Deuce Johnson
Google
I dined at the Hooters restaurant located at 1665 S. Alma School Road in Mesa, Arizona on a Monday before noon. It had been many years since the last time I ate at this chain and I was not familiar with the menu. My server directed me to a table and requested my drink order. When she brought the Coca-Cola to my table, she did a thorough job suggestive-selling several menu items. I was interested in chicken wings, and she described the different options available. When I looked at the menu, I was surprised to see that they no longer offer plates with a dozen wings, which has been the standard for bars and restaurants that serve wings since the dawn of time. Instead, they sell orders of 10 wings. I ordered ten Naked Wings with medium sauce. The total on the receipt (delivered after the meal) was $23.69*, which seems expensive for what I received. Looking at the bill, they charged me $1.39 for a tiny container of Ranch dressing to dip the wings in and a glass of Coca-Cola was $3.89. The wings were delivered to my table after a short time and they were hot and delicious. During my meal, my server stopped by to check up on me and suggestive-sell dessert items. When I finished eating, she removed the plates and having already done a great job of suggesting different food items including dessert, she was not pushy and offered to bring my bill while also allowing me the opportunity to order more if I wanted. I requested the bill and she brought it to my table pretty quickly and said she would handle the payment. My server could not have been nicer or done a better job – Five stars for the service. As I was entering the tip on the portable card reader, the math did not add up. The total was $24.58* and I was willing to offer a generous tip for the great service. I like round numbers, and entered $5.42 (23%) for the tip for a total charge of $30.00. The next screen showed that it was going to charge me $30.20, and not the even 30 dollars it should have been. I told her that the math was not adding up correctly and she explained what’s essentially dynamic pricing for credit card customers (the practice of varying the price for a product or service). I re-entered the tip at $5.22 (20¢ less to keep the $30.00 total) and then the reader produced a total of $29.99. It wasn’t a straight up 20¢ reduction due to the dynamic pricing. As I’m writing my review, I noticed that the sale amount on the credit card printout was $24.77*, and not $23.69 like the receipt shows, which is a full 9.6% increase compared to what the receipt shows for the food bill plus tax. I’m not sure if this difference is part of the dynamic pricing or if Hooters simply padded my bill, hoping I would not notice. Either way, they should clearly inform customers about their pricing policy which comes across as deceptive. It’s no wonder the corporation had to declare bankruptcy on March 31, 2025. Great service, horrible business practices! I won’t be back.
* NOTE: Three different totals before tip was added.
