Hooters plan for restaurant in downtown Fort Worth draws protests

Hooters plans to open a restaurant in City Place on Throckmorton Street in downtown Fort Worth in late June, the company confirmed Monday.

The plans have raised the ire of some nearby residents who say they don’t want the famous “breastaurant” chain downtown.

Hooters is scheduled to go before the Downtown Design Review Board Thursday, seeking permission to build an outdoor patio and install signage for the location at 150 Throckmorton St. The restaurant will employ between 35 and 45 employees.

“Hooters will invest a significant amount of time and capital into the Fort Worth location and we’re confident that our guests will be pleased with the our new contemporary design concept, high-quality menu offerings and warm, Hooters Girl hospitality,” said Mark Whittle, Hooters’ senior vice president of global development, in an email response to questions. “Once we officially open the doors, we invite the Fort Worth community to stop by, relax and soak up Hooters laid-back atmosphere.”

But Sasha Camacho, who lives in the nearby Sundance West apartments, says she and several fellow residents will be at Thursday’s meeting to protest the prospect of Hooters coming to their neighborhood.

“It’s sexually explicit content, and it’s offensive,” Camacho said of Hooters. “They lied to us and said ‘No, this will not be a Hooters,’ but they’ve already got the liquor license and permits,” she said.

Dallas-based Spire Realty Group of Dallas owns the building. A company executive did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Hooters, known as much for its waitresses in short shorts as its chicken wings, has 10 North Texas locations, including two in Arlington and one in Fort Worth. The downtown location will be 7,035 square feet, the company said.

There are more than 600 Hooters locations worldwide, with many downtown locations that do well in terms of sales, Whittle said. He said Fort Worth is a burgeoning market for new restaurants and new concepts, which is among the reasons they picked the site.

“Downtown Fort Worth offers all the various site attributes that Hooters seeks, including strong retail synergy, great accessibility and visibility,” Whittle said. “Hooters will provide Fort Worth with a fresh new prototype restaurant from more comfortable seating with revamped high back chairs and booths to sleek finishes and top-of-the-line AV packages designed to enhance the guest dining experience from the moment they walk through the doors.”

If Hooters opens, it would not be the only restaurant of its kind in downtown. Ojos Locos opened at 515 Houston St. in 2011.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Hooters plan for restaurant in downtown Fort Worth draws protests."