CARSON CITY -- Hooters, the restaurant chain whose tank top-and-orange-shorts-wearing Hooters Girls have become national icons, won unanimous state Gaming Commission approval Thursday to operate the first Hooters-themed hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

Approval came quickly, although Commissioner Radha Chanderraj questioned whether the 15,000 Hooters Girls employed by the 400-store restaurant chain will receive opportunities to advance into executive positions.

Neil Kiefer, chief executive officer of the company, said several of the original Hooters Girls now are regional vice presidents. He said after the meeting that five of the company's nine shareholders are women.

Commissioner Sue Wagner asked Kiefer whether feminist Gloria Steinem would approve of the company's position that Hooters Girls offer "tasteful sex appeal."

"I doubt it," he replied.

But that was the extent of the discussion about Hooters' waitresses.

Hooters has purchased a two-thirds share of the 711-room San Remo hotel-casino from EW Common, the company owned by Japanese businessmen Sukeaki Izumi and his son, Toyoroku. The combined company will spend $65 million remodeling the casino and tentatively plans a grand opening for the first Hooters Hotel Casino on Feb. 2.

Ten directors of the company, founded in Florida by a group of Waverly, Iowa, classmates in 1983, won Nevada licensing approval.

Most of the 12 Hooters founders remain active in the company. That pleased Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard, who said he appreciates the stability of the company.

"There is no reason to think you won't be successful in the Nevada gaming environment," he added.

The Hooters founders sold the Hooters trademark and most of the restaurants to Hooters of America in 2001. They retained 22 restaurants, mainly in New York and Chicago, and the right to open a Hooters casino. They will pay a 2 percent royalty fee on Hooters Hotel Casino earnings to Hooters of America.

Other than the restaurant food servers, only female employees at six tables in a "fun pit" area of the casino will wear the Hooters Girl outfits.

Most employees, including management, will be dressed in "Florida casual" attire, except employees in the more upscale Dan Marino's restaurant, he added.

Ed Droste, a Hooters director, said the company will market the hotel-casino to the 60 million customers served in its restaurants each year. Although Hooters initially appealed mainly to young men, he said it's now more of a family restaurant and is popular with baby boomers.

Michael Hessling, who manages the San Remo, will serve as chief operating officer of the new Hooters Hotel Casino.

The casino's current 500 employees can keep their jobs for now, but they must go through training and adapt to the Hooters' "wow factor" image.

Hooters intends to triple the size of the pool and remodel all rooms, adding some suites and cutting the number of rooms to 696.

"Filling the rooms will not be a problem," Droste said at the earlier hearing.

He said the company soon plans a "Cure to the Common Casino" advertising campaign to convince Las Vegas visitors who stay in other hotels to stop by and gamble for a few hours at Hooters.