A Hooters restaurant that first opened its doors in River North in 1991 has closed for good, ending a 35-year run at 660 N. Wells Street in the heart of one of Chicago’s fastest-changing neighborhoods.
The closure was confirmed by NBC Chicago, which reported that a company spokesperson pointed to the area’s evolution as the reason behind the shutdown. “Increasing development and neighborhood changes have transformed the area,” the spokesperson said, explaining the decision to leave this particular location after more than three decades in business.
Despite the exit, Hooters is not pulling out of the Chicago market altogether. The chain says 13 other franchise locations across the region remain open, along with two Hoots Wings locations in the Chicago area, per the same NBC Chicago report. Those remaining Hooters restaurants include spots in Aurora, Schaumburg, Lansing, Countryside and Orland Park, giving suburban diners plenty of alternatives even as the River North original disappears.
Part of a Bigger Chain-Wide Retrenchment
The River North closure lands amid a much larger contraction for Hooters nationally. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 31, 2025, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, according to MassLive. The outlet reports the chain had already shuttered 48 underperforming stores in the year leading up to that filing, and its reorganization plan was confirmed and took effect on October 30-31, 2025, shifting Hooters permanently to an all-franchise business model.
Since then, the chain has quietly exited four states entirely — Connecticut, Minnesota, New York and Massachusetts, the same MassLive report notes. Massachusetts lost its final three Hooters restaurants, in Dedham, Saugus and West Springfield, within days of each other in June, following an earlier closure in Shrewsbury in May. New York’s last Hooters, on Wolf Road in Colonie near Albany, closed that same month after a 15-year run, while Minnesota’s only Hooters, inside the Mall of America, shut down in March after 33 years in business.
Florida has felt the pullback too. Hooters closed its last remaining restaurant in Jacksonville after a 40-year presence in the city, and a Panama City Beach location shut down in September after more than three decades in operation, according to Fox News. Hooters Inc. CEO Neil Kiefer pushed back on the idea that the closures reflect a weakening brand, saying, “These store closures are not an indication of brand strength.” That same report notes the company has also opened new locations recently, including one in The Villages, Florida, in July 2025, with another planned in Lutz, near Tampa.
River North’s Shifting Restaurant Landscape
The Hooters closure adds to a string of recent departures in and around River North specifically. True Food Kitchen closed its River North restaurant at 1 W. Erie Street earlier this year following a Chapter 11 filing of its own, a shutdown also detailed by Crain’s Chicago Business. Sugar Factory, which had been located at 55 E. Grand Avenue, also recently closed its doors, per the NBC Chicago report.
The pattern extends well beyond River North. Axios reported this spring on a wave of restaurant and retail closures rippling across Chicago, from longtime neighborhood institutions to downtown staples. Jim’s Original, the University Village hot dog stand, was slated to close June 30 as its landlord, UIC, moves ahead with campus expansion plans, though the business intends to open a new stand nearby in Pilsen. Rivers, a restaurant along the Chicago River’s south branch on Wacker Drive, closed in April after more than 30 years in business, while Meli’s Cafe and Juice Bar’s original Greektown location on Jackson Street abruptly shut down that same month, even as its River North and Printer’s Row locations stayed open.
Other closures cited by Axios include Big ‘N Little Shoes, a family-run Mount Greenwood store that operated for more than 60 years before closing in April. Meanwhile, Ann Sather’s flagship Lakeview location, run by former Ald. Tom Tunney, was expected to remain open through July before relocating because of a planned redevelopment along Belmont Avenue. Together, the closures paint a picture of a city whose commercial corridors are being reshaped by development pressure, shifting dining habits and corporate restructuring all at once — a trend that now includes one of River North’s longest-standing, and most recognizable, restaurant tenants.
