Chicken chain to close three more metro units.
Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc., the Dallas, Texas-based owner of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana restaurant chains, announced earlier today that they will be closing 30 more Pollo Tropical restaurants. As many as five of the closing Pollo Tropical units may be converted to the Taco Cabana concept, the company said.
Fiesta has gone through a number of changes in recent months, most notably was longtime CEO Tim Taft retiring this past September. The company’s board subsequently pulled pack on their previously announced plan to separate its two concepts. Richard Stockinger, former CEO and president of Benihana Inc., was named CEO of Fiesta this past February.
In metro Atlanta the restaurant closures include the following locations:
10900 Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta
1510 Market Place Boulevard in Cumming
5815 State Bridge Road in Johns Creek
According to a representative from the restaurant, all restaurants announced to be closing were effectively closed after dinner service this past Sunday.
The closures of the Cumming and North Point locations are not shocking to me considering I personally had bad experiences at both locations within the past few months. Staffing, among other issues, is one area that has plagued the chain in their entry into new markets such as Atlanta.
Although I was unable to get any indication of the company's plans, I think it's highly unlikely that any of the Atlanta area restaurants will be converted to the Taco Cabana brand.
Atlanta's only Taco Cabana restaurant was reportedly operated by a "rogue franchisee," and closed in 2013.
As I reported in 2015, the company converted its short-lived "experimental concept" Cabana Grill on Scenic Highway in Snellville to Pollo Tropical.
This past October, the company shuttered 10 of its then 209 Pollo Tropical restaurants, mostly in its recent expansion market of Texas. The closures, part of the company's "portfolio review," meant the closure of one metro Atlanta location on Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb. The East Cobb closure, like many of the others, was a new location, having barely been open a year. Sources indicate that the East Cobb location, advertised by The Shopping Center Group as a "State of the Art Restaurant Building," has received a fair amount of interest but is also premium priced given its newness and location.
The 30 additional closures announce today are mostly in recently built-out markets. Fiesta will close all Pollo Tropical locations in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee.
In addition to the three Atlanta closures, Pollo Tropical shuttered three units in Nashville, three in Houston, three in Austin, five in San Antonio and thirteen in Dallas-Fort Worth. Two of the now shuttered Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants opened just this past September.
Fiesta said it would continue to operate 19 Pollo Tropical restaurants outside its original market of Florida, including 13 units in Atlanta and six locations in south Texas.
A handful of Pollo Tropical restaurants operated in Atlanta in the late 90s under a franchisee, but closed in short order due to disappointing sales. The company re-entered the Atlanta market in 2011 under corporate control, with a location in Lawrenceville. A short time after Pollo Tropical's return, El Pollo Loco, another quick-serve chicken chain, left the market entirely. Launched as a franchise market in 2007, the Costa Mesa, California-based chain had assumed control of the restaurants in 2009, and immediately closed half the units locally. By late 2011, all had closed with chains like Hardee's, Bojangles' and Del Taco, among others, taking over their former locations.
Are you surprised that Pollo Tropical is closing so many locations? What would you like to see open in place of the recently shuttered Atlanta area locations? What is your favorite quick-serve chicken chain?
Please share your thoughts below.