Two Hooters restaurants in Tarrant County are among the several locations closed around the country.
The two closed restaurants were the downtown Fort Worth location at 150 Throckmorton St. and one in south Arlington at 5821 West Interstate 20.
“Like many restaurants under pressure from current market conditions, Hooters has made the difficult decision to close a select number of underperforming stores,” the company said in a statement.
The Atlanta-based company said that while it was closing an unspecified number of locations, it was still expanding into new markets and opening new restaurants domestically and internationally. The chain recently launched a new line of Hooters frozen food products in grocery stores.
Nation’s Restaurant News reported on Monday that about 40 U.S. locations in Florida, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Virginia and Texas have been closed in the past two weeks.
Hooters has five other area locations in North Richland Hills, south Fort Worth, north Arlington, Grand Prairie and Grapevine.
When it first entered the North Texas market, the restaurant chain courted controversy for the uniforms worn by the female servers. While the controversy died down, when the chain announced the downtown Fort Worth location in 2016, several groups opposed the restaurant.
Fort Worth still has a place in the Hooters universe. Along with the location in south Fort Worth, the 27th Annual Miss Hooters International Pageant will take place Aug. 22 at Billy Bob’s Texas.
Hooters is one of several dining chains that have recently faced challenges and closures. . Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy in May and closed several locations in the area, though none in Fort Worth. TGI Fridays also shuttered several locations earlier this year, including a restaurant in north Arlington.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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