Hundreds of devoted friends and neighbors gathered to honor the closure of a beloved restaurant ahead of its planned demolition on Monday. The Kanawha City eatery was West Virginia’s last remaining Hooters. “It’s a lot of memories going down with that building,” one resident who attended the vigil told a local station. The restaurant known for chicken wings and its provocatively dressed waitresses fell victim to pandemic closures in 2020 and never reopened; instead, the land will be used for a Sheetz gas station. Though the vigil began partly in jest, plenty of former employees and guests attended to reunite with familiar faces there. They brought signs in the chain’s signature orange and wore merch to honor the good times, hot wings, and tiny clothes enjoyed at the establishment. Though the chain has been hit with a number of scandals and backlash in recent years, there were only loving sentiments at the West Virginia gathering. “Long live Hooters!” an emotional crowd cheered. “Long live Hooters!”
