RIP Hooters Singapore, Dec 1996 – Jan 2026

Another place I grew up with is now bankrupt. Hooters at Clarke Quay served its last wings today, marking the American casual dining restaurant chain’s exit from Singapore.

Hooters, globally recognised for its form-fitting uniform worn by wait staff, first opened its Clarke Quay outlet in 1996. It was the brand’s first international franchise outside North America and its inaugural outlet in Asia.

CQ @ Clarke Quay is an iconic conserved historical landmark located along the Singapore River, comprising five blocks of restored shophouses and waterfront godowns. It has seen its fair share of closed eateries and businesses.

Hooters Singapore is a franchisee and opened the first restaurant in Clarke Quay amidst a lot of fanfare. I remember the newspaper coverage, Hooters was mentioned in the same breadth as bar-top dancing. Everyone was amazed how liberal Singapore had become.

At the peak of its business in Singapore, they had three locations around the island, but the one in Clarke Quay remained our favourite. It used to be on the second floor with a much bigger floor space and a gift shop on the first floor. Now, it’s on the first floor with a riverside area.

But the writing is on the wall when I visited Hooters with my classmates. It was a Saturday night, and yet the place was almost empty. This was not only true for Hooters, most of CQ were sparsely crowded.

Here’s a Business Insider video about the bankruptcy filling by Hooters in the US.

Hooters is not your gourmet destination if you are looking for a place to wow your friends with delicious American fare, which in itself is an oxymoron.

Diners would usually pair the chicken wings with the crowd-favourite Lots A Tots, featuring a pile of crispy tater tots drenched in cheese and sour cream, and finished with some pork bacon bits.

If you’ve been to Hooters, you’ll know the brand is known for its signature chicken wings, available in a variety of flavours and spice levels. The Original Hooters Style wings were invented over 30 years ago; they’re breaded by hand, deep fried and then tossed in your choice of wing sauce; there are 12 varieties, ranging from classic BBQ to Spicy Garlic, the fiery 911 that combines spicy and sour, and the bold Triple Dog Dare.

I prefer their Smoked Wings, similar to our hawker centre style BBQ wings with five sauce blends to choose from: smoked marinade, garlic habanero, Texas BBQ, Caribbean jerk, and smoked Daytona.

I don’t think I would be missing the food, but the memories of chugging huge amount of beer with buddies on the weekends while chomping down these salty wings would be something not replaceable. And of course, the Hooter girls and their hula-hoops hour would be sorely missed.

Visited Jan 2026