What Happened To Hooters?

Yes, this day has come. Hooters, the famous restaurant known for its orange-clad, all-female staff and its tasty chicken wings, ultimately filed for bankruptcy, the company announced. However, the decades-old brand declared this doesn’t mean it will fully disappear.

In the bankruptcy process, the company wants to sell all of its 100 company-owned restaurants fro two franchisee groups that operate all Hooters locations in the Tampa, Florida, area, and the Chicago area.

The combined group collectively operates an actual third of the US franchised-owned locations, as the press release has stated. Hooters also joins other fast-casual restaurants, like BurgerFi and Red Lobster, which filed for bankruptcy due to difficult business conditions.

The company’s own workforce also came under fire, with multiple lawsuits ranging from racial discrimination all the way to gender discrimination. Hooters also decided to close dozens of restaurants last year, blaming rising food and labor costs.

The company declared that he plan is to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy in “90 to 120 days.” As Sal Melilli, chief executive officer of Hooters of America, explained, “today’s announcement marks quite an important milestone in our efforts to reinforce Hooters’ financial foundation, as well as deliver the guest-obsessed hospitality experience and delicious food our communities have come to expect.”

Hooters filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas court, which is one of the most common routes for all the struggling companies hoping to solve their financial issues through reorganization.

Hooters declared it will keep operating its business as usual, even if it said it is still “evaluating the Company’s operational footprint” for its company-owned locations. This means it could end up closing some locations during its bankruptcy process. Private equity firms Nord Bay Capital and TriArtisan Capital Advisors purchased Hooters back in 2019.

The buyer group also includes the original Hooters founders, such as Neil Kiefer, the CEO of franchisee group Hooters Inc. “For many years, the Hooters brand has been fully owned by private equity firms and other groups with no history or experience with the Hooters brand,” as Kiefer stated in a recent press release. In another interview with Bloomberg News, he stated that the turnaround plan also includes making the chain more family-friendly.

Other fast-food chains with the best customer service, to mend this heartbreaking loss

Papa John’s

Papa John’s is currently hanging on by a slim crust, but it still manages to make the cut as one of the chains that excel in customer service. Compared to where it was many decades ago, back when it scored a higher place, it’s quite clear that customer satisfaction has gone the same way as their garlic sauce: thinner than we’d like to admit, if not missing altogether.

Domino’s

Sharing the spot with its pizza competitor Papa John’s, Domino’s currently holds steady in the customer service race, but only barely. Since it is the largest pizza chain in the world, this should definitely mean something.

However, when it comes to customer service, size doesn’t always imply satisfaction. It was over a decade ago when the chain scored above 80 in the satisfaction department. Ever since, it has been a steady downhill slide since 2013.

Panera Bread

Panera once let customers fully decide what to pay. Believe it or not, it has always been dabbled in the “let’s believe in the goodness of people” lane. Funny, isn’t it? Even if the experiment flopped, it clearly stuck with some, since Panera, for many years, ranks among the top chains for customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Starbucks

Starbucks serves more than 100 million people a week, and also handles over 10 million transactions per day. That’s quite a lot of lattes, and many chances to mess up. However, Starbucks still manages to keep things smoothly, due to an army of no less than 400,000 employees worldwide, who have slowly but surely mastered the art of pretending that your order of oat milk frappuccino is completely normal.

Culver’s

That Midwest hospitality is not even a myth, as many folks walking out of Culver’s with a big smile and a ButterBurger would tell you. The chain managed to land at 80, which is quite impressive for a brand that, up to this day, feels like it should have been a church bulletin rack near the door.

Arby’s

Arby’s climbed 4% this year in customer satisfaction, locking a spot in the top three, which is not something anyone would have expected from a place that once served basically a venison sandwich.

Did you know that these restaurants fry their fries in beef tallow?

Even if it might seem quite obvious that French fries are vegetarian, that’s not really always the case. McDonald’s infamously used to cook its fries in beef tallow, way before the chain was pressured to stop the practice during the health craze in the 90s.

If you are also one of those people who suffered from the demise of McDonald’s beef tallow fries, then you’ll be happy to know there are still plenty of restaurant options left.

Smashburger

Burgers with smashed, crispy beef patties and fries are right now the heart of the Smashburger menu. The chain was created in 2007, in Denver, and ever since, it has grown to over 200 locations. The chain’s thin, skin-on fries are “fried in beef tallow”, as the nutrition information on the Smashburger website explains. Tots, sweet potato waffle fries, as well as crispy Brussels sprouts, are all friends in beef tallow, too.

Popeyes

If you’re a big fan of the chicken from Popeyes, then you must have loved the Cajun fries, too! Well, as it turns out, they are fried in beef tallow, a fact that has been verified by many employees on Reddit, and by the chain itself to another publication. Well, that means the chicken is probably fried in beef tallow, too.

Outback Steakhouse

Well, it makes all the sense in the world for a steakhouse chain such as Outback to deep fry in beef tallow, right? Especially considering how many people go to the chain looking for proper beef. The allergen chart that’s officially published on Outback’s website says the same thing: fries have “ingredients fried in shared fryer in beef tallow.” You know what else is very important? The Bloomin’s Onions. No wonder they’re so incredibly tasty.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Interestingly enough, another chicken chain is on our list. BW3’s uses “beef shortening” in its deep fryers, according to the allergen and preparation guide on its website. In the end, it’s not just the French fries that are efficiently cooked in beef fat, it’s also the wings, potato wedges, tots, and house-made tortilla chips.

This can also include the “cauliflower wings,” which are technically seen as a vegetarian alternative to chicken wings.

Portillo’s

Even if not a huge chain, Chicago-based Portillo’s is increasingly expanding, bringing Italian beef, Chicago-style hot dogs, as well as chocolate cake shakes, to 9 other states. Along with your meal, you can also get crinkle-cut fries. According to the nutrition and allergen information on the chain’s website, they are cooked in a blend of vegetable oil and beef tallow.

Steak ‘n Shake

Steak ‘n Shake doesn’t fry its fries in beef tallow at the moment, but the chain declared it will switch seed oils for 100% beef tallow in its fryers. The rollout will take a while, but if you have Steak ‘n Shake close to you, the company plans to shortly.

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