Pollo Tropical

Goof chicken skewers, I love the sweet plantain so much and the sweet mashed corn. Now, coming from California this is one of my favorite fast food places.

I LOVE the food, but the service is so, so, so want-​to-​make-​you-​pull-​your-​hair-​out-​bad that I can’t come here anymore. I will drive to 377 or Hurst rather than come back to this one. I’d likely have my food faster even with the far drive!
They should take an employee training day at ChickFilA down the street and study customer service.
At the OTHER LOCATIONS, order the calypso beef wrap. It’s amazing

Seeing a Pollo Tropical in TX is seriously a dream come true. I’m from FL and Pollo Tropical was definitely a restaurant I visited frequently.
This TX location actually lived up to my expectation. There have been a few times when I’ve been given extremely small, not too appetizing looking pieces of chicken. I’ve simply said something to the cashier and they’ve given me different pieces. My only problem is, this has happened about 4 – 5 times.
I think they should work on giving people better looking pieces of chicken without having to ask.
Aside from that, I’ve always had hot food and everything is clean on the inside.
The drive-​thru can be kinda long sometimes, but in Miami, the lines were always wrapped around the building. The chicken is fresh, not frozen, so if they need extra time to give me fresh hot food, I’m willing to wait.

Since my last visit I have seen improvement and cleanliness and service I can say I will start coming back here regularly.

We ordered at 1:50 pm and it took 27 minutes for us to receive our order of the full chicken dinner with 2 sides and 4 (small ass dinner rolls) The chicken was cooked the same as you would receive from the local Walmart. Definitely not a Great impression for a first time customer. Save your money and visit the other restaurant options around the area. Popeyes, Church’s Chicken and KFC are BETTER choices for the money.

My wife and I were hesitant to give this place try but wanted to see what the buzz is about since we keep getting ads… so why not? well… after our experience, I say its our first and last time we come around… reason?
we placed our order from the drive through and once we got to the window… I did ask to add a soda to our order, asking «no ice,» and sure enough I GOT ICE, well I let that slide.
we got our food and went home… once we got home and started eating, here’s when problems started
— my meal was missing a side (clearly ordered it being it was on receipt). Did not want to drive back so ate it as is.
— wife ordered a mojo roast pork bowl, suppose to be half rice /​half lettuce with all toppings of corn, peppers, onions, etc = what she get? all rice, no veggies and it was half pork and half chicken?
Umm…CLEARLY they do not check orders before it goes out!
Overall…Taste was mediocre to us, flavor was not a «wow,» honest opinion is I have tasted better from the frozen food section at the grocery store (sorry not trying to be mean but that’s the experience we got)
Maybe…just maybe in the future we will try it out again

Was expecting this place to suck but it wasn’t that bad. Ordered the ¼ chicken trio plate with beef for 9.95. Decent amount, filling. Wasn’t dry but wasn’t as juicy as I wanted. The complimentary sauces were delicious and paired up with the meat. Their fries are delicious though! It’s like chick fila and jack in the box had a baby. You get 2 sides with this entrée, I got the Cesar salad and Mac/​cheese. I recommend NOT getting the Cesar salad as a side, as it’s just a few pieces of lettuce and 2 croutons. Go for the rice and beans. Bigger quantity. Also ordered the chipotle chicken sandwich– better than expected. It’s pretty juicy and their bread are sweeter than others-​excellent.

A nice way to get health (ish) food fast.
Pollo Tropical offers a wide variety of grilled items along with a nice selection of side dishes to compliment the entrée. I prefer to order to the chicken breast plate that includes two sides– I like the corn soufflé (awesome) and red beans. There’s also plantains, several types of rice and a tomato salad in addition to the normal stuff (fries, green beans, buttered corn, etc.). If chicken isn’t your thing, there’s also pork, beef, shrimp, ribs and some locations offer fish. I like the chicken– it is marinated in a citrus based «Caribbean style» flavor and then grilled.
If you are dining in you’ll see a «sauce bar» that is kinda cool. My wife loves the cilantro garlic ranch– but there are a few twists on BBQ sauces, as well as a few spicy options. Very tasty and a great way to flavor your meal!
Do yourself a favor and try the guava bar– it’s a really great little dessert bar. Think sponge cake with a yummy guava filling that is served chilled. Awesome stuff. Kids meals include a guava bar so if anything steal some from your little one when they’re not looking.

Bf and I came here for our very first Pollo Tropical dining experience. I literally just ate a burger next door at In ‘n’ Out but the bf is on a ‘chicken only’ diet so we decided to give this place a try and Believe it or not… this place was SO good that I ate again!
So…to start off. Its a carribean place. They offer much healthier options than some of the places in that area. I really wish they served jerk chicken but their original chicken was still pretty good.
We got a whole grilled chicken. It was fresh and piping hot. We chose for our sides: green beans (good) and waffle fries (really crunchy). The meal also comes with a lil piece of bread. We also had the tres leches dessert (just enough sweetness).
Considering i just had a burger. I still ate 2 pieces of chkn, all the fries, some green beans, and the entire dessert. It was all SO delicious. We’re DEF coming back here. Idk why some of the negative reviews but this place rocks!
Also…what really made our night was the NEW General Manager, Ms. Jacquie, she walked around greeting guests and making sure everyone’s meals were up to par. WHAT!!! Now that’s customer service at its best :) 5+++++ stars for me!

I love having a healthy fast food option available! I’ve never had anything less than delicious from here. I’ve only ever driven thru, and they have forgotten a couple of items before (only reason for 4 stars instead of 5), but I keep going back!
Wonderful chicken, corn soufflé, green beans, well… Everything!

The service was amazing, the lady at the register wanted to make sure we received the best deal on our food, we loved that! The food is wonderful, we’re never disappointed and feel like we can get lots of healthy options.
We could eat here everyday!

Ok… Really no corn, no green beans and no mashed potatoes!!!
Like chick fil a saying… We have no chicken!
Someone needs to learn how to run a business!!!
Nice people working there but seriously!

It’s hit or miss if the chicken will be dry ot over seasoned or if the bread is stale and I rarely get a lime. Also the staff is hit or miss. They could sell more by being nicer and making recommendations.
I’ve eaten at some amazing Cuban places and think this could be an awesome idea but they need help. Lots of it.
Pros
Boneless Chicken is usually decent
Mash potato and corn soufflé is good
Green beans are decent
Cons
Bread is usually stale
Service is usually like your bothering them
They rush you through ordering
Yuka is awful bland

I come here once a week on average. Service is hot and cold but food is good and healthy. Today was my last visit. I received my boneless breast meal with a bonus … a big hair. Also the restaurant was filthy. I’m done.

First time trying Pollo Tropical and I’m in love!
Great service. Wings are prefect. I love the white sauce. It’s also good to mix it into black beans and rice. We also tried the calypso beef and it hit the spot too. The wings take an extra 10 minute wait, but so worth it.

I love the food here. I hate the service. The ppl always screw up order and they always run out of SOMETHING. I went there during lunch and they ran out of tomatoes. Wtf. How do you run out of tomatoes at 12p??? There is no discussion. They only acknowledged it when I said ‘hey. Where is the rest of my food?’
The ppl taking orders need more training and they need to quit goofing off. They are always screaming and laughing and not paying attention, which is why they screw up orders. Bc they screw up, orders take twice as long to process. How come it takes 30 min to eat lunch here when this is a faster food joint? Most of that time was spent waiting in line.
If the service was better, I’d change my rating.

First the good:
The pork was juicy and my pork plate had a healthy serving. The fries were good too.
Now the rest.
Service was sub par. Employees don’t smile a lot indicating it isn’t a great place to work. They smile if we smile first. My wife ordered the pork sandwich. The pork was actually so juicy that her bun arrived completely saturated with juices and water. Not very appealing. The silverware arrived with our tray. It’s wrapped in a napkin with a paper band. Both the band and the napkin were dirty with food particles. We learned that the cooks are the ones who place the silverware packets on the trays. The silverware itself were full of water spots and some kind of residue that took me a bit time to rub off with a clean napkin. The pork didn’t have much seasoning. I expect something more than just cooked meat. I expected something savory where I didn’t have to go to their salsa bar just to get some kind of flavor.
Why did we get pork at a chicken place? While waiting to order, I looked through the window to the right and saw a pile of cooked chickens on a shelf above the grill. It was about 12:40pm on a Saturday afternoon. The lunch rush was pretty much over. I didn’t want to gamble my health after seeing that!
We asked the employee, who checked in on us at the table, if she would let management know about the issues we were having. I was surprised to hear that he was sorry about our experience and «might» come out and speak with us. I’ve been in restaurants of all kinds from 5-​star to hole-​in-​the-​wall style with great food but if there was a service issue, a manager who cares comes out and offers a personal apology. I’ve even come back to the hole-​in-​the-​wall places because not only was their food good but that kind of response (to issues) make me feel important. Pollo Tropical at this location needs a service makeover and their food handling practices need a complete review because they fail to keep us safe. Avoid this place unless you have an iron gut.

I’m only giving one star because my father in law liked his meal but other than that we were extremely disappointed.
Came in and it was a hot mess! Tables were still dirty and the sauce bar just looked like it’s been out for days. The cashier looked like she hated her job and wanted to go home. She rung up our first order wrong and when my father in law asked her about it she instantly snapped back and started to talk over him. Everytime he would say his order (reading how they have it on the menu) she’s like I know that’s what I put. How do you get something that is 5.95 ringing up for 14? Eventually she figured out she was wrong so she got quiet really quick.
As we were getting our drinks one of the worker rudely cuts my father law off and cuts I front of him to refill her drink and as I was getting a lid she rudely puts her arm in my face to get a lid. I tried getting a straw and she wouldn’t even move and expected me to move out of her way. I would of gladly moved if the girl said excuse me but she didn’t. As my father in Law already getting upset asked her if she was in a rush and if he was allowed to finally get his drink she looks at us and takes a deep breath and was like uh whatever I guess.
Sassy much?
Food itself I got a chicken Cesar salad. It barely had any dressing, too much croutons, some of the chicken was good but all of the other pieces looked like my dogs chicken jerky. Hubs got ¼ chicken with rice and he didn’t love it saying it lacked flavor.

This place seems semi healthy for a fast casual place! The outside décor is very lively, small palm trees outside! Inside very bright, colorful.
I ordered the shrimp wrap, side of fried yuca, and a mango/​peach drink all for $ 6-​$ 7. The shrimp wrap is a small portion but very tasty… Grilled shrimp, cheddar jack cheese, tomatoes, and chipotle dressing. Wasn’t sure what fried yuca was but gave it a try… It was like a plain fried potato, no flavor really, they have different sauces to dip so I suggest dipping them! My mango/​peach drink was fresh and delicious you could also add rum to it!
Tropichop reminds me of the chipotle bowls but a lot healthier. Choose your protein, base, toppings, and add sauce. This made our meal less than $ 14!
I love that they have a sauce bar! The ones I tried today were:
Pineapple rum: very sweet
Guava bbq: I like that with my yuca fries, tropical/​exotic bbq sauce
Curry mustard: it really taste like curry, wasn’t a fan
Cilantro garlic: this was good with my wrap and yuca fries, probably my favorite
Great place to grab something quick and healthy. But sometimes when I want to eat out I expect to eat something that taste unhealthy, so don’t come here if you want a fat thick cheeseburger… Very tropical choices, caribbean type food I believe.

I’m just going to list my thoughts. This place was a disappointment to me.
Wings have decent flavor but came out room temp.
Chicken platter came out hot but chicken didn’t have flavor
French fries are good
The Yuca is not good (some may say it was Yucka :))
The corn soufflé is better the more you eat it
Mac N cheese got good review from kids
The quesadilla isn’t any good and comes out cold
The rolls aren’t warmed up and don’t taste very good. I used the pineapple run sauce to make bread edible
Portions are small. Kids all complained of still being hungry
The guava bars are good.
You wait in a slow line to order. Then they give you a number and you wait for your food to be brought to you.
You may find you have to wait for a table to be cleaned for you as well. And the facilities aren’t very clean to begin with. It will soon look like a authentic Cuban restaurant in a third world country if they don’t step it up a bit.
I’ll probably come again to give it another chance but not for a while. As there are many better places to spend my money.