Tacky 1980s memorabilia, tight white tank tops and oh yes ?” wings. Hooters has officially arrived in Sacramento.

The new capital region location across the street from the Arden Fair Mall at 1785 Challenge Way opened Monday Aug. 29.

Hooters, which dubs itself “soon to be relatively famous,” has already drawn quite a crowd. The line to get in the door is frequently long and takes anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to be seated.

Fortunately the restaurant has extended hours and is open everyday at 11 a.m. until midnight Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

The Arden location has had a wide array of visitors, but it was apparent to me the dinner crowd is mainly men in their twenties while the lunch crowd is mostly businessmen.

The atmosphere is very sports-oriented, loud and caters to its young testosterone-heavy crowd with classic 1980’s tunes blasting through the speakers. Twenty-year-old photographs of celebrities like Jay Leno, Tom Arnold and Phil Donahue adorn the walls. The seating is strictly tables and bar stools with a paper towel dispenser and paper menus.

That menu ?” which is the same for lunch and dinner ?” is relatively small and features “Hooterstizers” (appetizers), soups, seafood, sandwiches, salads, desserts and of course Hooters chicken wings. The “nearly world famous” wings are available breaded or ‘naked’ then shaken in one of five wing sauces, mild, medium, hot, Three mile island or 911.

Beware, the 911 wing sauce definitely has a bite to it.

For that special night out the menu features a “Gourmet chicken wing dinner” which includes 20 wings and a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne for just $179.99.

Though the excitement of Hooters may be in the air today, it might be worth while to wait a few more months to see for yourself what all the fuss is about. At this time the overall Hooters experience is disappointing.

Unfortunately for the bar-hopping college crowd there are no happy hour specials yet, but the bar is fully equipped and loaded with several different beers on tap. The price for domestic is $3.50 for a pint, $10.50 a pitcher and features the usual brews.

Imports and Micros are $4.50 for a pint, $13.50 for a pitcher and features Kona Long Board Lager, Fat Tire, Newcastle, and Sierra Nevada just to name a few. Guinness is also available on draft for $5.00 a pint and $15.00 a pitcher. A few low-end wines are served by the glass ranging from $4-6.

The line at the door is almost always tremendously long and slow-moving, the service is unorganized, slow and inadequate and the servers although very friendly and attractive, are all new, most of them very young and lacking in experience. Especially our 19-year-old, “newly endowed” server who felt the need to share with us ?” yes they are fake.

Our bill was somewhat pricey, totaling a little over $22 for two pints, an iced tea, chicken strips, a side of fries and three cups of various dipping sauces (yes, they charge $0.49 per sauce). It would have been about $7 higher, but after waiting an hour for a cold grilled cheese sandwich, I sent it back.

If waiting until November for the restaurant to find its niche does not seem like a viable option, bring a few friends for a pitcher and some wings for either an early lunch at 11:15 a.m. or afternoon snack, around 3 p.m. ?” otherwise be prepared to sit and stare.

Regardless, judging from the huddled masses waiting hours to get inside, Hooters ?” for the moment ?” has become one of Sacramento’s newest hot spots.

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars

All of Liz’s dining and nightlife reviews are held to this rating system:

1 Star: Stay at home.

2 Stars: Not worth the gas money.

3 Stars: If there’s nothing else to do –

4 Stars: Better than most.

5 Stars: Proves that Sacramento is more than just a cowtown.

Look for Liz’s Sacramento dining and nightlife guide every Thursday on www.statehornet.com.

Next week: A night-by-night breakdown of the hottest party spots in the 916. Contact Liz at [email protected]