Pao Pao Cafe

Pao Pao Cafe (パオパオカフェ, alternatively spelling Café, meaning Bread Bread Coffee in Portuguese) is a fictional bar and night club for multiple SNK continuities taking place in South Town. Many games feature either the original or its sister location, Pao Pao Cafe 2 (パオパオカフェ2号店).

Richard Meyer is the original founder; his longtime student Bob Wilson runs the second bar.

Story

Richard Meyer lived as a wandering fighter, traveling the world and challenging strong opponents in street fights. Hoping to create a place to settle with his wife and teach others the joys of Capoeira, Richard followed the rumors of The King of Fighters tournament and went to South Town. Aware of the deadly gang wars of the area, Richard used earnings from his previous winnings to found Pao Pao Cafe near Delta Park, one of the neutral areas of the city free from turf wars.

The bar was designed to be spacious, usually with a mix of oriental and South American styles, featuring prominently dragon pillars. It had to host a stage large enough for live entertainment, Capoeira lessons, and late night street fighting where a Capoeira roda will form with the bateria playing Capoeira music during the battles. Richard proudly used Pao Pao Cafe as his personal arena during the tournament. Although Richard lost midway through the tournament, the welcome atmosphere, good food, and open bar became a hit with local fighters. Pao Pao Cafe became known as a safe haven where anyone could relax and enjoy themselves.

Business remained booming, even after Wolfgang Krauser thrashed Richard so bad that he could not enter the following King of Fighters tournament. During his recovery period, Richard returned to Brazil and scouted for fresh Capoeria talent. He met Bob Wilson, one of his students and admirers, in a street fight and entrusted Bob with the new Pao Pao Cafe 2 when they returned to South Town. The second bar became as successful as the original. Richard and Bob may work shifts together at one of the bars.

Pao Pao Cafe quickly became one of Terry's favorite places to visit in South Town; Richard lets him eat on a tab and occasionally reminds him of this in supplementary material. Getting Terry to pay up is one of Richard's secondary albeit joking motivations for fighting in KOF: Maximum Impact 2. If he thinks Terry needs a job or is going too far on his tab, the owner occasionally hires Terry as a temporary janitor.

A Mexico branch exists in The King of Fighters series. It's similar to the original Pao Pao, keeping the Asian decoration but this time mixed with traditional Mexican design.This area was used by the Mexico Team (Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia and Takuma Sakazaki) and features cameos of different characters from Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury. The King of Fighters '94: Rebout makes the place larger and the arena has a moving elevator that tours around the whole building halls and exterior.