Wednesday 7 December 2011

An Interlude - HOOTERS round the World!!

ok, a bit of a step away from the blog, but something i promised i'd report on...HOOTERS!!!

its my last day in SIngapore, and i was sitting in the Clarke Quay Hooters, listening to Xmas music, having a beer and some wings, and thinking about the differences in the chain...please bear in mind i've never been to a UK Hooters.

on Day #2 i started my holiday as i meant to go on - a visit to Hooters New York. Over the years i'd been to Chicago, San Fran, Nashville and various Florida/Miami branches, so i know what i'm talking about. Another point, i love Nandos - so thats the kind of restaurant review your gonna get here!

I've always loved Hooters - and for various reasons! Obviously the pretty Hooters girls are a big part of the process, but if i didn't like the food, i def wouldn't eat here. My take on the place - esp in the US - is its a total blue collar/tourist place. No frills, beer, chicken, sport on the TV and hot girls. Its usually not sleazy, and its a bloody good laugh. totally low key, no faffing about or heirs and graces. Which is great for me, being the uncouth idiot I am!

So far:

Three Hooters in Orlando: real mixture of ladies and service. you go from proper holiday style restaurants on international drive, to utter redneck shambles in the outer areas (namely near the airport).

Miami - no different to decent Florida standards. see also San Diego

Nashville - where old Hooters girls go to die

Chicago - total blue collar. no frills, great atmosphere, its a booze-and-chicken wings fans dream. Such a fun place, and in a really nice part of town (not!)

San Francisco - always my fave, basically cos it has a nice quotient of tattooed ladies present to fit in with the vibe of the city.

New York - total attitude. what you'd expect

San Diego - total tourist. massive restaurant, and totally geared for the holiday makers. the toilets are called "restrooms" not "crappers" like normal. its my next fave next to SF.

Las Vegas - we stayed at the Hotel, so it was a MEGA Hooters week. Hotel was brilliant, casino was small and workable (and cheap!), and the restaurant was massive again. However, take NYs attitude and x100. Out of all the waitresses and staff, we met two that were actually pleasent and a right laugh.

I didn't get to Los Angeles. Jon wouldn't let me! ;-)

that leaves me with my last stop - Hooters Singapore. I went there twice, mainly to end my holiday at a Hooters. But it was an odd one. Apart from the odd local, it was full of old fat english ex-pats. One afternoon, i caught the girls rehearsing a dance for whatever reason (Hooters in the US doesn't have Coyote Ugly style dancing). Weird. Plus - and this is the worst - THEY DIDN'T DO HOOTERS HOT SAUCE!!!

i must say, it was a great Hooters and the food/beer/service didn't disappoint. But i kinda wished the chain/franchise has taken into consideration that the place was in Singapore. Whats the point in a regular "CAUTION BLONDES THINKING" when not one of the girls is blonde! add to that all the US references, and it didn't make much sense. To me, it would have been far more chucklesome to have changed the typical Hooters references to ones that made sense in Singapore. The joke was, the calendars and the menus had photos of the local staff on them - so what not go the whole hog? It was a great place to hang out, is def one of my fave Hooters, but just didn't make sense as far as the chain was concerned.

i know its not very feminist of me (and i don't really care), but it is a chain that exsists on a big scale, and is as offensive as a cheerleader squad. A few people had asked for a write up of every Hooters i went to, and here it is.

HOOTERS - my fave "restaurant"!!!

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