Whose H Street Is It, Anyway?

And the zoning code enforcement.

"We're simply trying to make certain that all businesses are treated equally," said Fengler, the ANC chair. "Once you start saying that Cluck-U is a great place, and Birdland is a great place, how do you turn against a national franchise?"

Fengler said he is "saddened" the restaurants' defenders are invoking race. "It's easier to say it's a class issue, more convenient to say it's a race issue," he said. "If you were to read the zoning code, it would become apparent that it's not."

The ANC is not without supporters who have deep roots in the neighborhood. Vanessa Ruffin, 53, a retired recreation therapist, said she favors the ANC's campaign, if only to send a message that the neighborhood is raising its standards. "I want the community to have some control," she said.

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Anwar Saleem, chairman of H Street Main Street, a coalition of merchants and residents, said he at first was unenthusiastic about Cluck-U because he hoped for a restaurant with linen tablecloths or a clothing store. But the ANC's opposition has turned Saleem into one of Cluck-U's steadfast supporters. He applauded Gibson for keeping his place clean and trying to appease commissioners by providing sit-down patrons with non-disposable plates and flatware.

"It's unnecessary," Saleem said of the ANC's challenge. He questioned whether the commission is trying to "discriminate against minority-owned businesses. I wouldn't be surprised if they go after the beauty shops, the shoe stores and the clothing stores."

Not all of its commissioners support the ANC's approach. Marc Borbely, a commissioner, said he worries that the ANC is missing a chance to forge relationships with longtime residents. While he embraces new development, he wants to preserve places that are "welcoming and cheap for those who don't have a lot of money."

"I want a neighborhood that's economically diverse," he said. "I don't want this to become like Manhattan or Georgetown."

The restaurants' patrons agree. They say they don't understand why the ANC would target places providing what is all too hard to come by on H Street: somewhere to sit down and eat a decent, reasonably priced meal.

"This is a touch of class compared to what's up and down this street," said James Allen, 58, a Gallaudet University maintenance worker eating meatloaf, collard greens, potato salad and cornbread priced under $10 at Birdland. "This is a meal."

Robert Pittman, 41, executive director of the Linden Neighborhood Association and a resident of the area for eight years, also relishes the prospect of fine dining, of sitting at an outdoor cafe sipping wine. He has not eaten at the Cluck-U and has no plans to.

Yet Pittman wondered whether the ANC could find more potent causes in a community still facing a litany of challenges. "Is it really the best use of our time and resources?" he asked.