Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery closes in Farmingdale
The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery in Farmingdale has closed. Credit: Tilted Kilt
The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery has closed in Farmingdale, leaving one "breastaurant" standing along the Route 110 corridor (Hooters, less than a mile away).
Long Island's first and only Tilted Kilt opened 13 months ago in the former Ruby Tuesday at 2120 Broadhollow Road. Its 5,450 square feet of space was manned by female servers (called "entertainers" by the chain) in tartan push-up bikini tops and mini-kilts, who served beers, burgers and sandwiches in the glow of 45 large-screen televisions. Kilt-clad men ("kilt guys") filled a few supporting roles as bartenders, barbacks and busboys.
As of this week, the Broadhollow Road spot had an "available for lease" sign out front (placed by Blumenfeld Development Group), and the only vestiges of the Tilted Kilt were a pair of stained-glass, bikini-and-kilt-clad servers built into the front door, alongside some Toys for Tots signs. The Tilted Kilt website lists forthcoming locations in Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky and Fresno, California, but none for Long Island.
Though local franchisee Amol Kohli was not available for comment, the Tilted Kilt chain — about three dozen restaurants throughout North America, as well as eight forthcoming franchised locations — is in the process of being acquired by the Arc Group, the Florida-based owners of the Dick's Wings & Grill chain. Arc will purchase The Tilted Kilt for all of $10, but also assume the chain's $1.8 million of debt and $1.5 million in future payment obligations, according to a statement.
The portmanteau "breastaurant" was coined after Hooters was launched in 1983, and also includes chains such as Twin Peaks. The category has faltered of late: Hooters locations declined by 7 percent between 2012 and 2016, and last year the company announced a pivot in strategy, coincidentally or not, around the same time that a Pornhub study found that millennials (those aged between their mid 20s and late 30s) are less interested in breasts than their generational forebears, based on internet searches.
