Residents Question Hooter?s Location

Site work is underway for two new restaurants on Fort Smith’s busy Rogers Avenue. Although a restaurant on that street is nothing for people to get up in arms about, it’s the rumored Hooters restaurant that has some locals grumbling.

The restaurant sites are located on Rogers Avenue in a commercial zone, said Wally Bailey, the city’s planning director. But the two sites front a residential neighborhood.

Just the possibility of one of the restaurants being a Hooters already has some residents concerned about having, what the company calls a “delightfully tacky yet unrefined” restaurant so close to their neighborhood.

Hooters is famous for its waitresses that wear tight shirts and short shorts — and its chicken wings. There are two restaurants in the state: one in Fayetteville and one in North Little Rock.

No plans have been submitted to the city for the restaurants, Bailey said, adding that companies don’t have to be named for site work to begin.

The other restaurant is believed to be a McAlister’s Deli, which has seven locations in Arkansas, with one in Fayetteville and Bentonville.

Neither restaurant has made an official announcement or was available for comment.