After 40 years, Hooters remains America’s favorite sports bar, according to a ranking recently released by the food-focused publication Mashed.
The editorial team at Mashed, which includes former chefs, cookbook authors, dieticians, home cooks and more, looked at customer reviews on Reddit and X, formerly Twitter, as well as reviews from professional food critics and bloggers to rank the top 11 sports bar chains.
The outlet took into account opinions on bar food, especially wings and bar bites, as well as beer and drink selections, and considered the rankings based on “the most likely place you could visit to have great wings and sides, a cold delicious beer, a lively atmosphere, and service to make you likely to return.”
At the end of the process, Hooters came out on top.
“The wings are just better,” Mashed decided, based on countless reviews. While Hooters may not have as many sauce options as some other sports bar chains, the restaurant does boast “more interesting preparations” for their wings, including the original breaded, smoked, roasted, and even a Daytona Beach style.
Alongside their wings, the full menu at Hooters earns consistent praise from reviewers, according to Mashed.
For watching games at a sports bar, the atmosphere doesn’t get more iconic than at Hooters. The chain has been known since its inception in Clearwater, Fla., in 1983 for having armies of beautiful women serving up wings and beer wearing the brand’s trademark orange shorts.
Over the decades, the chain has periodically fallen out of cultural favor for its treatment of the more than half a million women who have donned the orange shorts. But the brand has worked hard in recent years to actively uplift its majority-female workforce, offering educational programs, tuition reimbursement, and pathways for advancement within the company’s corporate structure, where today around 40% of management staff is made up of women.
TMX contributed to this story.
