POLLO TROPICAL SUNSET 
Citing “limited awareness” of the brand, the corporate parent of Pollo Tropical has decided not to reopen the last 2 remaining Houston-area locations of the Caribbean chicken fast-food chain after they were both damaged by floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey. Gone for good: the Pollo Tropical on Westheimer Rd. just west of Eldridge and the other at 11400 Broadway just east of Kirby Dr. in Pearland (pictured here). Three other Houston-area Pollo Tropicals closed in April. Fiesta Restaurant Group, which also owns the Taco Cabana chain, said in a release that it was also closing all 4 locations in San Antonio but might reopen as many as 2 of the shuttered restaurants in the region as Taco Cabanas. [BusinessWire; Houston Press] Photo: Fernando C.
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I specifically told the friends in my group that Pollo Tropical would close 3weeks after the Westheimer/Voss store opened years ago. I am amazed they lasted as long as they did. Why? They had tons of employees and yet few customers and it still took 15min to get served. And then a server delivering food to a large family actually put their food on MY table to rest it as she handed the plates to them. Unbelievable.
Houston was aware of their brand, and they determined it sucked. People rarely hate a restaurant for the food, they hate it for the service, price, or cleaniness/atmosphere.
I live in Pearland and I visited the one here at the location mentioned around the first few weeks to a month it opened. The place was packed. The staffed seemed to be unorganized and food presentation I didn’t care for. But the thing that really turned me off, and this is a weird thing for me to mention and even admit, was the color scheme of the interior. It literally bothered me… it made me loose my appetite. So I ended up leaving. Never to return.
Brand awareness is one of the simplest issues to overcome. It’s called advertising. This is the first I’ve heard of this chain, would have tried it had I known it existed. Anyhow, sounds like they are blaming their flop on externalities to save some face.
There are just so many chicken places around that a chicken place can’t really just be chicken “themed” it has to really win the battle. I ate there maybe twice total purely out of curiosity; I would agree that there was very little marketing done to make people aware of the place. Pollo Loco floods my mailbox with coupons but I can’t say the same for Pollo Tropical. As far as the color scheme I would agree that it is/was jarring because people here most likely haven’t seen that before anywhere in town. Houston predominantly has an American southern ambience not a tropical one.
Good riddance. Filthy, poorly ran, pathetically managed. Food was served like slop, no pride in the presentation. Employees couldn’t put their phones down long enough to listen to an entire order be placed. Dining area was empty, yet every table littered with trash, the floor even worse. I can only imagine how bad the kitchen was.
Whoever was district/ area management needs to be unemployed.
Maybe they could reopen them as two pesos?
I actually loved their concept and occasionally had good meals there. About half of the servers were really nice and others were really surly. Not surprised they didn’t make it.
Have to agree with many, food wasn’t bad but the few times I dined there the service was slow and it was always filthy. At some point if the dining room is a mess you have to wonder how clean is the kitchen. Filth + chicken = spending the night with the porcelain goddess.