Your next trip to Hooters may look very different after CEO Neil Kiefer revealed the famous fast food chain known for their “Hooter Girls” is shifting to become a family-friendly establishment.
Patrons accustomed to being served by women in revealing outfits may be surprised to learn that Kiefer defined the brand as “a neighborhood place” entire families can visit, according to People. The Thursday interview comes months after Hooters’ initial owners took over around 140 stores in an attempt to “re-Hooterize” the brand after Hooters of America shuttered restaurants and declared bankruptcy, The New York Times reported. The leadership change followed years of declining sales in the U.S.
The CEO named it “a beach-themed place centered around the Hooters Girls, good food, [and being an] easy place to relax.”
“It’s a neighborhood place that many families frequent, and singles and couples,” he told the outlet.
NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 14: Hooters girls backstage at the Alexander Wang Fall 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Roseland Ballroom on February 14, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)
Keifer, who has worked for Hooters since its inception in 1983 and started as an attorney, said the family-friendly orientation of the brand always existed, but was mishandled, according to People.
The 74-year-old assumed the CEO role in 1992 and said things shifted in 2001 when the original owners sold off the brand’s intellectual property and contractual rights.
Kiefer argued private equity firms assumed control of some locations as Hooters of America, which opened up the opportunity for them to steer the organization “further and further away from what the brand and the concept stood for,” according to People.
NEW YORK – OCTOBER 06: Outside Event sign for the 2011 Hooters Calendar Girls signing at Hooters on October 6, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Marc Stamas/Getty Images)
When People pressed on if he’s aiming to make the brand more family friendly, Kiefer said “we have been that way always.”
“If you’ve ever been to a Hooters in Chicago or in Tampa Bay or in South Florida, you’re going to see tons of families, tons of children,” Kiefer told People. “It’s [a] tongue-in-cheek type of beach theme restaurant.”
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 15: Hooters girls attend Hooters Manhattan VIP Press Party at Hooters Manhattan on January 15, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images)
He highlighted the issues he saw with Hooters of America locations, and explained how he felt they strayed from the original concept.
“They didn’t use the appropriate sauce,” Kiefer said.
“About 70% of our food products have that sauce on it.”
“The second thing was they had changed the uniforms of the girls and put them in almost what appeared to be a thong. And that was never the intention when this concept started,” he told People.
Kiefer said servers wore dolphin-themed running shorts when the brand started off in the 80s, noting it was a nod to their beach theme.
“It was a sporty athletic look at the time, and I think in the last 10 or 15 years, a lot of the country has seen a more sexualized version of that,” he said, before asserting, “That chased away a lot of customers.”
Kiefer said the sauce issue has been resolved, and the uniform is being addressed.
ATLANTA – FEBRUARY 23: ***EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE*** Atmosphere at DreamWorks Pictures “She’s Out Of My League” co-stars, Krysten Ritter and Alice Eve become “Honorary Hooters Girls” at Hooters on February 23, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Paramount)
“There’s nothing wrong with a pair of shorts if fitted properly,” he told People.
“But I think in a dining place, there is something wrong [if] they’re in a thong type of uniform.”
“Just trying to make it more friendly to everybody. No one’s going to be insulted.”
Kiefer said he and the brand’s initial owners secured its IP after Hooters of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the fall of 2025.
“It wasn’t so much a monetary thing,” he told People. (RELATED: Cate Blanchett, Selena Gomez To Appear In X-Rated Film)
“It was more like, wait a minute, we created this brand. We hate to see what they’ve done to it. We need to try to improve it.”
The chain’s sales in the U.S. fell by over 31% and the number of locations, or units, fell by almost a quarter between 2019 and 2024, Restaurant Business reported in November. By contrast, Hooters Inc. had secured average unit volumes of approximately $4.7 million, over twice the performance of units run by Hooters of America, along with a good cash flow, according to Kiefer. At the end of April, the CEO told the outlet was having better sales and net income in 2026.