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When Hooters’ original founders took back control of the iconic restaurant chain after its corporate bankruptcy last year, they promised to return it to its roots.
This meant stripping back what founding member and Hooters Inc. CEO Neal Kiefer described as an overly sexualized image, re-emphasizing food and hospitality, and broadening the brand’s appeal to families and younger customers after years in which some corporate locations had become, in his words, “little boys’ club stores.”
But at the South Florida Hooters locations, which have always been operated by the original ownership group, the servers who greet customers every day say they have always been a draw with families and children.
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“Here in South Florida, nothing is changing for us,” Gracie Williams, who has worked for Hooters for about six years, told Fox News Digital.
“We’re the same Hooters girls that we’ve been from the beginning,” said the 24-year-old waitress and bartender, who also graces the July cover of this year’s Hooters calendar.
Gracie Williams, a Hooters waitress and bartender in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is “Miss May” in the 2026 Hooters calendar. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
Mikayla Williams, 21, who has worked for Hooters for nearly two years, echoed the same sentiment.
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“Nothing has really changed for our locations,” he said. “We get families. We get elderly people. We get teenagers, even children.”
Their perspective provides a regional counterpoint to the national conversation surrounding Hooters. As Hooters works to reshape public perception, employees at its two Fort Lauderdale locations say they’ve long served a much broader customer base than the brand’s reputation has allowed them to.
Gracie Williams and Mikayla Williams said their South Florida Hooters locations have always attracted children and families. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
Kiefer said restoring continued mass appeal at all remaining restaurants is central to the company’s strategy.
“We’re starting to recreate that broad base of consumer appeal that we had with the original Hooters,” Kiefer told Fox News Digital last year.
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The emphasis, Kiefer said, is on hospitality, food and community involvement, while moving away from what he described as “renegade shops” that he said had become “oversexualized.”
“We are always creating an oasis for others to come. Good food, hot wings, cold beer and of course, beautiful girls.”
The Hooters Girls told Fox News Digital that community involvement has always been a thread in South Florida.
A Hooters executive described the corporate-owned restaurants as “renegade stores” that had become “oversexualized.” Hooters is looking to change that image as the original founders regain control of the brand. (Torin Halsey/Times Record News/USA TODAY Network)
But Gracie Williams doesn’t ignore the element that has defined the brand for decades.
“We are always creating an oasis for others to come,” he said. “Good food, hot wings, cold beer and of course, pretty girls.”
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Both women pointed to the restaurant’s customer mix as evidence that the perception of Hooters often differs from reality.
During the day, families are a significant part of the crowd, especially at beach locations, Mikayla Williams said.
Chicken wings and curly fries are a popular menu option at Hooters locations in South Florida. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
“Obviously, we get more family during the day,” but there are also a lot of date nights at the place, she said, “which is pretty neat to see.”
Gracie Williams said the oceanfront location attracts parents and children who spend the day at the beach.
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“Parents come and hang out, and the kids are on the beach,” she said. “And then when the kids come, there’s lots of food for all the kids.”
Gracie Williams also pointed to the company’s fundraising programs, which donate a portion of sales to local charities and youth sports organizations.
Gracie Williams said when she’s not pouring beer, she’s helping Hooters raise money for South Florida charities and youth sports. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital)
He recalled recently hosting dozens of rugby players and several teams at a fundraising event, saying these events reinforce the restaurant’s role in the community.
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“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, the regular guy is a guy or someone who makes you a lot of money,'” she said. “But here at Hooters, the regular people aren’t necessarily the same. The regular people are our family.”
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As Hooters works to convince a new generation of customers that it’s more than its decades-old stereotype, the women working at its South Florida restaurants insist it’s business as usual.
