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Relaunch Planned for Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana

Fiesta Restaurant Group announces renewal plan for its two fast-casual concepts.

Fiesta Restaurant Group plans to re-launch its Pollo Tropical concept in September and Taco Cabana concept later in the year. The news follows Fiesta Restaurant Group’s late-February decision to suspend plans to sell the company.

Additionally, the company said it will close all Pollo Tropical locations in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, plus all locations in Nashville, Tenn. Nineteen Pollo Tropical restaurants outside of Florida will remain in operation, including 13 in Atlanta and 6 in South Texas. A corporate release announcing the move stated the continuing operations would allow the company to “apply and prove successful regional strategies for future Pollo Tropical expansion beyond Florida.”

The company may also rebrand up to five closed Pollo Tropical locations as Taco Cabana restaurants, according to the release.

Some of the priorities listed in Fiesta’s strategic renewal plan include:

  • Improve quality and freshness of natural ingredients across menus
  • Improve the guest experience and operational efficiency, including state-of-the-art digital platforms
  • Address deferred maintenance needs to bring restaurants up to a high-quality standard
  • Curtail restaurant development and remodeling until revitalization is established

The company also announced comparable restaurant sales decreased 6.7 percent for Pollo Tropical in the first quarter 2017, which ended April 2, and decreased 4.5 percent for Taco Cabana over the same period.