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Fiesta Restaurant Group reopens some Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana dining roomsFiesta Restaurant Group reopens some Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana dining rooms

Fast-casual restaurant company had closed in-store service during COVID-19

Ron Ruggless, Senior Editor

November 5, 2020

2 Min Read
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Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc., parent to the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brands, has been slowly reopening its dining rooms that were all closed in the COVID-19 pandemic, executives said Wednesday

“Our business mix historically had been more heavily weighted toward the dine-in occasion, compared to our fast-casual peers for both brands, at approximately 26% of our revenue,” said Richard Stockinger, Fiesta CEO, in a third-quarter earnings call.

“The evolving status of the pandemic has clearly had an impact on consumer comfort levels with the dining experience,” Stockinger told analysts. The company had closed all of its dining rooms June 12.

The Dallas-based fast-casual company has 23 Pollo Tropical dining rooms open and 20 Taco Cabana dining rooms, he said. About 70 patios are now open.

“We are evaluating sales trends weekly to determine which units should be open for dining business,” he said. “We continue to operate our drive-throughs, as well as our counter, curbside pickup, delivery and online ordering.”

Stockinger said Fiesta said it had two key criteria for reopening dining rooms: the ability to maintain a safe health environment for team members and guests and the ability to generate a profit on dining room sales.

During the quarter, Pollo Tropical’s new smartphone application, developed by Bottle Rocket, went live in July.

Related:Fiesta Restaurant Group closes Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana dining rooms amid coronavirus surge

“We expect to significantly grow our online sales through this much improved experience,” Stockinger said. “Although the app was just recently launched, loyalty club sign-ups since the app went live have increased 53% compared to the average weekly sign-up rate prior to the new app.”

Fiesta is also if the process of selling its 16 owned properties, completed four sales in the third quarter and five in the fourth quarter, Stockinger said.

The remaining seven properties are under contract or have offers, he noted. “There can be no assurance that those transactions will ultimately be completed,” Stockinger added.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 17, Fiesta’s net income swung to a profit of $4.6 million, or 18 cents a share, from a loss of $22.2 million, or 84 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenues fell 16.4% to $137.3 million from $164.2 million in the prior-year quarter.

Same-store sales were down at both brands in the third quarter, with a decrease of 11.1% at Pollo Tropical and a decline of 14.2% at Taco Cabana.

As of Sept. 27, Fiesta owned and operated 138 Pollo Tropical restaurants and 145 Taco Cabana restaurants. All of the Pollo Tropical restaurants are in Florida, and all of the Taco Cabana restaurants are in Texas. The company also franchised 33 Pollo Tropical units and seven Taco Cabana units.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

 

About the Author

Ron Ruggless

Senior Editor, Nation’s Restaurant News / Restaurant Hospitality

Ron Ruggless serves as a senior editor for Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN.com) and Restaurant Hospitality (Restaurant-Hospitality.com) online and print platforms. He joined NRN in 1992 after working 10 years in various roles at the Dallas Times Herald newspaper, including restaurant critic, assistant business editor, food editor and lifestyle editor. He also edited several printings of the Zagat Dining Guide for Dallas-Fort Worth, and his articles and photographs have appeared in Food & Wine, Food Network and Self magazines. 

Ron Ruggless’ areas of expertise include foodservice mergers, acquisitions, operations, supply chain, research and development and marketing. 

Ron Ruggless is a frequent moderator and panelist at industry events ranging from the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) conference to RestaurantSpaces, the Council of Hospitality and Restaurant Trainers, the National Restaurant Association’s Marketing Executives Group, local restaurant associations and the Horeca Professional Expo in Madrid, Spain.

Ron Ruggless’ experience:

Regional and Senior Editor, Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality (1992 to present)

Features Editor – Dallas Times Herald (1989-1991)

Restaurant Critic and Food Editor – Dallas Times Herald (1987-1988)

Editing Roles – Dallas Times Herald (1982-1987)

Editing Roles – Charlotte (N.C.) Observer (1980-1982)

Editing Roles – Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald (1978-1980)

Email: [email protected]

Social media:

Twitter@RonRuggless

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ronruggless

Instagram: @RonRuggless

TikTok: @RonRuggless

 

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