BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A Seattle-based drive-through coffee chain that Entrepreneur magazine called “Hooters on caffeine” is planning to expand into Alabama and two dozen other states.

Baristas Coffee Company Inc., whose young, female employees wear sometimes skimpy costumes, is planning to go national via new corporate-owned stores, through acquisitions and by franchising. The company currently has 11 stores in Washington, Texas, Florida, Montana and Arizona. A store in New Jersey is in development, according to the chain's website.

Efforts to reach a spokesman for the company were not successful this morning, but Mike Reynolds, Baristas’ director of store and brand development, said in a prepared statement that the company has met regulatory and registration requirements to sell franchises in half of the United States, including Alabama.

“We will continue to register in other states that we have received strong interest in so that we may also pursue those regions for franchising as well,” he said. “Baristas offers a very compelling business model and provides the best opportunity in franchising that I have seen in my career and is clearly the best in its sector."

In a report last year Entrepreneur magazine said the chain "caters to those who like their coffee hot and their servers hotter" by employing attractive young women who wear costumes that may include bikini tops, short skirts and bustiers. The company was at the time developing a reality show built around the employees of one store, the magazine reported.

The company's stock trades over-the-counter under the symbol "BCCI."