When you think of Hooters, you think of one thing (uh, maybe two things). Owls, right?
Is it a place you’d take your kids for a family meal? For most I’m guessing not, unless you’re actively trying to give your kids psychosexual problems in later life. But this is the ambition of Hooters CEO Neil Kiefer, who is currently campaigning to transform the soft-porn image of the business and transform it into a beach-themed “family-friendly” destination.
Kiefer, 74, has a long history with Hooters. He was there right at the start in 1983 as the chain’s attorney, becoming CEO in 1992. But the Hooters brand was gradually taken over by public equity firms and, in an interview with People, Kiefer said the restaurant moved “further and further away from what the brand and the concept stood for.”
More specifically, its new owners decided that Hooters customers were there to gawk at skimpily dressed women, and chose to emphasize that. Kiefer says they “changed the uniforms of the girls and put them in almost what appeared to be a thong … that was never the intention when this concept started.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a pair of shorts if fitted properly”
waited until I was already almost 18 to make Hooters “family-friendly” https://t.co/OagSy1Hh1i pic.twitter.com/JYmyxS6Qjx
— ꀤꈤꀸꌩ 🇻🇦 (@indynoticer) May 22, 2026
Kiefer believes that servers wearing a thong is just a step too far and that dialling up the sexuality of the outfits “chased away a lot of customers”. He clarified:
“There’s nothing wrong with a pair of shorts if fitted properly. But I think in a dining place, there is something wrong if they’re in a thong type of uniform.”
Kiefr may have a point, as Hooters filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the fall of 2025, allowing him and the original owners to reacquire the brand and try to set the ship back on course. He wants to take Hooters back to what it was always supposed to be, “wait a minute, we created this brand. We hate to see what they’ve done to it. We need to try to improve it.”
So yes, it seems there will still be “bikini nights” and the servers will still be attractive buxom women flirting with men for tips. But it will be a family-friendly “tongue-in-cheek” sort of sexiness, all based around a “beach theme”. And you’d take your kids to the beach, right?
So, fellas, next time your wife starts planning a family dinner out, why not suggest bringing the kids to Hooters? I’m sure she’ll love the idea.
