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Article: Guatemalan restaurant chain plays chicken with big brands.(Up Front)
- Article from:
- Los Angeles Business Journal
- Article date:
- January 3, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hugo Wade claims he can taste the difference.
"El Pollo Loco tastes Mexican, KFC tastes American," said the Guatemalan-born Wade as he stood outside a Polio Campero restaurant. "This tastes Guatemalan. When I am here, I feel like I am in my country."
It's a common refrain. When the Guatemala City-based chicken restaurant's first U.S. franchise opened in L.A.'s Pico-Union neighborhood in 2002, customers waited as long as seven hours to be served and the store remained open for 21 hours to meet demand for its fried chicken. Within five days, more than 30,000 customers came through its doors, and within two months it had done $1 million in sales--about as ...