Last dance at Hooters

"YMCA" has probably been performed for the last time at the new Hooters in downtown Minneapolis. The restaurant, which opened July 5 in Block E, has been informed by the city that such performances are not permitted under its liquor license.

The problem: Hooters has a Class E liquor license. The only entertainment permitted with such a license is recorded music, such as from a jukebox. In order to have dance performances, according to Ricardo Cervantes, the city's deputy director of licenses and consumer services, Hooters would have to obtain a Class A or B license. "If they wanted to upgrade they certainly can," he notes.

Jenna Havlish, a manager at the downtown restaurant, renowned for its scantily-clad wait staff, says that they were caught off guard by the notice from the city. "No other Hooters has ever bumped into this problem," she says. "But if the city tells us to do this we're gong to abide."

Cervantes says that a city employee filed a complaint with his office after witnessing a performance on July 14, during the Aquatennial festivities. "What I understand is that there was a group of waitresses or hostesses that were dancing on the balcony," he says. "Perhaps it was as much advertising as it was performance."

Havlish notes that both staff and customers are disappointed that dancing has been outlawed. "We just happen to have a group of girls who love to do it and it keeps them going," she says. "It brings up morale."