Hooters Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined

There is much work that goes into a successful restaurant opening. New staff members need to be trained in cooking the menu items and proper service to diners that fit within the restaurant’s proven or perceived standards. Smart restaurateurs have an appropriate opening budget to cover payroll and food costs for the training period prior to opening the doors to diners.

Usually the cooks in training cook “mock” orders and then servers deliver the food to other server’s posing as diners. This helps identify problem areas to management so these issues can be worked out before the grand opening. It is also a good team-building exercise, usually ensuring that the staff is comfortable working with one another.

All of this culminates into a first impression of the restaurant by diners in the first few months after opening. A good first impression is key for customers’ repeat business and for valuable “word of mouth” advertising. These are all imperative ingredients for a successful restaurant.

There is a new restaurant in Houma that seems to have accomplished all these criteria: Hooters.

As I walked up to the entrance of Hooters on 1619 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., I remembered this as the old Hollywood Video building. I could not recognize anything from the past business as I mostly saw the very characteristic Hooters orange all over. There are some large pilings wrapped with rope that resembled a ship dock to me. The parking lot was packed, which is normal for a newly opened restaurant.

More importantly was the buzz I felt as I entered. Happy diners engaged in conversation while eating creates an infectious atmosphere that many restaurants long for but never achieve. I notice a virtual sea of servers in orange and white buzzing around the tables and engaging with the guests. A young lady in the traditional Hooter’s garb of orange running shorts and a Hooter’s logo shirt greeted us and took us to our seats. Also in the dining area were walls of flat-screen televisions and the addition of a full bar centrally located in the dining room.

Originally, Hooters only served beer and wine by the glass but now their new bar has a seating area and bartenders.

Other changes I noticed are new menu items such as fried pickles ($4.99) and various quesadillas ($6.99 and up).

We started off by ordering chicken quesadillas. They arrived with some shredded lettuce on the side topped with pico de gallo and sour cream. The tortillas were filled with a nice amount of cheese and chicken and were really accented by the pico de gallo that offered a cool, spicy kick to each bite.

Some of my favorite chicken wings are served at Hooters as they are battered, fried and then tossed with a Tabasco-like butter sauce to taste spicy with a vinegary finish. I had to order some.

I ordered mine hot, but milder options are available – mild, medium, 911 hot, 3-mile island or spicy garlic.

My wings came out piping hot and still crisp, even after being drenched in sauce. I have eaten their wings at many Hooters locations across the U.S. The wings I received this day were exactly perfect and better than the ones I ordered at the Baton Rouge location recently.

I commented to the server about these being perfect and she agreed, saying management and the new cooks were really turning out great food because of their training before the opening.

To the appetizers, I chose to try something new for me: a Philly cheese steak sandwich ($7.99). This sandwich was loaded with sliced beef, peppers, mushrooms and onions with a slice of provolone cheese and served on a soft hoagie roll. If you prefer, it is also available with chicken.

The beef in this sandwich had been caramelized nicely on the flat grill and went well with the peppers and onions. I would order this sandwich again.

To finish up the meal, our server suggested the chocolate mousse cake ($3.99) as her personal favorite. We tried it with a cup of coffee. It was wonderfully full of chocolate in varying degrees. I don’t usually order desserts that are not made by the restaurant, but this one was quite delicious.

Throughout the week, Hooters offers specials such as “Mouthful Mondays” and “Wednesday is Wingsday.”

Monday’s special is a cheeseburger platter and fries for $5.99 and Wednesday’s is a platter of 10 boneless wings, fries and a dressing for $5.99. Other offerings include steamed snow crab legs ($11.99), bleu cheese burger ($7.49) and a big fish sandwich ($7.99) that I like grilled.

I believe Hooters’ management did its homework before opening the new Houma location to create the buzz inside the restaurant that translates into a fun place to eat fairly priced, delicious, comforting food. The scenery is not bad either!

Congrats, James Beard nominees

This month I also attended the James Beard Foundation breakfast event hosted by Dickie Brennan and The Palace Café in New Orleans. Chef Darin Nesbitt offered a succulent cheddar cheese biscuit topped with tender pork “debris,” a poached egg and a Tasso hollandaise that was fabulous.

The James Beard Foundation is a standard of excellence in the industry and recognizes food and beverage professionals across the country. This event announced all of the 2009 national nominees in various categories.

To be nominated for this prestigious award is the culinary equivalent to an Oscar nomination for actors and moviemakers. I would like to congratulate all this year’s nominees and especially Louisiana’s own local talent in the following categories:

AMERICAN COOKING (style cookbooks)

• My New Orleans by John Besh (Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC)

Real Cajun by Donald Link with Paula Disbrowe (Clarkson Potter)

Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS)

• Scott Boswell, Stella!, New Orleans

• John Harris, Lilette, New Orleans

RISING STAR CHEF OF THE YEAR AWARD

• Sue Zemanick, Gautreau’s, New Orleans

Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America Inductees

• Leah Chase, chef/wwner, Dooky Chase Restaurant, New Orleans

• Susan Spicer, chef/owner, Bayona, New Orleans

• Paul C.P. McIlhenny, president and CEO, McIlhenny Company, Avery Island, La.

Humanitarian of the Year:

• Wayne Kostroski, who founded the Taste of the NFL.

Winners will be announced May 2-3. For a complete list of all categories and nominees, go to www.jbfawards.com.

Hooters 1619 Martin Luther King Blvd., Houma (985) 262-0801 Restaurant Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, 11 to 1 a.m.