BARBOURSVILLE -- The Hooters restaurant chain turns 25 this year.
In 1983, the original Hooters restaurant opened in Clearwater, Fla. The restaurant's original location had seen so many small businesses fail, that legend has it the chain's founders built a small graveyard for the businesses that came before it. Today, the Hooters empire not only includes restaurants across the nation, but also a hotel in Lakeland, Fla., and a casino in Las Vegas.
Cuffy York, a dentist from Chesapeake, Ohio, opened Hooters of Huntington in July of 2004.
"This was originally the location of a Chinese food restaurant," York said. "We expanded the original building, nearly doubling its size and added an outdoor dining area. I'm still working as a dentist, but I try to get up there about three or four days a week. It's a large undertaking, and in the restaurant business if you're not hands-on, you can easily lose some cash. Currently, we are planning on opening some franchises in other parts of the state, including Morgantown."
The restaurant is well known for its seafood such as shrimp, crab and oysters, as well as its chicken wings. Customers have the option of choosing between nine different wing sauces, including Cajun and parmesan garlic.
"'911' is the hottest of the sauces we have," said Hooters of Huntington manager Ryan Rayburn. "'3 Mile Island' is one of the hotter sauces we have, but it's also one of the more flavorful. 'Hot' is spicy, but it's still what we would call a kid-friendly sauce."
The menu has recently expanded to include some more options including chicken nachos and fried pickles. There are also a handful of new hamburger selections including a Mushroom Swiss Cheeseburger, a Western BBQ burger (topped with bacon and curly fries) and a Bleu Cheeseburger. Menu items range in price from $3.99 for an order of onion rings to $18.49 for "a roasterful" of oysters.
"We are still a sports bar, but we're turning our image around a bit," Rayburn said. "Believe it or not, we get a lot of families. We also get some all women groups coming in sometimes."
As an attempt to further broaden the restaurant's appeal, mixed drinks such as the "Key Lime Pie Martini" were added to the bar menu last year. The dessert menu was also expanded to include caramel fudge cheesecake and key lime pie.
Marshall football games and other sporting events are broadcast on the many television sets in the restaurant. Recently the Barboursville location began airing Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views for customers.
"Each pay-per-view more people come," Rayburn said. "The Quinton Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin fight this Saturday probably is the biggest fight so far this year, so we're expecting a good crowd."
As part of the restaurant's 25th anniversary the chain is holding a nationwide contest.
"On the 25th of each month franchises across the country are handing out scratch-off cards," said Amanda Stephens, another manager. "Customers can win prizes ranging from free onion wings to $25,000 cash."
Hooters of Huntington is located at 6435 Rt. 60 East. It is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. until midnight Friday and Saturday. Sunday the restaurant opens at noon and closes at 11 p.m. For more information call 304-733-9464 or fax 304-302-2056.
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