Washington State is in the first phase of the planned expansion of a Canada-based franchise called Galos Flame Grilled Chicken. Its first location here opened in Ballard at the end of June, in a newish development that includes a controversial New Seasons Market. It is basically modeled on the world famous Nando's, a peri-peri chicken chain founded in Johannesburg, South Africa, with locations spanning five continents and encompassing the UK, parts of the United States, and, of course, British Columbia. Nando's is amazing! And the closest you'll find to what they serve at Nando's, in Seattle, is Galos, which also flame-grills its chicken in the Portuguese style—it's flavored by fire and peri-peri sauce. (Peri-peri is a Portuguese-bred pepper that got its name in Mozambique—a Southern African country, and former Portuguese colony—in the 16th century. "Galos" is Portuguese for "roosters.") That said, is the grilled chicken at Galos as good as that at Nando's? It is not. But it's not bad, either. Galos does the job, which always requires that one can really taste the flames in the meat, and the char on the peri-peri pepper, and the smoke in the bones. CHARLES MUDEDE