The foodies on their food blogs have been humming on about the forthcoming Mission location of Pollo Campero for awhile now and (for once) there seemed to be some actual support, excitement even, for bringing a chain restaurant to San Francisco. That is, until last night's Planning Commission meeting where according to Inside Scoop, a "surprising" number of neighbors got up to oppose the Guatemalan chicken chain for nearly an hour. The main concerns it seems, have to do with noise from Pollo Campero's proposed patio and the chicken scents that would be wafting up from the restaurant. Now, the restaurant has until May 19th to work out an agreement with the neighbors before dashing all our dreams of sunny afternoons eating chicken outside.

Yes, we know San Francisco is allergic basically anything being installed behind one's place of residence, but let's take a moment to consider why more people should be supportive of a fast food joint they've probably never eaten at before:

  1. First of all when it comes to grilled and/or fried chicken, there is no such thing as a bad odor. We speak from experience as the SFist Western Branch office is located downwind from a Popeye's Chicken and it's rather pleasant. Even the vegans love it, we promise. And Popeye's doesn't even have "latin flavored chicken... served with a zest and passion." (Seriously, not a lot of passion at Popeye's.)
  2. Any restaurant anywhere is always made better by the presence of patio seating, regardless of current weather conditions. This is a proven fact and we have the Yelp data to back it up. Pollo Campero is proposing 1,250 square feet of patio space, which is more square footage than most people's entire apartments. What we're saying is: you should get out more. Stop sitting in your backyard that smells of lavender and sandalwood.
  3. Finally - Yes, we can see that Pollo Campero is a worldwide chain, but it's from Guatemala, surely that adds an air of authenticity, yes? And does the adorable mascot account for nothing?

OK, got all that? (And we didn't even get to mention the 70 jobs in the Mission Pollo Campero would be creating!) Anyhow, we'll see you at the next Planning Commission meeting dressed as chickens, right?

[EaterSF]
[GrubStreetSF]
[InsideScoop]