Tropical Chicken

Pollo Tropical spices up restaurant scene with new Dallas locations

Pollo Tropical specializes in chicken with Latin sides such as rice and black beans.

Photo courtesy of Pollo Tropical

Fast-casual chicken chain Pollo Tropical is finally staking a claim inside Dallas proper, with a branch slated to open on Greenville Avenue and four more branches opening around Dallas-Fort Worth in 2015.

The Greenville Avenue branch will open toward the end of the year, in an SMU-friendly spot that's just south of University Boulevard, says Danny Meisenheimer, chief operating officer.

"We have a few locations in Florida that are right on college campuses," he says. "College kids love the food. We call it food you feel better about eating."

They're also opening a branch off 75 and Campbell, and they're hitting Tarrant County with new stores in Euless, Wautaga and Southlake. More branches will open in Houston and San Antonio, as well. "Our goal is to Caribbean-ize Texas," he says. "We want to take Texans to the island."

Pollo Tropical has Dallas ties. Though based in Miami, it's owned by Fiesta Restaurant Group based in Addison, along with its sister brand Taco Cabana. Pollo Tropical made its debut in Texas in 2014 when it opened a branch in Addison. There are now more than 15 locations in Texas, including restaurants in Frisco, Denton, Fort Worth and Allen, with plans for at least 11 more.

Its signature dish is citrus-marinated grilled chicken, but the menu also includes mojo pork, beef, wings and tropical sides such as rice, beans, yuca and sweet plantains. The cuisine is Caribbean, which makes it stand apart from Mexican-themed chicken chains such as Pollo Regio.

"Caribbean is the heart of our brand," Meisenheimer says. "It's really what drives us. It starts in the kitchen, with beans, rice, plantains, fried yuca and tropical juices like guava. And then the design of the building, which we updated with the opening of the Addison store."

To emphasize its flavor profile, Pollo Tropical is throwing a month-long "Caribbean Heritage" celebration by offering discounts to customers who bring in coupons from the competition.

Meisenheimer says there's something addictive about the flavors.

"It's citrus, it's garlic, it's the Scotch bonnet peppers, it's the variety of Caribbean spices, there's so much flavor in our products," he says. "And the dipping sauces are something you don't find everywhere, like curry mustard and cilantro garlic and guava barbecue and pineapple rum. If you take those sauces, it lets you make each meal different.

"And the sides go beyond rice and beans. The fried yuca is like a potato but with a tropical kick. And the plantains are great."

Although they don't advertise Pollo Tropical as "healthy," Meisenheimer says that the lean, light approach is in line, including a Tropical Light line with dishes under 500 calories.

"You can come in and eat healthy," he says. "But I think it's really the authenticity. We do a lot of scratch cooking with food that's hand-made at the store. It's not cookie-cutter. This place is real."

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Punk News

Tasting menu restaurant Punk Noir to open in Dallas' Design District

Courtesy rendering

Punk Noir

A new restaurant doing a tasting menu only is coming to Dallas' Design District: Called Punk Noir, it'll open at 139 Turtle Creek Blvd, #130, Dallas, TX 75207 with a 20-course tasting menu and an immersive, multi-room design — smashing the conventions of fine dining, as a press release so articulately states.

It's set to debut Tuesday, June 2, in time to welcome World Cup visitors.

Led by James Beard Award-winning chef RJ Cooper, the restaurant will combine "world-class cuisine, irreverent artistry, and edgy elegance."

Punk Noir A funky, punky cocktail.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

Owners are Dallas natives John McKeel and his sons Cole and Clay McKeel, who conceived the project as a passion project.

“Punk Noir is a rebellion against the ordinary,” Cole McKeel says in a statement. “What initially inspired us to open this concept were our personal experiences traveling across the USA, Europe, and Japan. We’ve eaten at many Michelin-starred restaurants, even some ranked among the Top 50 in the world. So many of them had amazing food, but the experience often felt flat—stiff, quiet, and even intimidating. We wanted to create something different: food that is just as refined and world-class, but an experience that is unforgettable, irreverent, and full of energy."

Punk Noir — which is no relation to Punk Royale, a similar-sounding European concept founded in Stockholm in 2015 that has since opened spinoffs in Copenhagen and Oslo — will be in a 9,500-square-foot warehouse where it will host two to three seatings per night, with only 26 seats per seating.

The space will incorporate:

a dramatic communal dining room with projection-mapped visuals and graffiti art led by a “Mistress of Ceremonies”
an open kitchen where Cooper presents select courses to an intimate neon-lit dining room
the Noir Lounge, which will seat 46 guests and offer cocktails alongside “mini tasting” menus for those not partaking in the full experience

A VIP car service option will also be available, chauffeuring guests directly to the restaurant in a black SUV and delivering them up a private ramp and into the restaurant where they will be escorted to the first room to begin the immersive dining experience.

One of the 20 courses at Punk Noir.Photo by Amy Zawacki

The food
The experience will consist of a 20-course tasting menu that weaves together global influences, cutting-edge gastronomy, and Cooper's personal inspirations. The release says that diners can expect courses that are "playful and provocative — some just a single bite, others layered with theatricality and multi-sensory touches."

From the release:

"The menu will change often but the experience begins with an 'agrarian prologue,' exploring the quiet intimacy of soil, root, and garden before moving toward the pull of the sea. Early courses such as camote morado with huitlacoche and blue crab with seaweed and calamansi establish a dialogue between land and ocean.

"As the progression unfolds, the menu builds tension through fire and transformation - featuring dishes like scallop with turmeric and Kaluga caviar, turbot with mussel and plankton, and cod cheek with dashi. Later sample courses explore indulgence through restraint, with compositions including Peking duck, Australian wagyu, and fermented endive - each emphasizing controlled richness and depth.

"The experience concludes with unexpected, thought-provoking pairings, for example, onion with Amur caviar, white chocolate with kombu, and sunchoke with ash - designed to challenge and resolve the palate in equal measure."

Ingredients will feature seasonal highlights from Italy, Japan, Central America, and closer to home. Each course will be paired with wines, cocktails, and zero-proof beverages.

The 20-course tasting menu is $295 per person.

The chef
RJ Cooper won a James Beard Award for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic in 2007. His prior concepts include Rogue 24, serving a 24-course tasting menu, in Washington, D.C.; Gypsy Soul, a Southern bistro; and Saint Stephen and Acqua in Nashville. He previously worked at Vidalia in D.C. for seven years and has earned national press.

Punk Noir Artwork by Michael Shellis in the Noir Lounge.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

The bar manager
The cocktail tasting program, led by acclaimed bar manager Shane Scully, is "a multi-course exploration of form, flavor, and restraint - reimagining signature cocktails through a lower-ABV lens without sacrificing depth or impact," the release says. The wine program will focus on wines "with a clear sense of place and straightforward appeal, drawing from classic and emerging regions including Champagne, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley in France, as well as Napa Valley and Sonoma in California, alongside selections from Italy and Spain," they say.

The owner
John McKeel shares his and his sons' vision for Punk Noir: “It is irreverent fine dining. The lounge has punk graffiti wall art and unrestrained departure from the familiar. We are here to challenge the norms of traditional fine dining, turn the Dallas dining scene on its head. We are disruptors. We are here to challenge our guests' conventions of what elevated dining should be. We provide an experience that is surprising, provocative, entertaining, and delicious."

Reservations can now be booked at https://www.exploretock.com/punk-noir/.

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This story originally was published on September 25, 2025 and has been updated with opening date, new menu and personnel details.