Ladies and gentlemen, Loco’l has found its first location — and it’s in the heart of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

As reported several months ago, Loco’l is the brainchild of Daniel Patterson and Roy Choi. The goal is to revolutionize fast food by starting a new kind of chain restaurant — one with low prices competitive with McDonald’s and Burger King, but still serving chef-driven food and fresh ingredients.

“We want to go toe to toe with fast food chains and offer the community a choice. Price point, culture, design, hospitality, relevance, and most of all flavor,” Choi told Scoop in August.

Upon the original announcement, Loco’l was essentially an idea, a daydream on its way to transitioning to a reality. Now, Patterson and Choi have acquired an investor, and just as importantly, they have their first location, at 57 Taylor Street.

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With a former bodega on the beleaguered corner of Turk and Taylor, the goal is to create a space that is accessible to all — visually, conceptually and economically. Says Patterson: “We want to see a lot of people. Everything boils down to how we can feed as many people as possible.”

The project marks the continued rise of public and private efforts to improve the neighborhood. The city’s Central Market plan is in full swing — 14,500 new jobs, 18 technology companies, 22 new small businesses, 11 new arts venues, and more than 5,600 units of housing (20%of which will be permanently affordable) are expected along Market between Fifth and Van Ness, according to the city’s December Central Market/Tenderloin Strategy Update. Now, the focus is slowly shifting, as the investment in Mid-Market is hoped to lead to an improvement of the Tenderloin.

With the help of community partners such as the Tenderloin Health Improvement Partnership (TLHIP), the city has identified nine “Action Zones” — and you guessed it, the corner of Turk and Taylor is one of them.

“We looked at a lot of different spaces, and something about that vibe and that intersection spoke to us,” says Patterson.

It’s a changing block. This week, theater-dinner spot PianoFight is slated to open in the former Original Joe’s storefront, which has sat vacant for years. Then there’s the massive 950 Market proposal, which would take up much of the triangular block bounded by Market, Turk and Taylor “with a pair of 16- and 20-story residential and hotel buildings framing a lower central ‘arts bar’ holding cultural spaces,” per the Chronicle’s John King.

On the southwest corner of Turk and Taylor, Scott Kester (Coi et al.) will design Loco’l’s 3,200-square-foot space, which will be divided into the fast food restaurant and an adjacent multi-use commissary kitchen.

The latter will host classes from the Cooking Project, the non-profit organization founded by Patterson and Sasha Bernstein that is dedicated to teaching fundamental cooking skills. Here, the Cooking Project will be extended from youths to older residents as well. The address is also a few blocks away from the new location of Larkin Street Youth Services, the neighborhood organization with which Patterson has worked extensively and will continue to.

Patterson and Choi have continually likened the design of the restaurant to that of a public park: a hub that is open and accessible. Expect big windows, open doors, and high ceilings.

The San Francisco location of Loco’l is hoped to open by early summer. Patterson and Choi plan to open a second one soon thereafter in Los Angeles, and then possibly a third in Oakland.

Here is the MAD video of Choi and Patterson announcing and explaining Loco’l in Copenhagen earlier this year, along with a few more details about the chefs’ process:

Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson Announce loco’l from madfeed.co on Vimeo.

· Previously: Chefs unite in fast-food idea to nourish low-income communities [San Francisco Chronicle]

· Previously: Interview: Roy Choi on hunger in California and his new fast food chain, Loco’l [Inside Scoop]