Pollo Tropical

Last updated
Pollo Tropical Express Restaurant 2022 Store43Night2022.jpg
Pollo Tropical Express Restaurant 2022
Pollo Tropical
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Restaurants
Genre Caribbean cuisine
Founded1988;36 years ago (1988) (original) (Miami, Florida)
FounderLarry & Stuart Harris
Headquarters Doral, Florida
Number of locations
125 (FL) (2019)
17 (PR) (2022)
Key people
Dirk Montgomery (CEO)
ProductsGrilled chicken, black beans, yellow rice, yuca and other Latin-style dishes.
Revenue363,473,000 United States dollar (2019)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Number of employees
5,600 (2017) [1]
Parent Fiesta Restaurant Group
Website pollotropical.com

Pollo Tropical (Spanish for "Tropical Chicken") is a South Florida-based restaurant chain and franchise specializing in food inspired by Latin-Caribbean cuisine. [1] Founded in 1988, the chain has its headquarters in Doral, Florida, [1] It is best known for marinated and grilled chicken and various sides including black beans and rice, mojo roast pork and more. [2]

Contents

History

Pollo Tropical was founded in 1988 by two brothers from Miami, Larry and Stuart Harris. The chicken recipe was the result of Larry's studying cookbooks on Latin American cuisine and conducting experiments on his backyard grill to perfect the marinade. From the outset, the restaurant's strategy was to grill the marinated chicken in the customers' view. There were no prepackaged, precooked menu items and no microwave ovens. By 1993, the company had eight stores and went public. It opened 19 locations in one year including those in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Tampa. Most of the new locations closed within a year after opening. In 1998, Pollo Tropical was sold to Carrols Restaurant Group, which was and is Burger King's largest United States franchisee. [3] After a period of rapid expansion, there were sixty-nine company-owned locations and numerous franchisees in the Latin American and Caribbean regions. [1]

In 1995, the first Pollo Tropical in Puerto Rico opened in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

Pollo Tropical is now a subsidiary of Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc., which was spun-off from Carrols Restaurant Group in 2012. [4] Fiesta owns, operates and franchises the Pollo Tropical restaurant brand. [5] Its headquarters have been located in Doral since 2017. The company currently owns and operates more than 140 locations throughout Florida, plus five licensed restaurants on college campuses and 32 franchised locations throughout the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Puerto Rico. [1] [4] [6]

Food concepts

In addition to its fire-grilled chicken, the restaurant provides other regional foods such as Mojo Roast Pork, rice, beans, Cheesy Yuca Bites and Plantains. [1] In 2018 the company began offering fried chicken in addition to their traditional fire-grilled recipe.

Challenges in the United States

After a decline in sales, Fiesta began closing its Texas restaurants, including Pollo Tropical locations in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, in the second quarter of 2017. The Texas restaurants were shuttered as part of closings of 30 stores, including locations in Georgia and Tennessee. [7] [8] This was part of a trend announced earlier in 2017, as the company moved to slow development, having grown "too far, too fast." [9] Instead of trying to open 30 new stores, the company planned to open 8 to 10, all in Florida, which is its core market. While its grilled chicken and other offerings are seen as healthy alternatives to fried chicken, hamburgers and french fries, the style and taste does not immediately draw customers outside Florida, and so requires some explanation to lure new customers in other markets. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burger King</span> Global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in Florida

Burger King Corporation is an American multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant chain. After Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties, its two Miami-based franchisees David Edgerton (1927–2018) and James McLamore (1926–1996) purchased the company in 1959 and renamed it "Burger King". Over the next half-century, the company changed hands four times and its third set of owners, a partnership between TPG Capital, Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, took it public in 2002. In late 2010, 3G Capital of Brazil acquired a majority stake in the company in a deal valued at US$3.26 billion. The new owners promptly initiated a restructuring of the company to reverse its fortunes. 3G, along with its partner Berkshire Hathaway, eventually merged the company with the Canadian-based doughnut chain Tim Hortons under the auspices of a new Canadian-based parent company named Restaurant Brands International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rican cuisine</span>

Puerto Rican cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes original to Puerto Rico. It has been primarily influenced by the ancestors of the Puerto Rican people: the indigenous Taínos, Spanish colonizers, and sub-Saharan African slaves. As a territory of the United States, the culinary scene of Puerto Rico has also been moderately influenced by American cuisine.

<i>Churrasco</i> Portuguese and Spanish name for beef or grilled meat

Churrasco is the Portuguese and Spanish name for grilled beef prominent in the cuisines of Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and Argentina. The term is used in other Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries for a variety of different meat products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church's Texas Chicken</span> American Chicken restaurant chain

Church's Texas Chicken is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To-Go by George W. Church Sr. on April 17, 1952, in San Antonio, Texas, across the street from The Alamo. Church's Texas Chicken trades as Texas Chicken or Church's Chicken in many countries. The chain is currently owned by American private equity firm High Bluff Capital Partners. As of 2017, Church's Texas Chicken had more than 1,700 franchised and company-owned locations in 26 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taco Cabana</span> American fast casual restaurant chain

Taco Cabana is an American fast casual restaurant chain that serves Tex-Mex cuisine. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTC Enterprises LLC, and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Taco Cabana is recognized for its "pink" color scheme and semi-enclosed patio dining areas. Many menu items are handmade daily on-site, in open-display cooking areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firehouse Subs</span> US-based restaurant chain

Firehouse Restaurant Group, Inc., doing business as Firehouse Subs, is a Canadian-owned American fast casual restaurant chain based in Jacksonville, Florida that specializes in submarine sandwiches. It was founded in 1994 by former firefighter brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen. Since December 15, 2021, it has been a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International, which also owns the chains Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons.

<i>Chicharrón</i> Pork dish of Spanish origin

Chicharrón is a dish generally consisting of fried pork belly or fried pork rinds. Chicharrón may also be made from chicken, mutton, or beef.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollo Campero</span> Fast food restaurant chain

Pollo Campero is a Guatemalan fast-food restaurant chain, located in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, Bahrain, the United States, Puerto Rico, Belize, Haiti, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Brazil, and Italy. The chain has nearly 400 locations, including more than 100 in the United States.

Canarian cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients in the cuisine of the Canary Islands, and it constitutes an important element in the culture of its inhabitants. Its main features are the freshness, variety, simplicity, and richness of its ingredients, the mix of seafood and meat dishes, its cultural influences and the low knowledge of it by the rest of the world. Canarian cuisine is influenced by other cultures, especially that of the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands (Guanches), and has influenced Latin American cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrols Restaurant Group</span> American franchisee company

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. is an American franchisee company and is the largest Burger King franchisee in the world; Carrols owns and operates over 1,000+ Burger Kings, and 55 Popeyes restaurants. The company has operated Burger Kings since 1976 in locations across 23 U.S. states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuchifritos</span> Various fried foods prepared principally of pork

Cuchifritos or cochifritos refers to various fried foods prepared principally of pork in Spanish and Puerto Rican cuisine. In Spain, cuchifritos are a typical dish from Segovia in Castile. The dish consists of pork meat fried in olive oil and garlic and served hot. In Puerto Rico they include a variety of dishes including morcilla, papas rellenas, and chicharron, and other parts of the pig prepared in different ways. Some cuchifritos dishes are prepared using plantain as a primary ingredient. Cuchifritos vendors also typically serve juices and drinks such as passionfruit, pineapple, and coconut juice, as well as ajonjolí, a drink made from sesame seeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominican Republic cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of the Dominican Republic

Dominican cuisine is made up of Spanish, indigenous Taíno, Middle Eastern, African, Cuban, Puerto Rican and Haitian influences. The most recent influences in Dominican cuisine are from the British West Indies and China.

The majority of the locations of international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King are privately owned franchises. While the majority of franchisees are smaller operations, several have grown into major corporations in their own right. At the end of the company's fiscal year in 2015, Burger King reported it had more than 15,000 outlets in 84 countries; of these, approximately 50% are in the United States and 99.9% are privately owned and operated. The company locations employ more than 37,000 people who serve approximately 11.4 million customers daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taco Palenque</span>

Taco Palenque is a Mexican cuisine restaurant chain in South Texas and northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. The restaurant is headquartered in Laredo, Texas and was established in 1987. The restaurant's main dishes are the flame-grilled beef or chicken fajita plate, parrillada, pirata taco, panchos drizzled with bean and cheese on top of tortilla chips, homemade desserts, and breakfast tacos Taco Palenque's salad bar has more than 7 different homemade salsas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rican Chinese cuisine</span> Style of food exclusive to restaurants in Puerto Rico developed by its Chinese immigrants

Puerto Rican Chinese cuisine is a popular style of food exclusive to restaurants in Puerto Rico developed by its Chinese immigrants. The food is a variation of Cantonese cuisine with some elements of Puerto Rican cuisine. A typical dish consists of fried rice, a choice of meat, and French fries. The fried rice itself varies in every restaurant, but can contain many ingredients such as ham, beef, shrimp, egg, lettuce, and onions. In 2020, there were an estimated 450 Chinese restaurants in Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asopao</span> Stew originating in Puerto Rico

Asopao is a family of stews that can be made with chicken, pork, beef, shrimp seafood, vegetables, or any combination of the above. Asopao is Puerto Rico's national soup and one of the most important gastronomic recipes in Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Pollo Loco (United States)</span> Restaurant chain

El Pollo Loco, Inc., is a restaurant chain based in the United States, specializing in Mexican-style grilled chicken. Restaurant service consists of: dine-in and take-out, with some locations offering drive-through options. The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, and operates about 500 company-owned and franchised restaurants in the Southwestern United States.

Fiesta Restaurant Group is a Dallas, Texas-based restaurant chain, primarily owning Pollo Tropical locations in Florida. The company was a Corporate spin-off from Carrols Restaurant Group in 2012.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Can Pollo Tropical get its mojo back? Chicken chain fights to fly high again", Miami Herald, 16 January 2017, retrieved 31 October 2017
  2. Mandy Baca (2013). The Sizzling History of Miami Cuisine: Cortaditos, Stone Crabs and Empanadas. Arcadia Publishing. p. 104. ISBN   9781614239291 . Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  3. Bloomberg News (6 June 1998), "COMPANY NEWS; LARGEST BURGER KING FRANCHISEE TO BUY POLLO TROPICAL", New York Times , New York, New York, retrieved 6 November 2017
  4. 1 2 Form 10-K: Fiesta Restaurant Group (PDF). 2016. p. 1. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  5. John Brown (2014). Dining Roulette: The Truth about Restaurants from the Inside Out. Wheatmark, Inc. p. 118. ISBN   9781627871877 . Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. "Pollo Tropical", USF Dining Services, retrieved 31 October 2017
  7. Gwendolyn Knapp (25 April 2017), "Pollo Tropical Closes Numerous Texas Locations", Houston Press, Houston, Texas, retrieved 31 October 2017
  8. Nancy De Gennaro (26 April 2017), "Pollo Tropical closed all Tennessee locations Monday", Tennessean, retrieved 31 October 2017
  9. Ron Ruggless (28 February 2017), "Fiesta to Slow Pollo Tropical Development", Nation's Restaurant News, retrieved 31 October 2017