The “KFC of Guatemala” Pollo Campero has been drawing long lines at their Mission Street location for a decade. But the lines shouldn’t be so long anymore, as the SF Planning Commission just approved the restaurant’s request to expand and take over the neighboring address. When the Guatemala-born fast-casual chicken dinner chain Pollo Campero opened at Mission and 23rd street in December 2012, the chain was already a Central American sensation, with hundreds of locations across Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Now more that 12 years later, it’s still not unusual to see lines out the door at that Mission Street Pollo Campero. And the cult-hit chicken place is so popular among travelers between the US and Central America that Pollo Campero developed special airline bags so travelers could take large amounts back home without stinking up the plane. I could smell fried chicken while passing through security and can still smell it on the plane. It’s true: people tote bags of Pollo Campero on flights from Central America to the USA pic.twitter.com/yQ6lBRwAfF— David Agren (@el_reportero) October 15, 2018 We may not see lines outside that Pollo Campero much longer, because it's about to double in size. On Thursday, the SF Planning Commission unanimously approved Pollo Campero’s request to take over the vacant next-door 2744 Mission Street location, which has been unoccupied since the Uforia Studios fitness studio there closed in 2022. Image: SF Planning CommissionThe Planning Commission also approved a complete revamp of the Pollo Campero’s exterior, making the combined spaces into more of one singular space. Both addresses are technically part of the same building, owned by Blatteis Realty subsidiary Mission Blatteis Holdings. Image: Google Street ViewHere’s what the location looks like now. The Pollo Campero is currently 3,759 square feet, but with the expansion, it will be 6,326 square feet. The cornice on the vacant spot will be removed, and a new stucco exterior will give both spots a consistent height. Image: SF Planning CommissionLooking at the proposed interior plans (the beige area is the new space), the expanded Pollo Campero will have 106 seats. They’re building a new extra kitchen in the area that’s currently the restaurant’s point-of-sale and cash register. There will be two additional bathrooms added, though most of the new space will just be used for seating.Per documents submitted to the Planning Department, “another ten staff members” will be hired on once the renovations are complete. Elsewhere in the Pollo Campero-verse, a second Pollo Campero location opened at Fisherman’s Wharf this past March, and the East Bay is getting a Pollo Campero in San Pablo that's expected to open in late 2025.Related: Exclusive: Shuttered Mission Street Walgreens to Become Locally Owned Produce and Meat Market [SFist]Image: SF Planning Commission