Hooters in Warwick closes. Here's what the company said about why it's bowing out.

Wheeler Cowperthwaite, Providence Journal
Updated ·2 min read

WARWICK − The Hooters restaurant by the airport in Warwick, the only location in the state, has closed, citing declining patronage related to the closure of the Washington Bridge.

On its website and on social media, a graphic declares:

"Due to the bridge collapse, we will be closing indefinitely, first the roof... now the bridge...!!!"

Not the first time Hooters has closed

The restaurant had closed in 2015 after a March storm took out its roof. It then reopened five years later, after an estimated $450,000 in repairs were made to the building.

While the sign outside the Hooters on Airport Road in Warwick indicates hours of operation, signs on the door note the restaurant has closed indefinitely.
While the sign outside the Hooters on Airport Road in Warwick indicates hours of operation, signs on the door note the restaurant has closed indefinitely.

The building and property are owned by late Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr.'s nephew Brad Turchetta. His company Concord Realty leases the property to Hooters of Warwick. The former mayor ran a restaurant called Flyer's in the building, and he still owned it when Hooters opened there in 1993.

The Warwick restaurant was the subject of a federal lawsuit filed in 2016 in which the Hooters parent company argued that the location had been abandoned and was damaging the national brand.

Here's the restaurant's "recipe for a good time," according to the website.

A sign on the door of the Hooters on Airport Road in Warwick notes the restaurant has closed indefinitely.
A sign on the door of the Hooters on Airport Road in Warwick notes the restaurant has closed indefinitely.

"Sometimes you hit on a big idea by accident – just by putting the stuff you love all in one place. Craveable food, cold beer and all the sports you could possibly watch on wall-to-wall big screen TVs," Hooters says. "And let’s not forget the Hooters Girls. It all seems so simple, we can’t believe nobody else ever thought of it."

Restaurant closures keep coming

Hooters is not the only restaurant to close recently, with reasons ranging from retired owners, leases not landlords would not renew and some that have struggled since the onset of the pandemic.

In May, two Wayland Square restaurants announced they would close, Salted Slate and Minerva's Pizza.

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Reporter Jack Perry contributed to this story. Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Warwick Hooters location closes, citing Washington Bridge