Last Call: Why Hooters Is On A Downturn

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By  Gwen Ihnat

I think I've been in a Hooters once, on a road trip stuck in West Virginia or somewhere where restaurant options were few. But I haven't been in many, many years, and it turns out I may not be the only one (although there was a devoted crew in the office here that used to go for a Hooters wings lunch on Wednesdays). As Vox ponders today, "Hooters is closing restaurants. Is its offensive uniform to blame?" After all, says Vox, the number of Hooters restaurants decreased 7 percent from 2012 to 2016, and the Hooters airline is long gone. Although part of that can be traced to the decline of restaurants overall, Vox points out that the whole Hooters girl aesthetic is a bit outdated—right down to the tan pantyhose under the orange shorts. The '80s-based look seems designed to appeal to aging Baby Boomers, compared to the short plaid skirts of Tilted Kilt that lean toward the "sexy schoolgirl" aesthetic. But it seems as if Hooters' menu may be the most in need of a makeover; even those wings can fade compared to fellow "racy fast-casual chain" Twin Peaks' "from scratch" offerings or Tilted Kilt's pub nachos. So if you're looking for an in-depth look at the state of the "breastaurant," Vox has an intriguing read today—but I'm still going to pass on that wings lunch. [Gwen Ihnat]

Eating al fresco at the South Pole

The researchers at Concordia Station, one of the most remote places on the planet at about 1,000 miles from the Geographic South Pole, must get bored. And cold. (Currently, it is -72ºF there.) So the scientists took some of their food outside to demonstrate what happens to it at such temperatures. Roughly translated, the tweet above says that "maybe eating lunch on the roof wasn't a great idea." [Kate Bernot]

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