Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana open adjacent restaurantsPollo Tropical, Taco Cabana open adjacent restaurants

For the first time, Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc. has opened one location each of its Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana brands in standalone buildings on adjacent sites in San Antonio.

With the dual opening this weekend, the Addison, Texas-based fast-casual operator now has five Pollo Tropical units in Texas, after introducing the Miami-based brand to the state in March.

Fiesta president and chief executive Tim Taft said in an interview that the next-door units provide customers with the options of either Tex-Mex or Caribbean food in one stop.

“If we didn’t build it next door, someone else would,” Taft said. “We think the whole enterprise benefits both brands.

“I think it will be something of hub for people to come in and decide which they want to go to,” he added.

The restaurants are in freestanding buildings and share only a property line and signage, Taft said. Both concepts have patios.

The site is located at a busy intersection in northwest San Antonio, which is the type of location Taft said the company seeks for both brands.

“We want to be at the corner of Main and Main or a big traffic generator,” he said, citing such locations as malls.

The company also seeks sites near households with average incomes of $80,000 to $90,000 and a mix of other businesses nearby, he said.

Taft added that Pollo Tropical has been greeted warmly in Texas, where Fiesta has opened units in Addison, Frisco and Houston since March. The company has six more units under construction in the state, he said.

Taco Cabana in San Antonia, Texas. Photo: Pollo Tropical

“Every place that we’ve opened [a Pollo Tropical] in Texas to date has exceeded our expectations,” he said. “We feel that by itself will bring a lot of people to that area.”

The Taco Cabana location is in Fiesta’s new prototype, which provides a fresh look for San Antonio, where the brand was started.

“Our customers for Pollo and Taco are the came customer, so you’re going to have families where the mom and dad may go to the Pollo and the kids might go to the Taco” Taft said. “We feel like there is a lot of synergy.”

Taco Cabana is open 24 hours, while Pollo Tropical typically closes at midnight.

“If demand is great, we may stay open later,” Taft said.

Fiesta’s net income for the June 29-ended second quarter rose 87.4 percent, to $9.3 million, or 35 cents a share, from $5 million, or 21 cents a share, in the prior-year period. Revenue increased 9.4 percent, to $154.2 million, from $149.9 million in the same quarter last year.
Same-store sales at Pollo Tropical increased 6.7 percent during the quarter, and same-store sales at Taco Cabana rose 2.8 percent.

As of June 29, Fiesta owned and operated 112 Pollo Tropical restaurants and 166 Taco Cabana locations. It also franchised 35 Pollo Tropical units in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. It franchised seven Taco Cabana restaurants domestically.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
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