Hooters shutters last location in Florida town after 40 years amid chains bankruptcy restructure

Hooters has lost its last restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida, marking the latest longtime location to disappear as closures continue following the chain’s bankruptcy restructuring.The Hooters on San Jose Boulevard was permanently closed after operating in Jacksonville for four decades, according to local reports.The restaurant, which opened in 1986, was the last remaining Hooters in the Jacksonville area, WJXT-TV reported.Its closure leaves Hooters without a location in northeast Florida and creates another sizable gap in the restaurant chain’s footprint in its home state.The northernmost Hooters on Florida’s Atlantic coast now appears to be in Daytona Beach, according to the company’s online restaurant locator.Hooters confirmed to Fox News Digital that the restaurant had closed but didn’t elaborate.Jacksonville isn’t the only longtime Hooters location in Florida to recently close for good.The Hooters in Panama City Beach closed its doors in September after more than 30 years in business, according to a post on its Facebook page.The closure leaves Pensacola Beach as the chain’s remaining outpost in the Florida Panhandle.Another Hooters in Hickory, North Carolina, also closed in late September after years in business, according to a report by the US Sun.The recent shutdowns come months after the closure of the Hooters in Boca Raton, Florida, which had developed a large social media following.That restaurant closed in February after 16 years when its landlord declined to renew the lease, the restaurant’s operator previously told Fox News Digital.Its departure created another significant gap along Florida’s Atlantic coast, with no Hooters locations between Fort Lauderdale and West Melbourne, about 150 miles apart.The scattered closures come after Hooters underwent a major restructuring that dramatically reduced the iconic restaurant chain’s footprint.Hooters of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2025 as the company struggle...