, the price was always reasonable. For the beer, the price was always reasonable. There was always a game or a race or somesuch on the various T.V.’s, and the only difference between the Hooters watresses and those at any other equivalant Grill/Bar was… Read more »
I think the point of mentioning strip clubs wasn’t as a comparison. Obviously Hooters isn’t a strip club…and that’s actually sort of the point. The marketing focuses on the waitresses all having ample bosoms, which really has absolutely nothing to do with the food. It’s all sex appeal…but if you’re looking for sex appeal you might as well go to a strip club. Hooters waitresses may all have large breasts, but they’re just as clothed as the majority of women walking on the street, really.
I don’t understand…even if it opens in your neighborhood, no one forces you to go there.
Is the claim that Hooters drags the entire neighborhood down? I’ve seen them survive in successful commercial neighborhoods, so it’s hard to believe that when Hooters moves in the entire neighborhood will collapse.
If the neighborhood isn’t affected, and no one forces you to eat there, who cares?
If Americans actually liked and understood sex better, Hooters would seem absurd.
I often think the same thing. I’m a little embarrassed for my society from two different directions. It’s kind of lame that we have places like Hooters AND lame that people have a problem with places Hooters. I suspect those are just two sides of the same coin.
I think Americans *like* sex just as much as any other culture, but the liking is tangled up in all sorts of other psychological tentacles.
You mean American *women*
I’ve been to Hooters once. There’s nothing wrong with their food, but I’ve tasted better wings. There’s actually a strip club (technically a lingerie club unless you get a private room), where we’ll sometimes go because it’s all you can eat and all you can drink with the $10 cover (last time I checked a few years ago and you should tip the waitresses). The women are nice to look at, but they’re really aggressive and quite irritating at times and we tend to go just because it’s all you can eat and all you can drink.
Unless it makes a bad parking situation worse in an area where the parking is already an issue. I have no issue with it. Everything is not intended to be family friendly – nor should it be. There is a time and place for everything people just need to remember not everything is for everyone at every point in time. Given how many dysfunctional families there are that is actually a good thing. The market will most likely decide if as described it is a “national chain with bad beer and bad food,” then it will adapt or close. There… Read more »
As far as the sex factor goes there’s nothing at a Hooters you really can’t find at any other eatery or other public place. I’ve been to a Hooters once but that was only for drinks (I’ve never heard anyone say the food at Hooters was actually good). The place isn’t all that unique and survives only because they blatantly advertise a boob factor you can see literally anywhere else.
Anyone that has a major problem with Hooter’s evidently never got to a beach, pool, or watch the Olympics (with women wearing tiny bikinis and men in bikini bottoms only and no tops).
Heck, they evidently don’t permit (or plan not to permit) their children to go to their local high school. At least the Hooter’s girls are wearing shorts, not micro-mini’s that are common-place in high schools.
I’ve been to Hooters for lunch and dinner … I have no idea what it’s like later at night. The Hooters in our area is near many other restaurant. The times I’ve been there, food was good, service was good and I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. And yes, I’ve been there with my wife and yes, I made sure my eyes stayed where they needed to be. Depending on where the restaurant is located, it may be a problem in the community.
Funny that some want to legalize prostitution, but a Hooters is bad?
“The times I’ve been there, food was good, service was good and I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”
I have been in Toronto. Food was ok. Prices were expensive. Service was crap.
To be fair, service anywhere in Toronto is usually crap.
*groan. Not this again.*
I oppose it on feminist grounds but just because you have a family doesn’t mean you get to dictate that everything be family friendly. That shoudl not serve the greater good.
Here’s a question, do you also oppose pornography, stripping, and other forms of sex work?
Just curious, because that’s where I decided I couldn’t oppose it.
If they want to open Hooters as a way of focussing on female chests (that IS what Hooters is about yeah?) then perhaps they can equality things up by opening a “Danglers” restaurant across the road. You know? Where blokes wear super tight budgie-smugglers that highlight their package for the ogling public. Sounds fair to me.
I see women in my office every day of the week that wear tops just as tight as the Hooter’s girls, except they aren’t necessarily T-shirts. There is weird thought that the girls are nearly naked but you can see far more skin than that on teen TV shows every day, and certainly at the beach, pool, and watching the Olympics.
I’ve had some women at work that wear those see through blouses, so you can see their bra’s clear as day. I work right beside a college so see far more revealing and tight clothing on a daily basis than what is visible at hooters (and I knew several girls who put themselves through college working there, so saw the uniform somewhat often, even though I’ve only been in one twice). So I also don’t understand the problem, nor interest with hooters on that angle, because it’s certainly not for the food.
“I see women in my office every day of the week that wear tops just as tight as the Hooter’s girls, except they aren’t necessarily T-shirts. ”
Yes I agree. I work in a bank which is as staid as corporate offices get but I still get to see a lot of cleavage. These days its pretty normal for women to where tight, revealing outfits even at work.
Yeah, but Michelle, the problem is that the restaurant wouldn’t make any money because women won’t go to it. Therein lies the rub. Men do enjoy displays of female flesh and will willingly shell out for it. Women just won’t (at least historically). Now, if what was on offer was what was available in Japan, where men catered to women’s emotional needs, that might sell. But that’s a harder business to organize (i suspect). Men, boobs and butts is enuf. That’s easy to organize and get going. There was even a brothel for women in Europe. Result? Failure. Why? Women… Read more »
Even here in the States a few brothels in Nevada (or it may have been just one) starting hiring men in order to serve female customers but in the end they ended up being hired almost exclusively by gay men.
Where blokes wear super tight budgie-smugglers that highlight their package for the ogling public. Sounds fair to me.
I’m not sure where you’re from but here in the States as I said above there are guys that are willing to do that but the audience is a bit lacking.
Exactly. Women do not face a scarcity issue of access to male flesh. Men do.
This comment from the article was amusing: “It’s a disgusting national chain with bad beer and bad food,” said Lee Skaife, mother of a 13-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy. “It’s just not a family place.”
Umm, then don’t go there. I’m pretty sure the local bar isn’t set up to serve your kids either. How is that a problem?
Yeah, I personally don’t really want to see a guy in a “banana hammock” while enjoying my burger and fries. Too much cognitive dissonance.
“If they want to open Hooters as a way of focussing on female chests (that IS what Hooters is about yeah?) then perhaps they can equality things up by opening a “Danglers” restaurant across the road. You know?Where blokes wear super tight budgie-smugglers that highlight their package for the ogling public. Sounds fair to me.”
Then you have no sense of fairness. Male genitalia is not the equivalent of female breasts. The male chest is the equivalent of female breasts; It’s called “Hooters” not “Ladyflaps”; a male version of of “Hooters” would be “Pecs.”
A guy actually sued Hooters because they wouldn’t hire him for food server. They appeared to have settled.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517334,00.html
I’ve never understood “Hooters”. I you want breasts, go to a strip club, Tight t-shirts and shorts I can see on the street. Cheap domestic beer and greasy food is available at better prices. “Hooters” is like the “Chained Women” R rated movie for folks without the guts to watch a real porno.
Well some of the sexiest movies I’ve seen actually aren’t pornos…but that’s another topic. 🙂
But yeah, it is a bit odd…why a Hooters and not just a regular strip club?
Alright, as for the control the people of a neighbourhood have over the businesses that come into that neighbourhood…well it’s a really grey issue for me. On the one hand, we’re capitalist…so if the customers are there, then the business should be allowed there. On the other hand, we’re also a country that has stigmatized a variety of human behaviours (including sex) and so there are a lot of people who find businesses that cater to those stigmatized behaviours as immoral and offensive. I’d be really pissed off if a business whose practices I disagreed with came into my neighbourhood… Read more »
Eh I’m a bit uncaring when it comes to Hooters. I mean, as I’ve said, I really enjoy breasts. And, particularly when first realizing I was attracted to women, I had a hard time not staring at women’s breasts. But I kind of got over the uncontrollable staring. I still really like them, and they’re still a huge turn on for me. And, I’ll admit it, when I see a topless woman in a movie that’s exactly where my eyes go. A woman in a push-up bra and a low-neck shirt…yeah my eyes are on her cleavage. But all that… Read more »
“But all that being said, the idea of going to a restaurant for some eye-candy is a bit counter-productive, for me.”
My sentiments exactly. I want good food. If I want tits I’ll go to the strip club.
And if you want both, just go to a fancier restaurant. Many have waitresses who wear the white shirt, black skirt uniform exceedingly short, tight and low cut with a push-up bra for good measure. It’s not uncommon for them to be showing off MORE skin and cleavage than hooters girls. and those are what people call the family restaurants. At least the hooters franchise is honest about it.
Over priced bad food served by scantily clad & well endowed women. Seems like a step in the right direction.