San Angelo's Opposing Views at its Twin Peaks Restaurant

Some come for the oversized food portions, others for the “scenic views” and then there are those who don’t come at all.

Since its opening as San Angelo’s first and only breastaurant, Twin Peaks has received a wide range of feedback, and not all of it's perky.

“My grandparents would never have stood for an establishment to open back in their day with girls in half-dress. Society would have thrown a fit and run the owners out of town,” said Deborah Young, a former elementary school teacher. 

She explained how San Angelo, along with the rest of society, is slowly losing its morality. For Young, the opening of Twin Peaks is just another nail in the moral coffin. 

She said, “Now, people see nothing wrong with half-dressed women on TV or sex scenes being aired or minors being served by scantily-clothed females.” Young added,“I just think it's a terrible environment for impressionable children.” 

Based on reviews from the Facebook page of Twin Peaks in San Angelo, some customers aren’t too impressed by the servers. 

One user posted,“I’m here at Twin Peaks why do all the girls look pissed off?”

Another wrote,“It wasn’t the best service, was not that great, took an hour to get our food. Not really impressed...”

During his visit to San Angelo, even Christopher “Big Black” Boykin of MTV’s “Rob and Big” chimed in about San Angelo’s Twin Peaks location. He tweeted:

San Angelo my 12hr here have been great didn't like your Twin Peaks Location there better in Dallas but overall ok!

— Christopher Boykin (@BigBlack) October 12, 2013

But the staff at Twin Peaks say that San Angelo has been overwhelmingly welcoming to the business. 

“We didn’t know if it [San Angelo] was going to be able to support such a thing as Twin Peaks,” Juan Flores, a partner in the business, said about San Angelo being a tier three city with a population at 100,000. 

Flores said that for him one of the main reasons for opening up in San Angelo was, “Because it’s home.”

He said that West Texas has been ready for something like this. The support can be seen in the numbers; San Angelo’s Twin Peaks has been ranked as one the top five locations within the Twin Peaks corporation. 

“If my partner and I didn’t think San Angelo was ready for this we wouldn’t have opened it up here,” Flores said 

He said that some have accused them of opening to catch the wave of the oil boom. But Flores says the property was bought prior to and would have opened regardless. 

Kristin Allen, the general manager at Twin Peaks, has worked for similar companies throughout Texas. On coming to San Angelo, Allen said she was constantly questioned on whether she would be able to find girls suitable for the job.

Allen said that during the interview process,“We tell them, 'okay, this what you have to wear, this is the image you have to uphold.' And they want to do it.”

She explained that their servers, referred to as performers, receive “Peaks Perks”. These are discounts offered by businesses around town for tanning, nails, hair, and gym memberships. 

Allen said, “All we ask you to do is be completely nice, look like the girl next door, keep yourself fit, look nice, wear make-up and fix your hair.”

Another part of the job is to “flirt without intent”. The girls are taught to “schmooze, sit and sell”. 

On why it seems that the objectification of women is permissible at this business, Allen said, “The girls that work here don’t feel that way.” 

“They want to do this,” she said. 

In fact, the staff members said that in going out to the swimming pool or even the mall you would probably see more than what you would at Twin Peaks. 

Allen explained that Twin Peaks should be seen as an apparatus to empower women. 

“This company is very supportive to these girls promoting their careers. We have so many girls that are in our marketing department that came from being a hostess,” Allen said

She said that the girls in San Angelo are showing interest in internships at higher level positions and talking to the CEOs at corporate in order to see how they can move up in their career. 

“There’s going to be the people out there that say ‘oh it’s just waiting tables,’ but there are so many opportunities for these girls,” Allen said. 

She explained that it’s not all about the appearance of the server.

“I can change a girl’s look...but they’ve got to have the personality and confidence to do this,” Allen said.   

The restaurant opened in late August and its success has led Flores to look into opening more locations throughout Texas. He also aspires to open the first Twin Peaks in Mexico.

But despite what anyone says of San Angelo’s newest attraction, Young continues to state, “I don't care how wonderful the food or how nice the place, Twin Peaks won't make one shiny dime off me.” 

Update: Twin Peaks is located at 1601 Knickerbocker Rd, San Angelo.