Hooters files for bankruptcy but says it’s “here to stay”

Hooters, the U.S.-based restaurant chain known for chicken wings and “Hooters Girls” skimpy wait-staff outfits, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

HOA Restaurant Group filed the motion for Chapter 11 protection Monday in the North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas.

The company ran into financial woes as its debts mounted, but says it intends to stay open and resolve its troubles within months. A group of the company’s original founders that own almost a third of Hooters’ U.S. locations, including about half of its biggest volume restaurants, plans to buy and operate more of the outlets, Hooters said in a news release.

“Hooters is here to stay, and with a stronger financial foundation and streamlined operations on the other side of this process, we will be well-positioned to continue delivering the guest-obsessed hospitality experience and delicious food our valued customers and communities have come to expect well into the future,” the company said in a notice on its website. 

Hooters, based in Atlanta, was founded in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983.

Trouble had been brewing for a while.

Hooters had sponsored the No. 9 NASCAR car driven by Chase Elliott since 2017 but last year, Hendrick Motorsports ended its ties with the longtime sponsor because it wasn’t meeting its financial commitments.

Its business strategy has faced challenges over the years, including lawsuits over its hiring of only “Hooters Girls” to serve customers.

Last year, it agreed to pay $250,000 and provide other relief to settle a race and color discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a Hooters outlet in Greensboro, North Carolina.

In 2022, the restaurant refuted claims it was shutting down and rebranding due to changing customer tastes.

In 2019, the Hooters hotel-casino off the Las Vegas Strip was sold to an Indian hotel company and rebranded as the OYO Hotel and Casino.

In 2017, the company tried opening a restaurant that didn’t feature wait-staff in tight tops, as a test of a different approach to its original concept.