The Oporto restaurant opening saw a car conga line that didn’t ease until after 9 pm on Monday. Picture: Marguerite McKinnon.
Wagga’s takeaway obsession has gone next level, as a conga line of cars lining up for the city’s first Portuguese chicken restaurant, Oporto, clogged entry to the Wagga Home Centre multi-business carpark for more than 12 hours and only began to ease after 9 pm on Monday night (23 June).
The scene was repeated last night (24 June), with those craving a taste of the Bondi Burger or other Oporto favourites forced to wait in a queue, with some drivers saying they sat in their car for half an hour to place their order.
“You’re kidding. This is crazy,” said Rob, who thought he’d beat the lunchtime rush, only to find his chicken craving locked in a battle with his patience as he edged slowly towards the order window.
In the afternoon and evening rush, with the one lane entry into the carpark clogged by chicken lovers, visiting gym goers were also caught up in the queue to access Planet Fitness on Hammond Avenue.
One young female gym goer was incredulous as she made her way inside the gym, much later than planned.
“I never thought that I’d be in a traffic jam to get here,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Others pointed the finger at Wagga City Council.
“I wanna know how the council gave this the green light,” Craig said.
“Isn’t there a drive-through coffee place right next to Oporto’s?
“The cars are blocking the entrance for everyone; it’s just ridiculous.”
Chicken run. Cars queue outside the Oporto’s drive through. Picture: Marguerite McKinnon.
These sentiments were echoed by another woman who said it was a safety issue that Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) needed to address.
“Council clearly didn’t think this through,” she said.
“They have got to do something. I saw a car almost swipe another one as it pulled out onto the wrong side, and tried to go around the line-up. It’s dangerous!”
Region asked WWCC about the Home Centre’s traffic flow.
“The access circulation road within the site is existing and is not proposed to be changed as part of the current development,” a council spokesperson said.
“The access arrangements, including traffic flow and safety, were assessed as part of the development application for the Oporto store.
“This application was also referred to Transport for NSW, who raised no objections regarding the internal access configuration.”
The only solution to the problem is Wagga loses interest in Oporto’s, which looks highly unlikely for now, or if drivers find a better way to line up, perhaps through the second entrance closer to Gumly Gumly.
The biggest winners for these chicken dinners were the owners, but it was a hard slog as they worked non-stop to fill orders, and calm cranky customers.
Others marvelled at how Waggga locals queued up for so long for fast food.
A passerby gave a knowing smile.
“I guess we are talking about Oporto’s,” he said.
“They are pretty awesome.”
