For years, the Hooters in Boca Raton, Florida, was more than a wings-and-beer stop. It was a stage.
Choreographed dances in orange shorts. Playful skits. Phone-call parodies. The kind of viral TikTok clips that turned waitresses into local celebrities and a neighborhood sports bar into a national talking point.
Now, after 16 years, that curtain is coming down.
The final Super Bowl Sunday service is set to take place before the restaurant closes at the end of February. Not because of slow business. Not because of shrinking crowds. But because the landlord chose not to renew the lease.
A Closure That Caught Many Off Guard
When word spread that the Boca Raton location would shut its doors, customers and staff were stunned. According to general manager Chris Torelli, the decision had nothing to do with performance.
“We are a healthy, successful location, and in this economy, the places that close are the opposite,” Torelli said.
In a bruising restaurant landscape where closures often signal trouble, this one felt different. The dining room was busy. The brand was buzzing online. Meanwhile, the digital footprint only kept growing.
From Marketing Experiment To Viral Machine
What began as a modest marketing push slowly evolved into something far bigger.
The Boca team leaned hard into social media. They posted dances tied to local sports. They filmed parody skits. They created inside jokes that fans eagerly shared. And then something happened.
“You get one or two that go viral, then you start seeing the comments and the interaction with the consumers,” Torelli said.
That early success validated the strategy. However, the focus was never purely on follower counts or algorithms.
The goal “has always been to make it fun.”
“It’s not a business,” Torelli said. “I mean, we are a business — but Instagram, for us, is fun.”
Fun, it turns out, can travel far.
Turning Waitresses Into Local Celebrities
Faces like Amanda Hall and Sarah Glynn became familiar not just to regulars, but to thousands online. They danced. They joked. They leaned into the playful tone that defined the account.
Soon, recognition followed them beyond the restaurant walls.
Torelli said the social media presence helped turn the Hooters girls into “local celebrities.”
Former employee Abigail Fuqua knows that feeling well. Even more than a year after leaving, she says people still recognize her from clips that continue to circulate.
“As soon as you open that door up, and you immerse yourself into it, you just have fun,” Fuqua said.
That sense of ease, of camaraderie, became part of the brand’s identity.
A Recruiting Tool That Worked
The viral attention did more than drive likes. It helped bring in new staff.
“We’ve stumbled upon one of the best marketing tools to recruit future Hooters girls,” Torelli said.
He pointed to the “tremendous success [in] hiring staff” who specifically wanted to work at the Boca Raton location because of the videos.
In contrast to many restaurants struggling to fill shifts, this one found applicants lining up. Social media had become both megaphone and magnet.
More Than A Job
As the final days approach, emotions are running high.
For Glynn and Hall, the restaurant meant far more than tips and tables.
“These girls are my sisters now,” Glynn said.
“It kind of became more like a home and a family,” Hall added.
The bonds forged behind the bar and in front of smartphone cameras proved just as meaningful as any viral milestone.
Glynn even joked about what the end might mean for her personally.
“It may be time to retire the orange shorts a little bit, because I don’t know how I can do any Hooters other than Boca,” she said.
And as she reflected, another simple sentiment captured the mood.
“I had a great time while I was here.”
Not Done Yet
Despite the closure, Torelli insists this is not the end of the story.
The “plan all along” was to find a new home nearby, he said.
“We’re not done yet,” he said.
Even after the physical doors close, the digital presence will likely live on.
“We owe it to our guests and our staff and the people in the community, because we do so much with them, to continue to do this,” he said.
So while the landlord had the final say on the lease, the community built over 16 years may not disappear so easily.
The last Super Bowl service may mark the end of an address. But for many involved, it does not feel like the end of the brand, or the bonds that made it specia
