Hooters Prepares For 40th Anniversary Celebration With 83-Cent Wings

CLEARWATER, FL — Conceived in Clearwater where the original restaurant is still in business, Hooters is preparing to celebrate its 40th anniversary on Oct. 4 by featuring a series of monthly "throwback" events leading up to the anniversary celebration.

The first event will kick off on Saturday, March 4, at Tampa Bay Hooters locations when the popular eatery will offer wings for 83 cents, an offering that will continue on the fourth of every month to pay homage to 1983, the year Hooters opened its first eatery in Clearwater.

There will also be several in-store specials throughout the year featuring seafood specials and $19.83 crab legs starting in March.

Hooters was created and fittingly incorporated on April Fool’s Day in 1983 by six businessmen: L.D. Stewart, Gil DiGiannantonio, “Uncle Billy” Ranieri, Ed Droste, Dennis Johnson and Ken Wimmer. Soon after, the doors to the first Hooters restaurant opened on Oct. 4 at 2800 Gulf-To-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater.

Related:

• 2-Year-Old Girl And Mom Get Home Of Their Own Thanks To Hooters
• Hooters Employees Build 6th Habitat For Humanity Home
• Clearwater, North Tampa Hooters Girls Compete In International Pageant
• Hooters Recognizes Frontline Employees As Hooters Heroes

The laid-back beach-style eatery was one of the first to introduce Buffalo-style chicken wings and, with the help of the Hooters Girls, the restaurant has become a popular culture icon.

There are references to the wing restaurant and its buxom waitresses in films like Adam Sandler's "Big Daddy" where one character works at Hooters.

In the movie, "Blended," the characters played by Sandler and Drew Barrymore have their first date at Hooters.

Hooters restaurant facades also appear in "Shrek the Third" and Paul Walker's 2003 film, "2 Fast 2 Furious."

Steve Carell and his team on the television show, "The Office," stop by Hooters for wings and beer during Season 2.

And J.R. Villarreal wears a Hooter's T-shirt not once but twice in the Netflix series, "Freeridge."

Over the past four decades, as Hooters restaurants have sprung up around the world, the six original Hooters founders have stayed true to their original mission to give back to the community, said Neil Kiefer, CEO of the HMC Hospitality Group, which owns and operates 22 Hooters restaurants in Tampa Bay and Chicago.

“We are proud to give back to the wonderful communities that have welcomed us for decades," Kiefer said. "With the help of our great customers and hundreds of thousands of Hooters Girls, we have raised and donated millions, starting from our first week in business."

As part of the anniversary celebration, he said Hooters will continue raising funds for breast cancer research throughout the year, culminating with a "huge benefit concert" in October.