Hooters celebrates 40 years with specials and deals at all Tampa Bay locations

Maggie Duffy, Tampa Bay Times
·2 min read

Forty years ago, the very first Hooters opened on Gulf to Bay Boulevard in Clearwater. Now, the restaurant chain synonymous with chicken wings and scantily-clad female servers is celebrating the occasion with specials and deals throughout the year.

Starting March 4 at 11 Tampa Bay locations and running throughout the year on the fourth of every month, “throwback” 1980s-themed events will include chicken wings for 83 cents each. The offer is available on quantities of 10 or 20 traditional wings, dine-in only.

There will be several in-store specials throughout the year, too, including seafood specials and $19.83 crab legs, also starting in March.

In October, there will be a benefit concert for breast cancer research in Clearwater.

According to the Hooters website, the idea for the restaurant came from a group of Clearwater businessmen who were playing Parcheesi and “had a sudden urge for the smell of rough sawn lumber and/or the taste of Buffalo-style chicken wings.”

Hooters was created and incorporated on April Fool’s Day in 1983 by L.D. Stewart, Gil DiGiannantonio, “Uncle Billy” Ranieri, Ed Droste, Dennis Johnson and Ken Wimmer. The first restaurant opened on Oct. 4, 1983, and is still operating there today.

With the tagline “Delightfully Tacky, Yet Unrefined,” Hooters popularized Buffalo-style wings and the Hooters Girls, whose notoriety has reached pop cultural heights.

According to a news release, “the original founders have stayed intact and continue to grow the concept in their territories retained in the Tampa Bay area and Chicagoland.”

HMC Hospitality Group owns and operates 22 locations in Tampa Bay and the Chicago area and three Hoots in Illinois.

“We are proud to give back to the wonderful communities that have welcomed us for decades,” Neil Kiefer, CEO of HMC Hospitality Group, said in the release. “With the help of our great customers and hundreds of thousands of Hooters Girls, we have raised and donated millions, starting from our first week in business.”

For more information, visit originalHOOTERS.com.