What hot wing contest could exist without a visit to
Hooters? Today we went to visit the
delightfully tacky, yet unrefined ladies of Hooters at 3241 Horizon Drive in
Springfield, IL. You’ll have to go
through www.hooters.com
to find the store information. We don’t
normally visit chain restaurants as part of our hunt for the best food in
Springfield, but we couldn’t pass up an excuse to visit the tank top and orange
short wearing ladies of the owl.
We were immediately disappointed when we walked in
and found the service personnel wearing “sexy” Christmas costumes to celebrate
the holiday season. Most of their
costumes were tight but fell short of sexy.
There was the lamp leg light from “A Christmas Story”, an elf, and a
server wearing a “Naughty or Nice” shirt.
It was a far cry from the threads and fabrics this restaurant chain
places its reputation on. Regardless, we
weren’t here for breasts, but rather wings and mini drumsticks.
We were seated at a high table with bar stools and
our drink order was quickly taken after Buddy the Elf passed through the seven
levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops,
and finally walked through the Lincoln Tunnel to our table. There are 4 ways to order the Hooters
wings: Original Hooters Style, Naked
(yes, please) Wings, Daytona Beach Style Wings, or Boneless Wings. Our test group for wings puts us in the
Original Style so we ordered a plate of 20 wings with the Hot sauce. There was also a side of curly fries and a
bowl of chili ordered. This was the most
difficult and restrictive menu to order wings from. We couldn’t split the wing order to try
different flavors and the order sizes didn’t lead us to want to try a different
flavor.
It didn’t matter because we weren’t
disappointed. The plate of wings was
delivered and piled high. It didn’t take
long to notice these wings were huge and rivaled those of Starship
Billiards. They were served piping hot
too. When we were finally able to bite
into them, they were juicy, meaty, and succulent. More than a mouthful of these definitely was
not a waste. Each wing left you with hot
sauce and juice dripping from your chin and smeared across your cheek. You had to lick your fingers dry before
wiping the juice and sauce off your face.
The ranch dipping sauce was creamy and tasty. The sauce was warm but not hot by our
standards. Because we shared the wings
with the group, we had no idea how many we ate but it didn’t matter because we
were all full by the time the last three wings were raised in a toast to the
Hoots.
This was a less than traditional visit to Hooters
with the bodily décor altered for the holiday season. The wings were large and in charge dripping
with juices and sauce. The bill was high
because Hooters charges you for everything.
The chili cost extra for onions and cheese. You even get charged for the dipping
sauces. The waitress was attentive but
not to the standards you see on the billboards, calendars or commercials. The restaurant was sunny and open but lacked
many customers while we were eating.
This experience, because of the food, ranks high for us and may be a
repeat visit as we break down the finalists.
Who knew we’d actually want to come back to Hooters for the food?
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| None of these ladies were our elf waitress but they have Springfield, IL on their shirts. |
