If you've visited a Hooters at any point in your life, you're probably already pretty
familiar with the overall Twin Peaks concept.
But behind those cheerful smiles and skimpy uniforms lies something of a dark side.
Let's take a look at the untold truth of Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks customers have plenty to look at as they drag another tortilla chip through
that crock of queso, and of course, the barely-there uniforms of the servers and hostesses are
a big part of the attraction at each restaurant.
If the concept doesn't seem wholly original, there's a good reason: Twin Peaks co-founder
and then-CEO Randy DeWitt wasn't shy about citing his inspiration for the restaurant,
talking about it in a 2014 profile by Bloomberg.
"We have an expression at Twin Peaks, ‘It’s a place where you can let your man out.’”
According to the magazine,
"What was salacious three decades ago has now become family-friendly; it's not unusual
to see children at Hooters, doodling in coloring books.
And compared with the clothes at some popular teen retailers, Hooters' white tank tops and
orange shorts seem almost demure.
Last year, sales at the chain were virtually flat."
In 2005, DeWitt decided to experiment with a new concept that might recapture some of
the original buzz of Hooters, creating what he deemed a "more upscale" version of the
bird-themed breastaurant pioneer.
DeWitt wanted to offer better food, a full bar, and a trendier, rustic mountain lodge
theme, while encouraging waitresses to show more of themselves.
He explained, quote, "Hooters just wasn't racy enough."
For a restaurant that bases a substantial part of its whole concept on the shoulders
of scantily clad women, you may not be surprised to learn that the objectification of women
at Twin Peaks is fairly commonplace.
What's unusual, however, is how brazen the company is about evaluating staff members
strictly on appearance, often seemingly in violation of the law.
Servers are given gym memberships, tanning salon packages, and appointments at nail salons,
and are also provided diet , exercise, makeup, and hairstyling tips to help achieve that
"NFL Cheerleader" aesthetic.
Before each shift, staff members are evaluated on appearance and given a ranking, with servers
who earn higher marks given more profitable sections of the restaurant and more lucrative
tables for service, ensuring more customers and potentially higher tips.
"They base you on your hair, on your makeup, on your looks, on your fitness, attitude,
things like that.”
How does the restaurant get away with this kind of institutionalized sexual harassment,
a practice that creates a toxic work environment and degrades and offends many of its waitresses?
Twin Peaks and similar restaurants like Tilted Kilt operate under a legal loophole, called
a "bona fide occupational qualification," which allows them to ignore little things
like the American Civil Rights Act of 1964 and freely discriminate on things like age,
gender, and appearance, as long as it's deemed "reasonably necessary" for the operation of
their business.
Staff at many "breastaurants" are hired not as servers, bartenders, or hosts, but as,
quote, "actors or performers," and as such can have subjective standards of appearance,
weight, makeup, hairstyle, breast size, body fat percentage, and uniform written into their
hiring agreements.
Usually, when you hear about sexual harassment claims against a company, it's some rogue
middle-manager, drunk on his own limited power, making untoward advances on members of his
staff.
In many cases, that one bad element is removed, the company issues some generic public relations
messages, and the business proceeds along as usual, largely undamaged.
At Twin Peaks, the accusations have been much more severe, both in terms of how widespread
the claims are, and for the corporate culture of harassment that appears to be baked into
the foundation of the restaurant itself.
In 2018, two former servers at Twin Peaks filed a complaint alleging that they were
harassed at a Chicago area location of the restaurant, claiming that working there was
tantamount to, quote, "work at a strip club."
"And the thing about this place is like, with being almost half-naked, a lot of guys will
make you feel really uncomfortable.”
According to the suit, the servers alleged that they were forced to change into their
uniforms in full view of the kitchen staff, and were required to send members of management
photos of themselves in lingerie and bikinis from the dressing room to ensure that the
outfits showed enough skin.
Twin Peaks described the accusations as, quote, "outrageous" and "baseless."
But the attorney for the two women, Tamara Holder, isn't so sure: She claims that the
Chicago location's problems permeate the entire chain, and she was behind a class action lawsuit
for Twin Peaks employees nationwide.
The regular uniform at Twin Peaks is already revealing: Tiny khaki shorts, fur-lined boots,
and a cropped, tied-at-the-ribs, midriff-baring shirt with a deep plunging neckline.
But Twin Peaks also sponsors occasional and often mandatory "theme weeks" for the staff,
who swap the regular uniform for bikinis, skimpy Halloween costumes, and even lingerie,
and that's when employees may find themselves in hot water with the law.
According to one employee, local police officers visited her restaurant in February 2017, when
Twin Peaks happened to be hosting a "lingerie week" for servers.
She was cited for indecent exposure, because her costume left her buttocks uncovered.
Yes, in a restaurant.
Like, where food is served.
No matter how big a fan of exposed rear ends you may be, that's kinda gross.
Restaurant management assured staff that they would make the whole thing go away, but instead
hired attorneys to represent them in court and entered "guilty" pleas on their behalf.
Their attorney alleged, quote, "The women now have records for indecent exposure, [and
weren't informed within a 30-day time frame so they could appeal."
Not cool.
Aside from the staff uniforms, one of the other features of Twin Peaks that keeps customers
coming back is their super-cold beer, served in either 22-ounce "man-sized" mugs, or more
demure 16-ounce portions.
With dozens of different types of beer always on draft at every Twin Peaks location, in
addition to the four house-brewed varieties that have been given names like "Dirty Blonde"
and "Knotty Brunette", there's a brew to please every palate.
But variety isn't the only secret to Twin Peaks' beer-slinging success; the restaurant
also manages to serve beer in frozen mugs from specialized tap systems at a super-frosty
29 degrees, which the more science-inclined among us may recognize as almost-freezing
- at least for beer, which freezes at 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the superiority of cold beer may be a matter of some debate among beer enthusiasts,
there's no doubt the gimmick is working to help set Twin Peaks apart from similar chains;
according to former CEO Randy DeWitt,
"If you can deliver a beer in August with ice crystals on it every single time, that's
something special.”
In multiple profiles of the Twin Peaks empire and on the company's own website, the marketing
team puts lots of emphasis on the relative quality of its food, compared to similar restaurants.
Twin Peaks CEO Joe Hummel explained to Business Insider,
"Everybody's a foodie nowadays.
You can't fool the consumer in today's world, with all the different food shows and food
networks that are out there."
How does this translate to the Twin Peaks menu?
The chain puts an emphasis on the "scratch made" aspects of its food, and this means
that while standard pub fare like chicken wings and burgers are featured prominently
on the menu, the chain also experiments with hipper fare, such as chicken and waffles,
a "Hunter's Meat & Cheese Board," and a Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich.
In keeping with the rustic lodge decor, the menu also has comfort food classics like pot
roast, ribs, and ribeye steaks.
While the menu may seem more adventurous than you'd find at similar competing restaurants,
it's hardly cutting edge.
If you've eaten at a Chili's or an Applebee's at any point in your life, you're probably
not going to find any surprises on the Twin Peaks menu, which tends to focus on the same
hodgepodge of Southern cooking, Tex-Mex, and standard-issue pub grub.
What happens when you take about 200 bikers from rival gangs in Waco, Texas, stir in over
100 weapons, a high-testosterone environment full of scantily-clad women and a never-ending
flow of cheap, $3 shots of alcohol?
You get one of the bloodiest, most brutal biker shootouts in American history, and it
all happened at Twin Peaks.
“I just got a call from a passerby, they were going by Twin Peaks, thought they heard
a gunshot, looked over and saw a lot of people running.”
On May 17, 2015, the restaurant hosted the quarterly meeting of the "Texas Confederation
of Clubs and Independents," a local biker organization.
Among the guests that day were a large number of representatives from two rival gangs, the
Cossacks and the Bandidos, who had been involved in a years-long disagreement about who was
entitled to wear a back patch with the word "Texas" along the bottom.
Area police had been tipped to a potential conflict brewing at the restaurant, and had
begun to take up positions around the restaurant where 60 Cossacks were seated at the outdoor
patio.
Soon after, the Bandidos arrived, and mass pandemonium ensued.
Wielding clubs, bats, knives, brass knuckles, and guns, the bikers fought one another, while
inside the restaurant, waitresses, staff, and other customers hid in bathrooms, under
tables, and in the walk-in cooler.
The police opened fire on the melee, and when the dust cleared, there were nine people dead,
and at least 20 injured, resulting in over 150 arrests and zero convictions.
From 1990 to 1991, ABC viewers were treated to one of the most peculiar mystery dramas
ever to appear in prime time, co-created by Mark Frost and renowned genre-bending director
David Lynch.
On the surface, Twin Peaks was a simple show about the investigation of the disappearance
of the local homecoming queen, but the numerous twists and turns, which incorporated elements
of horror, surrealism, the supernatural, and boatloads of soap opera-style campiness, propelled
the series to cult classic status after only two seasons.
It's revival series on Showtime more than two decades later was met with just as much
excitement as the first.
So what's the connection between Twin Peaks, the pioneering David Lynch television series
that some consider one of the greatest television series of all time, and Twin Peaks, the restaurant
chain where you can eat fried pickles served to you by a lady wearing lingerie?
It's the sandwiches!
“Oh my God!”
"Am I right?
Am I right?”
Okay, not really.
The truth is, there isn't a connection.
Though Twin Peaks founder Randy DeWitt has said he was a fan from the early 90s, he also
said it didn't inspire the name of his restaurant.
If the notion of a restaurant being successful because it combines scantily-clad waitresses
dressed like sexy lumberjacks with spicy chicken wings and cold beer makes your eyes roll,
we can hardly blame you.
But here's the thing: There is absolutely no question that the formula is working.
In 2014, Twin Peaks was the fastest-growing restaurant chain in America, sporting around
$165 million dollars in annual sales.
By years' end, sales had swelled to $240 million, with Forbes calling it, quote, "the largest
increase of any restaurant company with at least $200 million in domestic sales."
Those numbers are even more impressive when you consider Twin Peaks ended 2009 with just
10 locations, and had expanded to 64 restaurants by the end of 2014.
No matter what you think of the concept, customers have been flocking to the "scenic views" at
Twin Peaks for years, and the chain is showing no signs of slowing down.
In fact, they're even reaching out into the international market with a location in a
very strange place: Kazan, Russia.
According to reviews on TripAdvisor, the Twin Peaks experience in Russia is strikingly similar
to that in the United States.
Waitresses wear the same revealing uniforms, slinging cold beer and classic American bar
food in a Russian copy of an American mountain lodge.
It just goes to show that skimpy outfits, beer, and well, Twin Peaks are popular no
matter where you go.
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