"We hope to be good neighbors here in Mountain View," said Juan Salazar, Facebook public policy manager, speaking at the Tuesday meeting. "We were able to make a meal plan that meets the spirit of (the city's restrictions) while helping local businesses and activating the San Antonio Shopping Center."

The plan was unanimously approved by the City Council at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13. In effect, it clears the last hurdle to Facebook's plans to open a new office at the San Antonio Shopping Center later this month, which is expected to eventually house 1,700 employees and contractors.

But as part of a deal hashed out with the city, Facebook representatives pledged to source at least half of their meals from local shops and restaurants (not including snacks or beverages). The company's team laid out a plan to provide debit cards for employees to patronize local eateries, a system they promised would provide a reliable customer stream for the city's small businesses.

As Facebook launches a massive new office campus in Mountain View, the tech giant will be allowed to keep one of its most cherished perks -- free meals, and even a cafeteria for its employees.

The pitch from Facebook, which was approved by the council, was to source at least half of its employee meals from the shopping center restaurants by having them delivered to the office. Within a year, as Facebook opens a second San Antonio center office, the company expects to begin handing out debit cards or vouchers to its employees, allowing them to visit restaurants on their own. Around the same time, WeWork plans to also open a ground-floor "food hall" or possibly sublease that space to a restaurant. In either case, Facebook representatives promised that the new eatery would be available to the public as well as its employees.

In a letter to the council, Facebook spokesman Christopher Hom downplayed the local food options, saying there are only 13 restaurants in the area -- not nearly enough, he said, to provide the 5,100 meals he expects the tech workers will consume each day. But his tabulation didn't include any grocery stores or any of the restaurants located across the street.

Over recent months, Facebook and its office landlord -- WeWork -- have both been lobbying city officials to loosen those restrictions. Both companies have warned that nearby restaurants are insufficient to feed their planned workforce, which they expect to be on the job at all hours of the day.

To prevent another walled-off tech compound with private food service, city officials laid down some special restrictions on offices at the San Antonio Shopping Center. In 2014, as Phase II redevelopment plans at the shopping center were up for review, the City Council added a prohibition on any future office tenant providing free daily meals to employees, or subsidizing more than half the price of food at any in-house cafeteria.

On the minds of city leaders were the lessons learned years ago as Google aggressively expanded in North Bayshore. Tens of thousands of new workers should have been a recipe for success for nearby food providers, but local restaurants actually saw their business plummet as a result. The reason was Google employees had no incentive to pay for food when they were being provided free gourmet meals and snacks by their company.

Similarly, it remains unclear whether grocery stores like the Milk Pail or Trader Joe's would qualify. Asked about this, Salazar said his team hasn't verified if nearby grocery stores could work with their food-delivery vendors. So far, grocery stores are not being included, but that could change as Facebook rolls out its food payment system for its employees over the coming year, he said.

But only a fraction of the nearby food providers are certain to benefit from this plan. The approved plan requires Facebook to provide meals only from businesses located specifically at the San Antonio Shopping Center, city staff told the Voice. For example, Chili's Grill & Bar and Veggie Grill would qualify. However, other nearby restaurants, such as Chef Chu's, Esther's German Bakery and Armadillo Willy's, would not count because they are located across the street.

Councilman Ken Rosenberg praised the plan for providing an "insurance policy" for restaurants, guaranteeing they have a steady stream of customers. He noted that some of the new restaurants that opened in the new shopping center development have been struggling to find their footing.

"We're trying to balance a lot of interests here," said Councilwoman Margaret Abe-Koga. "The developers said they needed offices to make this center work, but we wanted to make sure that the offices support the retail."

"We're not clear how the arrival of Facebook will impact our business," said Milk Pail owner Steve Rasmussen following the meeting. "It is likely that we will rapidly expand our 'grab and go' options if we see hungry Facebook folks craving something other than delivered meals. Our core business of so many years will remain intact."

A few small business owners were in the audience to watch how the council would act. But if they had any complaints on the deal, they kept quiet lest they lose a lucrative future customer.

Facebook cuts deal for free worker meals

Tech giant promises to patronize local restaurants