The fast casual has experienced 40 straight months of traffic growth and posting a nearly $4 million AUV.

Pollo Tropical CEO Dirk Montgomery describes the chain as an “icon” in the state of Florida.

Of the chain’s roughly 150 locations, about 80 percent are in the Sunshine State, and that’s a footprint and reputation built over nearly 40 years.

Today, it’s producing some of the strongest operating metrics in quick service.

The chain has generated 40 consecutive months of positive traffic growth since January 2023, excluding the impact of hurricanes that temporarily disrupted operations in October 2024. Through April 2026, same-store sales are up 15 percent on a two-year basis and traffic has increased 13.2 percent. Annual unit volumes have climbed to $3.85 million, while the business is generating an EBITDA run rate exceeding $100 million.

Pollo Tropical hasn’t opened a new unit in five years, but it plans to break that drought in 2027 with growth both inside and outside Florida.

These results didn’t happen out of thin air. Pollo Tropical required work.

Much of that happened under Authentic Restaurant Brands, which acquired the fast casual in 2023. Pollo Tropical was previously operated by publicly traded Fiesta Restaurant Group, which also oversaw Taco Cabana. Although the chain entered the restaurant group with a cult following, operations weren’t aligned. Admittedly, the company became too complex.

“The first thing that we saw is the brand was truly loved in the regions it served,” says ARB CEO Alex Macedo. “So all kinds of brand research that we did suggest that this was a loved brand. Now that doesn’t mean the ops scores and the guests were happy with the brand. They were actually pretty pissed.”

ARB received a concept that had been neglecting speed and customer service, offering an overly saturated menu, and not being managed correctly. Still, leadership saw the potential. Macedo says Pollo Tropical isn’t too different from Chipotle, but it has the added convenience of a drive-thru and is priced “way below” the Mexican giant. In fact, the chain is running at 1.8 percent pricing right now.

“Chipotle over the last 20 years has really taught the country how to eat chicken, rice, and beans—effectively what we serve. So we’re like, wow, this could be a huge business case because what we serve now is really contemporary,” Macedo says. “It’s high protein, it’s grilled, it’s not fried. Rice and beans are something that now people eat on a regular basis and we have the ability to do it through the drive-thru 30 percent cheaper than the competitor.”

Plus, Pollo Tropical doesn’t rely on beef, which has seen significant inflation—an advantage the company has over the likes of big players like McDonald’s and Burger King. And there is more whitespace. The fast casual has 122 units in Florida while Chipotle, KFC, and McDonald’s have hundreds. Given Pollo Tropical’s economics, including over 30 percent four-wall margins, Macedo believes it could double its footprint in Florida without venturing out of state. He also thinks it’s capable of going national too.

How did Pollo Tropical arrive at this inflection point?

Montgomery says the chain went back to its roots by focusing on four key areas, beginning with fixing the menu. Pollo Tropical ran over 50 LTOs in 2022, making life difficult for operations teams. In response, the chain shifted to longer promotional windows and eliminated a number of menu items and instead chose to elevate the core grilled chicken products that are marinated for 24 hours and provided fresh to the consumer. These items are what “made this brand a great brand since its inception,” according to Montgomery.

The TropiChop Bowl, which has been featured at $7.99 for two consecutive years, along with family meals and platters, represents roughly 70 percent of the business.

“What we found from refocusing on these core items in value and messaging them in our commercials was that we significantly increased and layered on the unit velocity of each of those items as we promoted them in a rotational way,” Montgomery says.

Another area of improvement was operations, specifically guest satisfaction and speed of service. For example, the chain simplified its menu boards. Beforehand, Pollo Tropical showcased highly customized offerings that required guests to go through each ingredient. Now, the menu is divided up numerically, meaning guests can order a No. 1 or No. 2 and so on, similar to other QSRs. This also allowed employees to process orders quickly because they immediately know what to put in each meal choice. This switch was combined with the implementation of workers taking orders outside in the drive-thru.

These efforts cut speed of service from five minutes to under three. Guest satisfaction has proportionately increased.

“Those are virtuous cycles because they go together,” Montgomery says. “Guests that get in and out of the drive-through quickly are happier guests.”

Pollo Tropical also reinvested in the late-night daypart, an area it pulled back on during COVID. Now the company is open until midnight systemwide.

The third major difference was optimized marketing through analytics—a strength of ARB. In addition to putting more weight behind core menu items and their value proposition, Pollo Tropical shifted its media mix toward platforms its customers mostly used, which are traditional TV and radio. Because of this change, TropiChop Bowl sales are up 10 percent year-over-year. Family meals (whole chicken beans, rice, and rolls for $21.99) and platters (half chicken platter for $10.29 offered in Q1) have seen a significant sales boost as well.

Pollo Tropical’s fourth transformation pillar is people and culture. The chain improved GM development and provided a career path mechanism for hourly employees. Last year, the fast casual had over 100 internal promotions of hourly workers into management.

“I think overall, we got back to the roots of the brand after we were acquired by ARB,” Montgomery says. “I think our thesis when I became the CEO, our strategy was very much aligned with ARBs in that we had a number of opportunities that would quickly turn around the business.”

The strategy isn’t over yet either. Soon, Pollo Tropical will begin testing self-order kiosks, hoping to see improved efficiency and notable increases in average check. Additionally, the fast casual wants to leverage its protein-heavy menu, especially given the surging popularity of the macronutrient. The chain found that an overwhelming majority of its customers are interested in getting more protein in their diets. Pollo Tropical has seven menu items with over 60 grams of protein, but awareness is still relatively low. So similar to the core value messaging, the company believes it has a big opportunity to communicate these nutritional facts more aggressively.

More double drive-thru restaurants are coming too. Most existing stores don’t have enough real estate to fit a second lane. However, all new restaurants will.

“We try to focus on things that we know are going to make a big impact without making the life of our team members more difficult. In fact, making their lives easier,” Macedo says. “Our turnover decreased dramatically when we started our strategy. With people having more tenure, scores are at an all-time high, so things just start to get into a virtuous cycle that’s very positive for us.”

In terms of becoming a national brand, Macedo and Montgomery didn’t turn away the idea of Pollo Tropical entering franchising.

“I think we’re very excited about the future. I think we have a lot of runway in our organic growth formula,” Montgomery says. “Very durable traffic drivers for existing units and even more opportunity with new units.”

Source https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/how-authentic-restaurant-brands-revived-pollo-tropicals-momentum/