GUILDERLAND — A fast-food restaurant that is relatively unknown in the United States but found in several countries in the Middle East and Africa as well as in India, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada, is coming to Guilderland.

Headquartered in Dubai, ChicKing, a fried-chicken franchise, was founded in 2000.

“They are originally from United Arab Emirates and they have 350 franchises all around the world,” Saifullah Gondal told the Guilderland Zoning Board members at their July 17 meeting.

By unanimous vote, the board approved a special-use permit for Gondal to open a ChicKing at 1666 Western Ave., a site previously occupied by Via Fresca Pizza and Deli.

Gondal, the project manager of Z & Z Real Estate Inc., said he planned to have his ChicKing open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to midnight, noting it is near Crossgates Mall and that he also hopes to draw students from the nearby University at Albany.

Gondal said he plans to have three to four workers for each of two shifts and will use the basement kitchen set up for the deli.

He also plans to open a ChicKing in Latham.

A real-estate listing for the “turn-key deli” says the two-story frame house was built in 1951 and renovated in 2005. The building fronts busy Route 20 and has a driveway, which the board determined would accommodate one car coming and another going, leading to parking.

The property is in a Limited Business, or LB, district for shopping, dining, and professional services.

“The franchises, they are a little bit strict about their menu and these things, so you cannot add more stuff into that,” said Gondal.

Elizabethh Lott, who chairs the zoning board, said the short environmental assessment form was allowed for the permit.

She went through that checklist and determined “there will be a negative finding,” meaning the new restaurant will not pose any major environmental changes, to which other board members agreed.

“Good luck, sir,” said Lott after the vote.