Hooters

The best-known breastaurant of them all, Hooters of America, is turning 30 this year. High time for a makeover, the company said. Hooters is remodeling one of its stores in Houston with hopes that the design will serve as a prototype for future locations. The Atlanta-based company is notorious for using bosomy young women in tank tops and skin-tight orange shorts as servers and for inspiring similar hormone-charged restaurants such as Tilted Kilt, Twin Peaks and the Heart Attack Grill.

Hollywood Boulevard was temporarily closed Thursday over a bomb scare at a Hooters restaurant. Los Angeles Police Department officials said a man walked into Hooters with an ice chest he claimed had a bomb inside. The suspect was later taken into custody. He told officers: "I was just joking," according to a law enforcement source. The LAPD bomb squad is sweeping the restaurant to determine whether there is a threat. ALSO: Exotic snakes on the loose at Torrance park Alleged O.C. drug dealer charged with murder in overdose death Coastal commissioner resigns after Vietnam 'carpet bombing' remark    

Chanticleer Holdings Inc., an investor in small companies, has agreed to buy Hooters of America Inc., Hooters Management Corp. and their related restaurants for about $55.1 million. The transaction between Chanticleer and nine individual Hooters shareholders is expected to close on or before July 31, Charlotte, N.C.-based Chanticleer said. There are 433 restaurants in 28 countries, according to Chanticleer. Hooters Inc., which sold its trademarks and other proprietary rights to Hooters of America Inc. in 2001, owns 22 restaurants, which Chanticleer will acquire.

A Hooters ball girl at the Phillies-Rays game on Saturday made a nice play on a sharply hit ball down the third-base line. She popped out of her chair and showed fine form when fielding the ball. Then she went to the railing and tossed the ball to a young fan in the stands. All well and good, right? One problem, though. It was a fair ball. Evidently it's not the first time it has happened. Just go to YouTube and search "Hooters ball girl" to find more evidence. The Phillies use Hooters waitresses as ball girls during spring training.

Re "Animal Services Benefit a Bust," June 28 "Hooters for Neuters" campaigns have been successful in Utah, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Mexico. The concept of the campaign is to get the message out to one important target demographic: the sort of man who balks at the idea of neutering his dog. It's no secret that men are among the hardest to convince of the benefits of spaying or neutering pets, as they often project upon the animals their fears and insecurities. If City Councilman Jack Weiss, City Controller Laura Chick and other detractors have a problem with a bikini contest, they don't have to attend.

Starbucks Corp. is heading into the scrum over Tully's Coffee, tussling with actor Patrick Dempsey and “breastaurant” style Baristas Coffee Co. to win control of the bankrupt chain. It's a true Seattle battle: Starbucks, Tully's and Baristas are all based in the Washington city. Dempsey's McDreamy character on the television show “Grey's Anatomy” is based there. Starbucks confirmed Thursday that it is participating in an auction for Tully's but declined to say more, saying it was “respecting the Seattle Bankruptcy Court's request for confidentiality.” Tully's parent company, TC Global Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, citing struggles with profitability.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- With control of the U.S. Senate up for grabs in the November election, you'd think that big issues like the the country's massive fiscal problems would be center stage in the relative handful of contests that will decide whether Republicans take away the Democrats' majority. Of course, you'd probably be wrong. True, the issue of Medicare is a growing focus of attention in campaigns, from the presidential race on down. That's been the case all year in the hotly contested Senate race in Florida, home to the nation's largest proportion of seniors (though both sides are mainly using "Mediscare" tactics to try to influence voters)

How dare you badmouth the patrons and employees of a restaurant in which you have never even set foot ("Hooters Air Gimmick Appears to Be Just Skin Deep," Her World, June 1). My family and I have been eating at Hooters for many years. My children love Hooters. They get a balloon, and the waitresses are very nice to them. They have a kids' menu and crayons. So the waitresses are dressed in a tank top and shorts, big deal. We've all seen younger girls wearing less than that at a mall.

A hooter is not what you might think it is. Two of its meanings are "lewd" and "rowdy." Another is "harmless"--a nickname for a Hohner Melodica, an oddball musical instrument that's part harmonica and part keyboard. Rob Hyman, 33, is the hooter player. In 1980, when he and singer/songwriter/musician Eric Bazilian were organizing a band and in the market for a name, they decided to name themselves after Hyman's beloved hooter.

As a rule, rock groups generally hit the road to drum up support for their latest albums; almost nobody tours just for the fun of it. Yet here are the Hooters, about two years after the release of "One Way Home," on tour with Stevie Nicks. Granted, the band's new album "Zig Zag" is due out in early October, but playing songs nobody knows yet hardly helps the Hooters now. "Yeah, we're in that limbo state of mind," said Hooter Rob Hyman over the phone from a Syracuse, N.Y., hotel room.

The best-known breastaurant of them all, Hooters of America, is turning 30 this year. High time for a makeover, the company said. Hooters is remodeling one of its stores in Houston with hopes that the design will serve as a prototype for future locations. The Atlanta-based company is notorious for using bosomy young women in tank tops and skin-tight orange shorts as servers and for inspiring similar hormone-charged restaurants such as Tilted Kilt, Twin Peaks and the Heart Attack Grill.

Starbucks Corp. is heading into the scrum over Tully's Coffee, tussling with actor Patrick Dempsey and “breastaurant” style Baristas Coffee Co. to win control of the bankrupt chain. It's a true Seattle battle: Starbucks, Tully's and Baristas are all based in the Washington city. Dempsey's McDreamy character on the television show “Grey's Anatomy” is based there. Starbucks confirmed Thursday that it is participating in an auction for Tully's but declined to say more, saying it was “respecting the Seattle Bankruptcy Court's request for confidentiality.” Tully's parent company, TC Global Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, citing struggles with profitability.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- With control of the U.S. Senate up for grabs in the November election, you'd think that big issues like the the country's massive fiscal problems would be center stage in the relative handful of contests that will decide whether Republicans take away the Democrats' majority. Of course, you'd probably be wrong. True, the issue of Medicare is a growing focus of attention in campaigns, from the presidential race on down. That's been the case all year in the hotly contested Senate race in Florida, home to the nation's largest proportion of seniors (though both sides are mainly using "Mediscare" tactics to try to influence voters)

You're always telling your mother you owe her. Now, the American Coalition for Labor Reparations has a worksheet you can use to calculate exactly how much back pay Mom deserves. Here's the logic: “Every laborer deserves a wage. Your mother went into labor for you and has never been repaid.” We should mention that the coalition doesn't exist for most of the year - it's a gag dreamed up by ad agency Mother New York. There's even a faux PSA video featuring a crew of mothers - some describing pretty graphic scenarios.

With a labor dispute threatening to kill the 2011-12 NBA basketball season, restaurant owners, barkeepers and vendors near Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles are bracing for a big loss in revenue from fans who would normally crowd into the area several times a week. The deadlocked contract talks have hit particularly hard on a new Hooters restaurant that opened in July on Figueroa Street across from Staples Center to draw big-spending Lakers and Clippers fans. "We definitely opened this restaurant to be event-driven," said Hooters general manager Laura Acton, who complained that she doesn't have enough work for all of the waitresses she hired to serve NBA fans.

Sunday is a slow night for the Beijing Hooters girls. Jiang Xin -- or Summer, as her name tag reads -- takes the opportunity to teach the new hires one of their dance routines. With smoky dark eyes and her all-black trainer uniform, 24-year-old Jiang is sexy, smoldering and standoffish until she smiles. This she does when she gently admonishes the girls to loosen up, laugh, and stop tugging at the bottoms of their shorts. Hooters in Beijing is much like its American counterpart.

Hooters, a restaurant company known for its scantily clad waitresses, has been accused of sex discrimination--by a man. A lawsuit alleges Hooters has a policy of refusing to hire men for jobs visible to patrons. Savino Latuga has sued in federal court here, saying he applied in January as a waiter at a Hooters in suburban Orland Park but never heard from the company.

As if a perceived snooty European race series making its only U.S. stop of the year needed another nail in its half-empty coffin, Sunday's petulant little stunt should permanently end any discussion about seeing a Hooters decal on an F1 car any time in the future. Gary Durrett Glendale

Chanticleer Holdings Inc., an investor in small companies, has agreed to buy Hooters of America Inc., Hooters Management Corp. and their related restaurants for about $55.1 million. The transaction between Chanticleer and nine individual Hooters shareholders is expected to close on or before July 31, Charlotte, N.C.-based Chanticleer said. There are 433 restaurants in 28 countries, according to Chanticleer. Hooters Inc., which sold its trademarks and other proprietary rights to Hooters of America Inc. in 2001, owns 22 restaurants, which Chanticleer will acquire.