Hooters
Hooters
771 East 81st Place
Merrillville, IN 46410
OK, I admit it: I went to Hooters. I don’t care what people say about this chain or what not; I was tired and hungry. It was, after all, past 10:00 p.m. (thanks to delays plus a flight re-schedule plus 90 minute drive from O’Hare International to Merrillville) and there were not that many dining options. Well, actually there were a couple of restaurants open; however, despite it was near 0C, I did not want to drive and the only other place at a walking distance was Outback Steakhouse. Sure, I could have gone there but I did not want to eat something heavy (read: steak).
As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a hostess. Now, rather than direct me to a table, I was given the option to seat at any table. Despite it was Monday (read: Monday Night Football), the place was not full, but busy enough.
One “good” thing about Hooters in this region is that domestic drafts are $1 so there was no reason for getting one. And I had a… Well, actually I don’t remember! Reality is I just something “bubbly” to drink and almost anything would have worked. Oh, I have mentioned previously I have low alcohol tolerance but, even then, I found this one was really light. (As a side note, I am working on a beer post but it will take a while).
Not sure if I will call it an odd presentation but this is how utensils were provided…
Now, for the food… Again, I was hungry so I ordered an appetizer and an entree (though I asked both of them to be delivered at the same time). For the appetizer:
Boneless wings ($8?). I will never know if these are actual chicken wings with the bones removed but they actually had chicken texture. I asked them to be (spicy) hot but it was barely spicy. I guess I should have gone all out and ask for the “3 Mile Island” hot instead. For the “entree”, I had:
Fish and Chips ($13). When I inquired about the fish, they could not tell me what it was. After tasting it, if I had to guess, I would have said cod. One thing that I did not like about this fish was the fact it was too flaky. In fact, when I picked it with my hands, it just broke down.
One good point of this dish was the coleslaw; it was tangy, crunchy and not overdressed. Quite a good change from the KFC-like coleslaw I have had lately. As for the fries, it is the curly version and there was not much to talk about. Actually, there is one note: in their menu, it says “but no chips, go figure”. Not sure about you but despite they are curly, aren’t they chips (in the UK sense) anyway?
Overall, the meal was good enough; however, this might have been because I was really hungry and tired. Under normal conditions, I would have said so-so.
Finally, two notes about this place. At the beginning of the post, I mentioned about “what people say about this chain”. Well, for the most part, it is true, if you know what I mean. And I do mean in all ways you can imagine… Second, unlike Metro Vancouver, they do not have no smoking policies. In fact, after I was seated, I started to smell the smoke from a couple of tables away from me. Darn…
Im actually surprised that they didn’t ask you to put away your camera there! I went to Brandy’s a couple months ago with a friend and was going to take a pic of my cosmo…NOT a girl. It didnt go over too well!
I am sure that would have happened if it was busier and/or a downtown-like location. However, this Hooters was in the middle of nowhere and it was not busy, not to mention seated in a corner far from everybody (see second picture). The fact I was wearing business might have helped. Now, I must add I was respectful of the Hooters Girl and did not try to take of shot of them (not even trying to sneak one). Had I tried to do so, I am sure they would have kicked my ass out of there.