You’ve probably seen the orange shorts. You’ve definitely smelled the buffalo sauce. But if you think the founder of Hooters restaurants was some slick Vegas marketing executive with a billion-dollar master plan, you’re dead wrong.
The reality is way weirder. It started with six guys from the Midwest who had zero restaurant experience and a literal "neighborhood dump" of a location in Clearwater, Florida.
They were the "Hooters Six."
L.D. Stewart, Gil DiGiannantonio, "Uncle" Billy Ranieri, Ken Wimmer, Dennis Johnson, and Ed Droste. These weren't culinary icons. Stewart was a painting contractor. Droste was in real estate. They were just guys who wanted a place that served decent wings and played the music they liked. They even incorporated the business on April 1, 1983, because they were convinced the whole thing was going to fail. They thought the joke was on them.
Instead, they changed the American casual dining landscape forever.
The "Delightfully Tacky" Origins of the First Hooters
The first Hooters didn't open in a glitzy mall. It opened in a former rundown nightclub that had seen better days—and worse ones too.
When you look at the founder of Hooters restaurants story, you have to look at L.D. Stewart. He was the primary force, the guy who actually owned the property. The "Hooters Six" put in about $140,000 collectively to get the doors open. That’s peanuts by today’s standards. Most people don't realize that the iconic owl logo and the "Hooters" name were actually a double entendre inspired by a Steve Martin comedy routine. It was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. They figured if the food sucked, at least the name would get a laugh.
They didn't have a chef. They didn't have a corporate trainer.
Actually, they had a jukebox and a dream of selling spicy chicken. The early days were chaotic. Ed Droste used to dress up in a chicken suit and stand on the side of the road to flag down cars because nobody was coming in. Imagine a future multi-millionaire founder sweating in a polyester bird costume in the 95-degree Florida humidity just to sell a basket of wings. That’s the grit people forget when they look at the corporate giant Hooters is today.
Why Clearwater?
The location mattered. Clearwater in the early 80s was a hub of spring break energy and blue-collar retirees. It was the perfect petri dish. The "Hooters Six" leaned into the "delightfully tacky, yet unrefined" motto because they couldn't afford to be refined. They used wood-planked walls because it was cheap. They used brown paper bags for napkins.
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It worked.
People loved the lack of pretension. Within months, the line was out the door. The founders weren't just selling food; they were selling a vibe that felt like a permanent backyard barbecue.
The Arrival of Bob Brooks and the Big Split
If the "Hooters Six" provided the soul, Robert H. "Bob" Brooks provided the engine. This is where the story gets a bit complicated and, honestly, kind of litigious.
In 1984, a year after the first store opened, Hugh Connerty bought the rights to expand Hooters from the original founders. He eventually teamed up with Bob Brooks, a businessman from South Carolina who ran a food company called Eastern Foods. Brooks saw what the Florida guys didn't: a national franchise powerhouse.
He formed Hooters of America (HOA).
For decades, there was a weird split in the company. The original founders kept the rights to the "Hooters, Inc." name and operated stores in specific territories like Tampa Bay, Chicago, and parts of New York. Brooks and HOA owned the rights to basically everywhere else.
- The Original Six: Kept the "neighborhood" feel.
- Bob Brooks: Took the brand to 400+ locations and 20+ countries.
- The Conflict: They fought. A lot.
They sued each other over everything from the shade of orange on the uniforms to the specific recipe for the breading. It wasn't until 2001 that the two entities finally settled their long-standing legal battles, essentially allowing Brooks’ HOA to become the dominant global face of the brand. When people talk about the founder of Hooters restaurants in a corporate sense, they are usually thinking of Brooks, but without Stewart and Droste’s initial "bad idea," Brooks would have had nothing to buy.
Legal Battles and the "BFOQ" Defense
Hooters didn't just grow; it fought for its life in court.
In the 1990s, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) came after the company. The claim? Discrimination against men. The EEOC argued that Hooters should be forced to hire male servers.
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The founders didn't flinch.
They relied on a legal concept called "Bona Fide Occupational Qualification" (BFOQ). They argued that Hooters wasn't just a restaurant; it was an entertainment venue. The "Hooters Girl," they claimed, was an actress playing a role. You wouldn't hire a man to play a female lead in a play, right? That was their logic.
They actually flew a bunch of Hooters Girls to Washington D.C. to protest. They took out full-page newspaper ads featuring a man in a blonde wig and a Hooters uniform with the caption, "Is this what you want?" The EEOC eventually backed down. It was a massive PR win that solidified the brand's identity as a rebel in the PC-culture era of the 90s.
The Expansion into... Airlines?
Bob Brooks was a visionary, but sometimes visionaries go off the rails.
In 2003, he bought Pace Airlines and turned it into Hooters Air. Yes, really. The planes were painted orange and white. There were Hooters Girls on every flight (though they didn't serve the food; FAA-certified flight attendants did).
It was a disaster.
The airline lasted about three years and lost roughly $40 million. It’s a classic example of brand overextension. Just because people like wings and beer doesn't mean they want to fly at 30,000 feet in an orange-trimmed Boeing 737. But Brooks didn't care. He was a gambler. He also launched Hooters Casino in Las Vegas. The guy was obsessed with turning the brand into a lifestyle.
Legacy of the Hooters Six Today
Where are they now?
L.D. Stewart passed away in 2022. He lived long enough to see his "joke" become a global phenomenon. Ed Droste remains a prominent figure in the Florida business community and is still involved in various charitable efforts. Bob Brooks passed away in 2006, leaving a massive estate and a brand that was eventually sold to a consortium of private equity firms in 2011.
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The original Clearwater location at 2800 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd is still there. It’s been renovated, but it still holds that weird, lightning-in-a-bottle energy.
The founder of Hooters restaurants isn't one person. It’s a messy conglomerate of six buddies, a South Carolina businessman, and a legal team that knew how to fight. They proved that you don't need a culinary degree to build a billion-dollar business. You just need a concept that people can't stop talking about—even if they’re complaining about it.
Surprising Facts You Probably Missed:
- The Owl's Name: The owl in the logo is named "Hootie." Original.
- The Menu: The original menu was written on a chalkboard. It was tiny.
- The Uniform: The iconic shorts were inspired by a pair of running shorts one of the founders saw a girl wearing at a track meet.
- No Fryers: The original location didn't have a kitchen vent system initially, so they couldn't even fry wings at first. They had to improvise until they got the permits.
Actionable Insights for Entrepreneurs
If you’re looking at the Hooters story for inspiration, there are three things you can actually apply to a modern business.
First, lean into your niche. Hooters didn't try to be a family steakhouse and a sports bar. They picked a specific, controversial lane and stayed in it. If they had tried to please everyone, they would have been out of business by 1985.
Second, embrace the "scrappy" phase. Ed Droste in the chicken suit is the ultimate lesson. If you're too proud to market your business at the street level, you don't deserve the big-time success.
Third, protect your IP. The messy split between the Florida founders and the South Carolina expansion team is a cautionary tale. If you have a brand that’s working, get your licensing and territorial agreements ironed out early. Handshake deals among friends are great until there’s $100 million on the table.
To dive deeper into the business mechanics, check out the original corporate filings or historical archives from the Tampa Bay Times, which covered the "Hooters Six" from day one. You can also visit the original Clearwater site to see the "Founders' Plaque" near the entrance.
The story is a reminder that the best ideas often look like the worst ideas to everyone else.
Next Steps for Researching Business Foundations:
- Examine the 1995 EEOC vs. Hooters case files for insights into brand-protection legalities.
- Research the "Hooters of America" acquisition history (2011 and 2019) to see how private equity scales a founder-led brand.
- Audit your own brand's "BFOQ"—what makes your service or product fundamentally unique from a legal or operational standpoint?