Pollo Tropical

I went in for lunch around 1130. I had finished my meal and was updating my calendar. A window cleaner appears out of no where and reaches over the opposite side of my table, soaps up the window splashes my table and my hands with dirty soap water and doesn’t even excuse himself. The guy was extremely rude; as he was rushing to exit the rest he bumps into another gentleman and again doesn’t excuse himself. Prior to this he was cleaning a door and having a conversation in which he used obscene language at an audible level. The man in question is not an employee of the restaurant, most are quite polite. Nonetheless, this person needs to be trained on how to do his job around restaurant goers. I dont know anybody who likes chicken with dirty soap water gravy.

This is by far my go-​to place for fresh non-​fried chicken. Their chicken is juicy and tender similar to a rotisserie but better. Their chicken portion is shareable unless you want to save the leftovers. The yellow rice and corn soufflé are my top favorite sides. Plantains isn’t bad either but the corn soufflé is so addicting! There are two types of yuca sides. The garlic yuca, which I don’t recommend and also the fried yuca which isn’t bad but can be too dry. I like their condiments station. Try white cilantro sauce!
The atmosphere here makes me want to escape to a beach somewhere. I’ve always received great customer service so this is definitely my go-​to fast food restaurant but a healthier version.

Not too shabby here. As fast food restaurants go, this place may qualify as «semi-​healthy», but it def seems to be a cheaper and lower grade knock off of chipotle.
The food is pretty fresh, the prices are decent and the service is great — they even bring your food to your table for you.

Good service, feels more formal than the Pollo Tropical in Florida. Same food, and maybe not every Florida menu item is here? Prices, maybe a little higher? Not sure, but something does feel different.
And I’m surprised that this location has mojitos happy hour and stuff. Pretty chic, for a Pollo Tropical!

I’ve eaten here many times but last night I stopped in about an hour or so before closing. BIG MISTAKE! The rice was hard, break a tooth hard and they were out of black beans. I guess an hour before closing isn’t the best time to go but I was hungry and wanted their chicken. Lesson learned.

This place has some features of fast food (low prices and self order). However it has qualities of some in restaurant (good quality food with large choice of side options)
The food is good and fresh. They also will reliever food to your tables.
Their sauce bar is excellent with many unique and tasty sauces.
Nice touches include metal Utensils wrapped in napkins, free hand wipes.
Drive thru is also available.

If you ask me what is my absolute favorite restaurant, without hesitation and with burning desire I will promptly and proudly say POLLO TROPICAL!!! Chicken is sensational, calipso beef is to die for and their waffle fries oh man!!! oh oh and mango ice tea is heavenly ahhhh!!! I can’t get enough from this awesome FAST FOOD restaurant!

Awesome place. My buddy is from Puerto Rico and said it’s really big there. Since we’ve been working on eating our way around the world with all of the restaurants in Dallas, Caribbean was the logical next choice. I heard the name and pictured a hole in the wall, but it really blew me away by the brand new brightly colored building when I pulled up. I didn’t even realize it was a chain. I had never heard about it.
Pretty impressive that the chicken is actually grilled right in front of you and fresh. I got the three meat plate because I had to try it all being something I had never tried before; along with the corn soufflé, red beans, and yellow rice with vegetables. Everyone had wrote on here the yellow rice is amazing, but I didn’t think too much it. The corn soufflé was a nice change from the ordinary, and pretty good to boot. All the different sauces are what really separates this place. You can make the meats to your liking depending on whatever kind of flavor creation you prefer. I tried a little bit of everything and found that some worked better for certain things that other. I’m a sauce is the boss kind of guy, and this place was boss. The pork was pretty dang good. Especially in the orange apple sauce sort of flavored sauce. The chicken of course is amazing, and I liked it with the spicy BBQ sauce. I have to say THE BEEF IS GROSS. Everyone felt the same way. Tasted and looked like can dog food. Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme, but I’d never put it on my plate again. Definitely would replace it with some of those awesome looking wings though.
Give it a shot if you want a change from the ordinary.

Its been years since I had set foot in a Pollo Tropical. I stopped here on a business trip pre airport. I like the new image. Not that it was not clean before, but the atmosphere was clean and crisp. The food is still good and the sauces. I like alternatives to fast food, and I especially like latin food.
DT

The chicken was exceptional. It was very juicy and seasoned just right. atmosphere was fun and friendly and very fast service. Decent variety of salsas. Fresh and not too spicy.
I will definitely put this in the rotation for my lunch breaks.

MY 100^th Unilocal Review!
Caribbean food Chipotle-​style for the win. This is at least my 10^th visit to Pollo Tropical, but my first review. Quick service place, so order food and are given a buzzer to pick up your order.
Food: Offers a variety of sandwiches, platters, soup, salad, and smoothies. I’ve tried a mix of some sandwiches, platters, and bowls. Favorite is the TropiChop bowl — it comes in 2 sizes and you can select your toppings. The bigger size can actually by made into 2 meals. Meat-​wise, the chicken is pretty decent. Calypso beef. which tastes a bit like barbacoa, costs extra ($ 0.50 for small, $ 1.00 for large). Tastes ok, but wouldn’t pay up for it again. Roasted mojo pork, yellow rice, red beans, and all-​the-​way (all other toppings) combo is my go-​to item. Snack-​wise, the cheesy yucca bites are starchy, gooey goodness. Sauce bar is extensive and has a great pineapple run sauce.
Service: Friendly staff at registers. On one occasion, a new cashier mistakenly told me drinks were included in the price. The manager did a price override and gave me the drinks for free anyway. A+ service for a quick service place.
Bottom Line: TropiChop bowls are delicious, filling, and a great value. Will continue to return often. Recommend checking this place out.

I have an obsession with corn soufflé and theirs is so good! Hot, sweet, thick and full of pieces of sweet corn… I had to order it! You should too!
I highly recommend their wings… they’re full of flavor, a little charred sweetness on the skin. I got the order of eight and I couldn’t even finish it all.
Now, one of the best parts… Sauce Island. I’m a sauce girl, I love sauce, I love lots of options, when I find a sauce I like, I really like it. My favorites included Guava BBQ, Curry Mustard & Cilantro Garlic. My rings were in dipping rotation the whole time.
The staff was really nice, they had recommendations for everyone that walked in and the service was quick and polite. Another visit is definitely in the near future.

For this to be fast food it was delicious. Comfort food with the best sauces! All the sauces were so delicious, I don’t know which one I would choose if I had to pick a favorite!
I had the grilled chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes, yummy! Two big chicken breast, sides, a roll for like 7 bucks. It’s well worth going in and eating.

This was our first experience to eat at this restaurant. We were drawn in by a coupon we received that said two people could eat for $ 9.99. When we presented the coupon to the cashier she was thourghly confused and kept asking what we wanted and ringing up prices. Finally the bill seemed to escalate so much she had to call the manager who came to the cash register and sorted the amount out so that we got two meals for $ 9.99. The meal consisted of a ¼-​baked chicken and that had to have been one of the smallest chickens on earth as it was really small. Guess I am too used to the three pounders that we get at Sam’s Club. I was told I could have one side, which I took the Caesar salads, which came in a small, and I mean very small bowl. I just assumed I was getting the rice and beans as the cashier ask if I wanted white or brown rice and if I wanted red or black beans. Those options though disappeared once the manager arrived and she stated we would get one or the other but not both. I stuck with the salad and my spouse took the green beans. She wished she had not once she tasted then. Seemed to have been cooked in a strange oil that had a distinctive taste and smell. There was one small roll on each plate. The roll was about 2 inches by 2 niches. I am telling you this place operates as though it was in a miniature society. The drinks came with the meal and they were both small however that was not an issue as you could refill them. With the special came Sweet Fried Plantains which after taking the first bite we wished they had not. We left the dish almost untouched.
My biggest issues with this restaurant are the size of the food portions including the chicken and the high prices. The regular price on the meal we received would have been $ 17.35 plus tax. Way too much for the quantity and quality of the food that we received. The restaurant is very tastefully decorated in a caribbean theme and is painted in the same light colored themes. Very nice!

Chicken chicken and chicken. Yum and none of it is fried (at least I’m
Pretty sure it’s not)
I had the lite tropi-​something. Chicken, brown rice and romaine with about twice the calories when I dumped a bunch of mustard curry sauce on it.
Kid #1 got the ¼ chicken with mashed potatoes and ate every bite; kid #2 got the kids chicken rice bowl and ate it all; kid #3 got the pineapple chicken combo with mashed potatoes and loved it; kid #4 got a chicken tropibowl and ate all but the veggies and the hubs got a trios and cleaned the plate.
However, the yuca was not a hit. And the hubs will eat anything.
I love this as a healthier alternative to the fried stuff.

I went here for the first time today. I was impressed! The chicken was juicy with yummy crispy skin. I wanted to try the green beans but they were out. I tried the caesar instead and it was average.
Now the really mvp at this place is the corn soufflé…I could eat a pan of that. No lie. They have a sauce bar which was pretty nice. I’m glad I checked this place out.

I am kind of up in the air about this place, mainly because I’m only been one time and it’s just not the type of food we have around here in Dallas, or Texas. I am going to go a second time just to try something different, which I was told by the cashier to try the chicken breast platter, I am will make my final decision then!
I think the first time someone goes, plan at least five or ten minutes or so looking at the menu board to decide what you want! It can be a bit confusing. If you don’t want to wait and spend 10 minutes deciding, just asked the cashier what they recommend! I don’t really think you can go wrong here with their choices.
My daughter had the regular chicken sandwich with nothing on it and she enjoyed it. It was fairly big. It came with the plagiarize which she could not finish.
I tried to get her to try some of the seasoned beef I had but she didn’t like it.
It is kind of a quasi-​fast food/​sitdown restaurant, but leans more towards the fast food type place.
It has a drive-​through and an outside patio, which we enjoy did the other day before it got to be too hot but it was a little windy. It was rather nice being able to sit outside for once here in Dallas and not sweating like crazy.
I think chicken is the food to stick with here, not the pork or beef.
I think most people will either like it, not like it. I think you probably need at least two outings there to make a real good decision.
For fast food, I kind of thought the price was a little high, but it was somewhere new to go and different to try. I didn’t dislike it and my daughter enjoyed it.
I do plan to go back again and will give an update. It is worth checking out.

I am not sure what to make of Pollo Tropical. It is a restaurant that is stuck half-​way between concepts on all fronts. The location is set up fast food style with a drive through, but I tried the drive through once only to be told there was no chicken ready and that it would be a half hour wait. By all appearances, though, the space and décor is little different from a Burger King. .. well perhaps from a nicer fast food place like Chipotle.
You’ll be hard pressed to find anything «tropical» per se on the menu. There is no jerk chicken, for instance. They serve a citrus chicken as their signature (I think), and have some vaguely tropical meat dishes. There are beans and rice. OK. But you will also find staples of Southern cuisine like mashed potatoes and gravy (definitely NOT tropical). You can order a chicken quesadilla, which arrives looking like a burrito.
The food is not bad, exactly. They are doing brined chicken and meats on a gas grill. You can get it ¼ or ½ chicken style with veggie sides ala Boston Market. Complaints about the size of the pieces are founded. Mine were from a dwarf chicken. They were tasty enough.
At the end of the ordering process, you will be asked to choose a sauce. The poyo poyo is an orange habanero sauce with a nice bit of heat to hit. There is also Garlic Caesar, which may or may not be tropically inspired. The sauce will come on the side.
Pollo Tropical feels like a place that was designed by a committee, and it hit every branch on the «good idea tree» as it fell. The result doesn’t add up to much. It is hard to say exactly what it is.
Tempted to give 2 stars, but it wasn’t really bad. 2.5 stars.
The customer service was great. They’re nice folks.

I have been here twice. My first visit was utterly underwhelming. I opted for the Tropichop with white rice and black beans with grilled chicken and the fixings. It was just meh. The sauces did all the talking.
This time, upon recommendation of the cashier, I went for the platter. I got grilled chicken breasts with 2 sides. I went with the yellow rice and black beans (1 side) and the corn soufflé, also recommended. I liked that the yellow rice had veggies in it. I also liked that rice and beans together counted as one side only. The chicken was deliciously prepared to stand alone. I did get it in with the sauces though: Guava BBQ, Garlic Cilantro, and Curry. Yummy times 3 plus 3.
I was hungry and this meal was certainly filling while still going down clean. I washed it all down with the Guava Mango juice.
I definitely can appreciate and validate the positive reviews after my 2^nd visit. Their trophy is the chicken so I’d stick with getting the chicken platters, bone in or boneless.
Whoohoo!!!

I SIMPLY LOVE THIS PLACE!!! It’s the best fast food I’ve been to in quite some time. For those unfamiliar with Pollo Tropical, it’s a Carribean-​inspired fast food chain that originated in Miami. It’s one of those restaurants that’s worth a trip across town for. Just note that it’s nothing like the Tex-​Mex stuff you get in Dallas. So much better!
I had the chicken with yellow rice and beans. The chicken was incredibly moist and the rice for simply Devine. It complemented the chicken perfectly and I highly recommend getting the yellow rice of you aren’t sure what you’d like. In my humble opinion, the other rice sides looked good, but seemed like they would be a little plain. The other thing I loved about this restaurant were the Yucca’s. Surprise! They aren’t deep fried like most of the other Yucca places you see her. They are boiled with a lot more seasoning. If you haven’t had them this way, they are absolutely amazing. Definitely check this place out whenever you get a chance :)