From Cane’s to Chick-fil-A and KFC, the Allen area is home to several chicken based fast food restaurants. But Pollo Tropical, the latest to join the scene, puts a Caribbean and Latin spin on things.

Walking into Pollo Tropical on McDermott just west of 75, diners are greeted by a super friendly host who hands you a menu, and explains how to order and how things at the restaurant works. A brief explanation is necessary as at Pollo Tropical customers are given a number and with that number you are assigned a seat.

The menu had a lot of great options with salads, wraps, grilled chicken, riblets, beef, and plenty more. There’s so much to choose from, a look at the menu before you visit might be a good call. To make things even more appealing, there are a lot of healthy options, which is refreshing when picking up fast food.

After much deliberation, the choice was calypso beef with two sides (yellow rice with vegetables and red beans and mac ‘n cheese) and a bread roll. The beef was pretty good, along with the rice and beans. The mac ‘n cheese was decent, but overall the sides were mediocre. They weren’t bad by any means, but they weren’t fantastic leaving you wanting seconds. The bread roll was pretty plain and didn’t seem very fresh, so no more than two bites was taken of that.

Dessert was where things got really good as the slice of tres leches cake was wonderful. Probably the favorite part of the meal, it was spongy and sweet and was small enough to where you won’t feel too guilty eating it.

Pollo Tropical is definitely worth a try. It’s a major game changer when it comes to fast food, and it’s a nice alternative to a city full of hamburgers and chicken fingers.