Pollo Tropical celebrated the grand opening of its third company-owned restaurant, in Jacksonville, Florida at the River City Marketplace, 730 Skymarks Drive, on Friday, May 18th, 2012. More than 100 customers lined up before the doors opened to be one of the first in the area to try the chain’s legendary marinated grilled chicken and Caribbean inspired menu.
To celebrate the grand opening, Pollo Tropical partnered with Duval County Public Schools’ Read It Forward Jax! initiative urging customers to bring donated books to the event. By the end of the day, more than 600 books were collected for the program.
The newest Jacksonville Pollo Tropical location offers the brand’s signature grilled chicken and made-from-scratch side dishes that customers have come to expect from the quick casual chain. In addition, the new restaurant offers a relaxed environment with modified table service, beer, wine, sangria and desserts and free Wi-Fi.
“Read It Forward Jax!” is Duval County Public Schools’ reading initiative aimed at improving literacy and reading comprehension skills for all students. “Read It Forward Jax!” partners with city, business, and non-profit organizations throughout the community to help teach Jacksonville’s children about the importance of reading.
The Pollo Tropical Jacksonville locations in Mandarin Corners Shopping Center and at the St. Johns Town Center will also be collecting donated books for “Read It Forward Jax!” through July 31 to promote summer reading.
Pollo Tropical owns and operates nearly 90 locations in the United States (Florida and Georgia), has more than 30 international franchised locations in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Ecuador, Honduras, Trinidad, Venezuela, and Costa Rica and has agreements in place for additional franchise restaurants in Panama, Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Pollo Tropical also has three franchised units located on college campuses in Florida. The first Pollo Tropical restaurant opened in 1988 in Miami, Florida.
The unique restaurant concept is known for its fresh, never frozen, open flame grilled chicken, marinated in a proprietary blend of tropical fruit juices and spices, as well as authentic “made from scratch” side dishes. For more information on Pollo Tropical, including menu items and nutritional information, visit online at www.pollotropical.com.
Pollo Tropical is part of Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. which also owns the Taco Cabana restaurant chain. Taco Cabana operates over 150 restaurants in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico and offers a wide selection of fresh Tex-Mex and traditional Mexican food. Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. is a public company trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “FRGI”. Additional information on Fiesta can be found at www.frgi.com.
