Dining with Hooters

There's an old sage advice that you can't judge a book just by its cover. Well, maybe they're right, from one experience I had during my sister's birthday, which is today.

May 5, 2008, Monday. I happened to visit the first Hooters restaurant in the Philippines. For those not in the know, Hooters is quite... well-known, for its food, its service, and its girls. Especially the girls.

Why, you wonder? Well, one look at their outfits, eye-catching as they may seem, says it all. What hot-blooded male wound't mind noticing how the waitress are quite blessed, for a lack of a better term? Well, assuming you're a hard-lined feminist, you'd be quite bothered to notice their various forms of dress. Scantily-clad waitresses. Males as cooks. What's not to dislike?

Apparently, the launching of said restaurant along these shores has raised a lot of eyebrows. What's Hooters without their trademark uniforms? I've been to the United States once, and haven't stepped in one of their branches. Now, here they have established one, in the Philippines, a Catholic country (or so I hear), and be amazed at the transformation. From scantily-clad to noticeably dressed to ogle at. I for one am not raising any expectations when I happened to notice these "differences". After all, if it were copied, from one shore to another, you would have seen protests outside, mostly from hard-lined feminists who denounce waitresses dressed scantily.

You get this? Hooters in the Philippines is not the same as Hooters in America. It's so well "tamed" that you notice the difference even if you're myopic. That's a harsh comment to make, don't you think?

Anyway, back to the event. As my family celebrated my sister's birthday, who's a year shy of being considered an adult by local law, I can't help but question the restaurant branch's policies regarding uniforms and services. Hooters in the Philippines is laughable, and I mean that in a bad way.

Now what to make out of all this? I've thought of some suggestions to enhance the image without raising the ire of feminists and those who are close minded to the liberation of women's clothing. Why not ditch the song and number service? Also, why not try to minimize the image of Hooters and adopt the same standards as its American counterpart? Screw the hard-liners. This is Hooters, and it's a brand that's unlike any other restaurant by the bay. Besides, it wouldn't be Hooters without some "hooters", you know.

Bring in the hooters!