Hooters on Beach Road- The Food (updated Dec. 20, 2016)

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

This is a review of the food that is served at the newly opened Hooters on Beach Road near the intersection with Soi 13. A discussion of the other aspects of Hooters can be found in the "Gogo and Bar Review" section. I'll limit myself here to a discussion of the food I've had.







So far I've had four dishes: a po' boy sandwich; chili con carne; New England clam chowder; and a half-rack of BBQ pork ribs. All four were iconic American dishes and two, the po' boy and the clam chowder, aren't widely available in Pattaya. In fact, it was the first time I've seen a po' boy offered at any restaurant here.



The food, taken in isolation from the service, was good. It was almost identical in taste and presentation to the food on the menu of any Hooters in the U.S. Not great, but good U.S.-style bar food that I'd have no problem ordering again. But Hooters is expensive for what you get. I won't be eating there often, but I will go back if I have a yearning for comfort food from back home.

The service at Hooters has improved enormously since my first visit on Jan. 1. Service was a total fuster cluck back then; Saturday it was fine because an almost full house. I blame the problems they had earlier on the farang manager. On Jan. 1, the tables weren't numbered, which made it extremely difficult for the girls to get the food to diners in a timely fashion. They also didn't have a dedicated cashier, which meant the bartenders and girls were spending a lot of time punching in numbers. But on Saturday, this rather severe looking woman was entering all the orders and printing out tabs at a very fast pace.



Anyway, on to specifics. The first dish I ordered at Hooters was a po' boy (New Orleans dialect for poor boy) sandwich was invented in 1929 by two brothers (and former streetcar conductors) who had opened a food stand. During a strike by streetcar workers, the brothers showed their solidarity by giving the strikers free sandwiches. At first, the sandwiches consisted of whatever leftover scraps the stand had on hand piled on a small loaf of what's called New Orleans bread. It had a very thin brittle crust, but an extremely light and fluffy interior, almost the consistency of cotton candy. You virtually never find outside of New Orleans, but it is the perfect base for a po' boy.

The most popular early po' boy featured scraps of beef pot roast and gravy and that sandwich is still popular in New Orleans. In time, however, shrimp, oyster or shrimp-and-oyster po' boys became the standard and spread across the country. Hooters offers a shrimp po' boy, served on a hoagie, not a New Orleans loaf.



It with curly fries, which I don't much like. Nothing with Hooters' curly fries; I just don't like that form of fried potato.



The sandwich consisted of six pieces of fried shrimp dressed with lettuce and tomato. That's pretty much the standard. The shrimp were fresh and lightly fried.



It tasted exactly like a shrimp po' boy I had in Hooters in Orlando, Fla a few years ago. Except for the bread, it wasn't radically different in appearance from the shrimp po' boy served at the Parkway Diner and Bakery in New Orleans. Clearly the Parkway version tastes much better thanks to the special local bread.



Here's the downside. The po' boy at Hooters in Pattaya cost 530 baht, which at the current rate is about USD 15.15. At the Orlando Hooters, it cost $10.00, equivalent back then to about 300 baht. The Pattaya po' boy was a good sandwich, but not worth 530 baht, or nearly 1/3 more than you'd paid in the U.S.

I next tried the chili con carne, which despite its Spanish name is an American dish that owes little to traditional Mexican cuisine. Chili con carne was the first Tex-Mex dish to achieve national popularity in the U.S.



It cost 220 baht and came with three small pieces of French bread. I could have added chopped onion and cheese for an extra 60 baht, but I don't like either with chili con carne.



Again, it tasted good. It was light years from the best chili I've had, but still pretty decent. TThe characteristic chili flavor came though, but there wasn't much heat from the chilis. However, the price was premium; the chili con carne wasn't. I've had equivalent bowls of chili elsewhere in Pattaya for half that price.

Another day I tried the New England clam chowder, also at 220 baht.





I would say the same thing about the clam chowder, Good, but nothing special and expensive for what you get.






.On Saturday I had the half-rack of BBQ pork ribs at 460 baht. It came with curly fries and a small side of coleslaw.








This was the first dish I had at Hooters that I though was really nice and not just good. The ribs had been slow cooked and glazed with a vinegar-heavy Memphis-style BBQ sauce, which is my favorite.



The ribs had a substantial amount of meat that literally fell off the bone. The meat also had plenty of flavor. It's still expensive at 460 baht, but not totally out of line for riibs of comparable quality at another Pattaya restaurant.









Hooters has a very extensive menu for both food and drink. Hamburgers in several variations, steaks, fish, crab's legs and other seafood, salads, soups, sandwiches and of course, its signature buffalo wings, are all there, plus a few dessert items like pecan pie. I'm not a fan of buffalo wings and rarely eat them anywhere, so I can't comment on Hooters' wings. But make no mistake, everything on the menu is expensive by Pattaya and even U.S. standards.

Bottom line: The food I've had at Hooters was good and the ribs were very good, but the prices seem out of line for what you get. If that doesn't bother you and you enjoy American-style comfort and bar food, then Hooters is OK. The service problems seem to have been solved.

Evil

Edited December 20, 2016 by Evil Penevil

[Fatboyfat 361]

Strange that they don't use a "French style" baguette, which is widely available, for the Po'boy; Maybe they perceive more sales to Asian clientele, who from my observations, far prefer soft doughy bread. I try not to compare prices in Thailand with those back home, wherever that may be, but the 33% mark-up surprises me somewhat. I don't see much on the menu that would have to be imported other than the "Angus steak", although that breed has been introduced into Thailand. Staff wages are also going to be greatly reduced from those abroad. Have they indicated to you at all, that everything is being imported in from the States?

[Larryst 7]

Food looks good. Prices seem too high and no pics of the girls.

[keyman 1,413]

Food looks good. Prices seem too high and no pics of the girls.

 

 

Thats because the girlie pics are in the other thread mentioned in the opening post.

[BeerBelly 1,026]

Is it normal to serve a shrimp po' boy sandwich with tail shells still on? Personally, I don't eat shells, but I know some that don't care. But honestly, I don't want to have to play with the contents of a sandwich (removing the shells) before I eat it.

[thaidave991 17]

Someone told me a bottle of San Mig was 160 baht ?

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

Is it normal to serve a shrimp po' boy sandwich with tail shells still on? Personally, I don't eat shells, but I know some that don't care. But honestly, I don't want to have to play with the contents of a sandwich (removing the shells) before I eat it.

I removed the tails with the blade of my knife.

 

 

Someone told me a bottle of San Mig was 160 baht ?

I paid 150 baht for a SML.

 

Evil

[Nightrider 340]

Look's like good food there Evil , but at those prices i will stick with going to the pattaya beer garden , same food half the price.....

Maybe if the custom drops off a bit after the initial opening they may drop the prices to a more reasonable amount .

[bastax33 28]

I might have given Hooters a try even with the high prices but I read in another thread that their is no air conditioning. The no air conditioning will keep me from ever trying the place.

[jacko 8,822]

Look's like good food there Evil , but at those prices i will stick with going to the pattaya beer garden , same food half the price.....

Maybe if the custom drops off a bit after the initial opening they may drop the prices to a more reasonable amount .

I agree and hope the same. I like US comfort food although eat it rarely as I don't need the kilos....

 

And although EP felt the ribs were not out of line at 460 baht I am used to getting them at home for substantially less. The Mrs does them well and and has found a few stalls where she can get the ribs not chopped into small pieces and with plenty meat left on them... Naklua market if early and Nerm Plab Wan if she is later.

The portion of coleslaw looked derisory!

I can't remember what I last paid at Lone Star for ribs but there they were substantial and had better sides.

 

Great review EP.

Edited January 11, 2016 by jacko

[jacko 8,822]

I might have given Hooters a try even with the high prices but I read in another thread that their is no air conditioning. The no air conditioning will keep me from ever trying the place.

Well neither has the beer garden and many other places. Fine this time of year but I doubt I would eat there on a hot April afternoon.

[Odense 498]

The PBG is differently priced.

I will probably visit Hooters once to check it off my list - but I wish they had stayed away :-D

 

Posted from my mobile so I blame any spelling errors on that.

[LBJ 533]

I might have given Hooters a try even with the high prices but I read in another thread that their is no air conditioning. The no air conditioning will keep me from ever trying the place.

Think what the prices would be if they had that electric bill to pay.

[losgrad 264]

I might have given Hooters a try even with the high prices but I read in another thread that their is no air conditioning. The no air conditioning will keep me from ever trying the place.

 

 

At the Hooters in Honolulu, there's also no AC as it's an "Open Air" restaurant, but it's on the Aloha Tower pier and Hawaii has 'trade winds.' I also compared menu prices between them and the food prices are almost exactly the same, but not sure about the drinks.

[Harvey 249]

I read that you don't like them, so this isn't about you or your great reviews, Evil.

 

But a Hooters review without its wings feels odd. It's the only thing worth eating in the (stateside) bars IMO. Wings, beer, and sports on TV. Nothing else on the menu -- save this Latina waitress at the San Antonio Riverwalk Hooters last week -- appeals to me.

[Gabor 296]

[BigusDicus 9,882]

10% service! Are many places in Pattaya doing that now?

[keyman 1,413]

hooters bill.jpg

 

 

Where did you get that receipt from, Gabor, because I can't believe you would knowingly go in a place that overcharges so much and hand over that sort of money, unless someone barfined you and you said you were from Hungary and they though you said you were..........?

 

 

 

KM

[MM 6,562]

 

 

Where did you get that receipt from, Gabor, because I can't believe you would knowingly go in a place that overcharges so much and hand over that sort of money, unless someone barfined you and you said you were from Hungary and they though you said you were..........?

 

 

 

KM

He pulled it from a Facebook review of Hooters.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Odense 498]

He pulled it from a Facebook review of Hooters.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Good - I was getting worried (like keyman)

 

Posted from my mobile so I blame any spelling errors on that.

[Fatboyfat 361]

What on earth is a baja burger made of?....... Finest dry-aged Japanese imported wagyu beef ?!?

[LBJ 533]

Do ya get fries (chips) with that?

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

What on earth is a baja burger made of?....... Finest dry-aged Japanese imported wagyu beef ?!?

 

Beef patty, melted pepper jack cheese, guacamole and pico de gallo, aka salsa fresco on a brioche bun. Pics are from the Net. I have no idea whether the Baja Burgers at Hooters Pattaya look like this.

 

 

 

Do ya get fries (chips) with that?

 

Curly fries, a pickle and small side of coleslaw.

 

Evil

Edited February 7, 2016 by Evil Penevil

[tallguy 1,479]

10% service! Are many places in Pattaya doing that now?

My understanding is the price you see on the menu is inclusive of service and VAT and they just separate it out on the final bill.

Most places in Patts still don't add service to the bill, it tends to be something you see in high end places such as the big hotels.

[MM 6,562]

My understanding is the price you see on the menu is inclusive of service and VAT and they just separate it out on the final bill.

Most places in Patts still don't add service to the bill, it tends to be something you see in high end places such as the big hotels.

So the rack price you see on the menus actually includes VAT + Service 10%?