Did Hooters Restaurants Get Its Name From a Steve Martin Joke?
The first Hooters restaurant opened its doors in Clearwater, Florida, on October 4, 1983. The idea was conceived by six friends with no experience in the restaurant business who wanted to open up a place that they couldn’t be kicked out of. As for the reason behind the name, their website puts it this way : “What else brings a gleam to men’s eyes everywhere besides beer and chicken wings and an occasional winning football season?” The answer, if it isn’t immediately apparent to you, is breasts. Yes, “hooters” is a reference to breasts, not owls, as opposed to what the cartoons covering their waitresses’ breasts might lead you to believe. That raises an interesting question: Why “hooters”? If they were looking for something food or beverage-related, wouldn’t “melons” or “jugs” suit their purpose better? Well, several publications cite Steve Martin’s use of the word on TV as the source of inspiration . But wait just a minute, are we to understand that Martin was the first per...