• Hooters is rebranding with classic uniforms, menu upgrades, and a “family-friendly” focus.
  • Post Chapter 11 bankruptcy, CEO Neil Keiffer is shifting the company to a pure franchise model, acquiring 130 locations.
  • There’s a new attempt to revive the Hooters brand for today’s audience.

This isn’t your grandad’s sexy, wing-focused restaurant – or is it? Hooters is going back to its roots with a uniform change and a revamped menu.

Hooter’s CEO Neil Keiffer, is leading the way to “rehooterize” the brand with an October 14th deal set to be announced Tuesday. Keiffer is betting his changes to the uniform and menu, a return to a more “family-friendly” model, and his acquisition of 130+ locations will be enough to bring old fans and a new generation of customers back to Hooters.

The move follows Hooters’ filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late March this year, with plans to restructure $376 million in debt and shutter struggling locations.

The biggest change will be that waitresses will no longer wear the newer, revealing bikini-style bottoms; instead, they will return to the classic, Dolphin-style orange shorts of yore. They’ll also return to their old-school white tops – you know, the way many people remember Hooters before they stopped going?

“You don’t want to have a butt cheek in your plate,” Neil Keiffer told Fox News earlier this year, not mincing his words.

Related: Popular doughnut chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

“We’re not just acquiring restaurants — we’re taking back the Hooters name to show the world who we really are,” Kiefer told The Daily Mail. “Our vision is about more than great food and service. It’s about bringing people together, making memories, and ensuring that Hooters remains a place where everyone feels welcome.”

Hooters will also be remodeling their kitchens and overhauling their menu, focusing on better ingredients, including Grade AA butter for all their sauces, per reporting by Newsweek. They will also be making cultural changes, like discontinuing weekly bikini nights and “Emphasizing charitable initiatives such as “Wings for Children” and partnerships with veterans’ organizations,” per Salon.

But the key for this rebrand to pay dividends and save Hooters may be on the financial side, as the owners look to shift to a daring (and unique) Keiffer-led franchisee model.

Hooters bankruptcy forces change to franchisee model

According to their March 31st bankruptcy filing, the key cog in getting out of Chapter 11 (besides the family-friendly changes) will be the handing over of 103 company-owned restaurants to new investors in order to significantly reduce Hooters’ $376 million debt load.

The plan, which was filed May 1, 2025, transitions ownership of the restaurants from corporate entity “Hooters of America” to pro-franchisee model groups “Hooters, Inc.” Neil Keiffer, longtime CEO of Hooters, Inc. (though not of Hooters of America) believes Hooters, Inc. — widely known as “Original Hooters” — will be able to transition the newly acquired restaurants to a fully franchisee model with more consistent food from restaurant-to-restaurant as the company exits Chapter 11.

Hooter Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing timeline:

  • March 31, 2025: “Hooters of America” files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, seeking to restructure approximately $380 million in funded debt and shift to a franchise-driven model.
    (Source: Delish)​
  • April 3, 2025: The court grants interim approval for up to $40 million in super priority debtor-in-possession financing to fund operations during the restructuring process.
    (Source: Bondoro)​
  • June 17, 2025: Hooters reaches a $4.5 million global settlement with junior creditors, providing for payments to unsecured creditors and resolving objections to their proposed reorganization plan.
    (Source: Bloomberg)​
  • August 16, 2025: The court sets a hearing date for final approval of Hooters’ reorganization plan, which garners support from stakeholders, paving the way for their exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy pending regulatory and court approvals.
    (Source: CNBC )​
  • October 5, 2025: News coverage confirms that Hooters is approved to exit Chapter 11 after successful court proceedings and creditor agreement.
    (Source: Law360)

All told, the “pure franchise” model appears to have carried the beleaguered brand through the process, per Bloomberg. Sal Mellili, CEO of Hooters’ previous corporate entity, Hooters of America, seems to be on board with the change in the hopes of saving the brand:

“Today’s announcement marks an important milestone in our efforts to reinforce Hooters’ financial foundation and continue delivering the guest-obsessed hospitality experience and delicious food our customers and communities have come to expect,” Mellili told Newsweek.

The question is, can new head honcho Neil Keiffer nail their rebranding and keep his newly acquired restaurants afloat amongst a sea of new competition?

Hooters shifts its brand away from the provocative

A fun, all-inclusive environment with waitresses dressed in “athletic” instead of “risqué” outfits is the new marching order for Hooters.

Business minds concur with the need for a change.

“Culturally, Hooters’ once-controversial image now feels tame. In the 1980s, short-shorts and skimpy tank tops provoked outrage for years from critics and feminists alike,” CK Smith wrote for Delish.

These days, the risque Hooters image comes off as a little tacky. To make matters worse, new, less dated establishments have emerged to compete with the raunchy dining space.

Hooters’ competitors

  • Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery (Founded 2003) : Scottish-themed “breastaurant.”
    (Source: Profitable Venture
  • Twin Peaks (Founded 2005): Sports-lodge themed “breastaurant.”
    (Source: Fat Brands)
  • Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill (Founded 2006): Smaller scale but still in the “sports bar with attractive server staffing” niche.
    (Source: FranchiseHelp)

Founded on April Fool’s Day 1983 in Clearwater, Florida by six friends, the Hooters brand long held a tongue-in-cheek attitude, and is by far the oldest “breastaurant,” inventing the term. Now, it’s trying to distance itself from the moniker.

“There may be those still out there that are upset that the shorts aren’t going to be as short, but that’s just not what the brand is,” Kiefer explained to Fox while getting the word out about their new attitude.

Hooters thinks its brand resonance, combined with a change in attitude and kitchen quality, will help it outmaneuver these younger entrants:

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“So to have all of our franchisees having the same product — to have that butter-based sauce — is a super cool, key component for the consumer to return to what made Hooters as successful as it was all these years,” Sal Mellili told Delish.

They’ll need some luck. But there are positive signs already. Customers have flocked to a new Hooters location in The Villages, Florida, a retirement community.

The Hooters in Destin, Florida, was fully on board with the rebrand, putting out the below image and message on Facebook:

Hooters is going back to its original mission and look, as seen on Facebook.

“We’ve been doing this successfully for over 40 years. Now we’re rebuilding trust, one wing, one customer, one family at a time. Welcome back to Original Hooters. We never left,” the company wrote on Facebook.

We’ll see if what’s working in Florida, and for the older demographics, can win over hearts and minds nationwide.

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