Heads up, Corpus Christi: you’ll have to find a new spot to get your hot wings fix after Hooters abruptly and permanently closed its doors on Sunday, April 12.
The closure comes nearly two years after the restaurant celebrated a reopening after an earlier long-term closure had shuttered its doors for a couple of years. Corpus Christi NBC affiliate, KRIS 6 News, was the first to report on the new closure of the Hooters, located at 4551 S. Padre Island Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78411.
“After many years of serving the community, this Hooters location closed effective at the end of business April 12,” reads a printed sign posted to the front door of the restaurant.
“This decision has been made as part of our current efforts to focus, revitalize and strengthen the Original Hooters brand across America,” the sign further reads.
The sudden closure of the Corpus Christi Hooters comes as the company emerges from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy it initiated last March. As part of the restructuring process — which officials called a “re-Hooterization” — Hooters sold off its remaining company-owned locations to a group of franchisees, including the original Hooters founders, working under a new company name, “Original Hooters.” In November, Original Hooters announced it had been successful in closing the transaction and transitioning the brand into an entirely franchisee-owned business model.
The Corpus Christi Hooters had been a company-owned location. Its closure is just the latest in dozens of locations that have shuttered over the last two years, including at least 17 locations throughout the Lone Star State, according to the U.S. Sun. But it’s also not the first time the Corpus Christi store has closed. In November 2021, the restaurant was forced to close after a fire broke out in an employee break room during the overnight hours. The conflagration caused the restaurant to remain closed for more than two years for renovations. In June 2024, Hooters announced the Corpus Christi restaurant would reopen “in a blaze of glory” with a celebratory “grand reopening party.”
News of the closure was met with mixed results on social media, with multiple people remarking that the quality of the food and service at the restaurant had gone down since the 2024 reopening. Others criticized Corpus Christi as being unfriendly to franchises. In a Facebook group called “Corpus Christi Food Finds,” however, several people expressed surprise that the restaurant had still been in business prior to Sunday.
“They were open?” Emily Gaither said.
Another commenter met the moment with a little more levity.
“Looks like the owl’s flown the coop… for good this time,” Shaday Gonzales said.