Original Hooters gets makeover

Hooters Management Corp. is seeing business soar on the back of its chicken wings, which made it a difficult choice to temporarily close its flagship restaurant for remodeling.

Neil Kiefer, president and CEO of Hooters Management, tells Coffee Talk the 28-year-old Clearwater restaurant is being remodeled to improve efficiency. “It was just time,” he says. But he insists the restaurant will keep its “delightfully tacky” charm with the 2,300-square-foot expansion.

This charm will be preserved in a Hooters museum of sorts. Curious customers waiting to be seated can browse through a collection of Hooters memorabilia and learn about the restaurant's history.