Hooters Niagara — Restaurant in Niagara Falls

My recent visit to Hooters in Niagara Falls left me feeling utterly disappointed, hungry, and cheated. As a group of five, we wanted to try out this establishment as none of us had ever been before, but unfortunately, our expectations were far from met.

On Sunday, May 21, 2023, we arrived at Hooters and immediately encountered slow service. It took a frustratingly long 10 minutes for our drinks to arrive, and placing our orders proved to be an arduous task as well. Our initial choice to share a plate of calamari turned out to be a mistake. The calamari was greasy, extremely rubbery, and oddly thick, leaving much to be desired in terms of taste and texture.

Moving on to the wings, we ordered 10 boneless wings and 10 original wings - both medium. The boneless wings were passable, with a decent medium flavor. However, it was disappointing to discover that splitting flavors was not allowed unless we ordered a whopping 50 wings, which was clearly impractical. As for the original wings, they were a complete letdown. They lacked substance, and it felt as if we were paying for bones rather than meat. The wings were disappointingly dry and rather small.

To make matters worse, the most infuriating part of our experience came with the arrival of the bill. Despite being a party of five, we were charged the gratuity fee for six people. It is unacceptable for an establishment to advertise a 15% gratuity charge for groups of six or more and then fail to honour their own policy. We were told that the gratuity fee goes to the kitchen and other staff and that unless we tipped more on the bill, our waitress wouldn't receive any tips from our table. Which seems unfair as most restaurants don’t even give more than 5% for kitchen and other staff.

Additionally, we were surprised to find a "DMDF Fee" added to our bill, labeled as a tourism fee. This, combined with the disappointing food and the 15% gratuity charge, left us feeling utterly frustrated. It is also interesting that this restaurant was the only one that we encountered that charged that fee.

We left Hooters hungry and filled with regret. In fact, we ended up having to eat a second dinner elsewhere to satisfy our hunger. If your intention is solely to enjoy the sight of servers in shorts, then perhaps Hooters is the place for you. However, if you seek a dining experience with quality food, I strongly advise against choosing this restaurant. The underwhelming food, billing issues, and overall unsatisfactory experience make Hooters an establishment I...

I'm in the food industry and have never once left a review online but here goes. We went there last night, we walked in sat down and no acknowledgement. We sat down and nobody even approached us until finally a waitress asked if we been served and that she doesn't know where our server is. 2 drinks ordered and came in a timely manner. Finally our true waitress came and then realized she was actually the bartender. ( WHO WAS DOING WAY MORE THAN ALL THE WAITRESSES PUT TOGETHER !) I must say the restaurant MAYBE had 15 people and at least 5 servers. We put our empty glasses to the side of table. Finally our waitress who was busy came by and asked if we want another drink and we said yes but she didn't even take the empty glasses( noting that all 4 waitresses passed our table like 20 times and never asked if we wanted another drink.) Had our 2nd drink and ordered beef quesadillas, Ceasar salad and nachos. Well all the food comes and the quesadillas we cold and only half filled! Like eating pizza with all crust and no cheese!( did have good flavor) Ceasar salad was not fresh and pcs were brown, and almost no dressing on the salad. The nachos we like $20 and consisted of a few spoonfuls of chili, and squeeze cheese that was horrible. We pushed all of our dishes to the side of the table to say we are done however not 1 single waitress asked us how everything was, not one waitress asked if they can take plates away even after having direct eye contact. We sat across from the waitress serving station and watched the waitresses joke with the Male manager or owner? We watched the waitresses eat and joke among themselves. Finally my wife asked the Male manager if he could clear the dishes away and please can we have our bill, so he went and asked a waitress to clear them off. Waitress came to clear them off and we paid and left. Very bad experience for sure except the drinks were cold!

EDIT after Hooters response

That is not the response I would give to a horrible review. I'd be very concerned if it was my business. Looking at the reviews I see this is a regular occurring thing. They don't care about you just your money. If you were really concerned you would be sending me a message on how you could make it up to me. Frozen crap food by people who don't freekin care. $100...

First time at a Hooters. Not impressed, and little to recommend it over any other restaurant that serves the same fare.

Except for one thing - the rotating daily specials are AMAZING deals. We went on a Monday, all-you-can-eat wings for $CAN 18.99 (just a skosh over $14 US dollars - insanely cheap). The wings were decent, though neither the medium nor the hot was very spicy, and it really didn't taste like buffalo sauce. It was kind of tangy, but definitely not what buffalo wings usually taste like. But whatever it was was ok. The cajun dry rub wings were tasty. And they did bring my daughter's wings to the table with the wrong sauce. But whatever sweet sauce they put on it by mistake was still pretty good, IMO (she didn't like it as much).

However, an absolute ETERNITY passes between servings of wing refills. We waited easily 20-25 minutes the first time, and when I went to the kitchen window to ask one of the servers if there was a delay (she said they just put them down, but even then we still had to wait several minutes), she came to the table and said, "by the way, it was only 10 minutes," which a.) no it wasn't, and b.) how rude.

Chicken sandwich was good, my son loved his ribs, french fries were fine, my wife's salad looked amazing, but my beef chili totally came out of a can - it was meh in the extreme.

Also they CHARGE 99c FOR SODA REFILLS! And they don't tell you this when they ask if you want more. Who does this? Never see that before in my life. Completely lame.

IMPORTANT Also, in Niagara Falls, apparently there is a surcharge that NO ONE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT IN ADVANCE - you just have to notice it on the receipt/bill/invoice/check, and then ask to have it removed. It's some kind of city-wide tourism/hospitality surcharge/tax/fee, and it's like 5% or something. Look for this fee, called the "D.M.D.F. FEE," anytime you eat, play, or stay in Niagara Falls. You do NOT have to pay it. But they will not tell you about it - you have to KNOW, and then demand a refund.

Overall, no real pressing reason to go back. Could have been...