It's lunchtime in Cape Town, and a stream of customers are lining up at the Nando's restaurant on Long Street. A cashier, Zimktha Loza, tries to take phone orders over the din of Portuguese-inspired music.

"I have regular customers every day," Loza said. "I hear their voice and know what they are going to order."

Long lines at Nando's, which opened its first eatery in South Africa in the late 1980s, are a common sight at outlets far away from Cape Town. The fast-growing spicy-chicken chain has 1,100 locations in 22 countries, helping make its original backer, Dick Enthoven, a billionaire.