Tropical Picken Chicken Raleigh

One on the worst places I have eaten. Paid extra for the white meat jerk chicken. They must have starved the poor thing before they cooked it since there was no meat on the bones. Was served boiled in a broth with peppers and pineapples but was not very spicy and not very appetizing. The yellow rice was ok at best. Substituted plantains (which had little flavor and stuck to my teeth). One very thin and very hard piece of bread. Thank God the McDonalds has a drive through. Also no sanitation posting in site, believe that is a violation. Best advice is to pass this one by.

Went again and it was a little better. The Cuban Sandwich was really good, the empanadas are fried so avoid that. I had the pulled pork and it was ok, came with rice and fried green plantains for two dollars extra, I tell you they could not pull this crap in Miami. The entire bill for us both was like 30, which is pretty sad considering the same thing would’ve cost 15 in Miami and NYC. This is a place that everyone will adore because it is all FAT FAT FAT. Lot’s of good tasting heart attacks, must be experienced at least once. Not good for romance or bromance, just come and go fast, like a house of ill repute.

Wow. How does this place not have 5 stars? First off, their mofongo is the closest thing I have had to what I got in San Juan, PR. It is so freakin good! A lot of folks have commented about it not being authentic Cuban food, but I would say it is definitely more so Puerto Rican cuisine. (Hence the PR flags painted everywhere inside.). Maybe that is part of the confusion?
Anyways, although the mofongo is always a hit, I decided to try something new and got the ¼ chicken and steak combo with black beans and Yucca fries. It might have been better than the mofongo! Their green sauce is the bomb, and the atmosphere & people working there are great. I hope more people find out about this joint because it is easily becoming my favorite in Raleigh. I’m beating myself up because I had never been to the one in Wake Forest…

I bought two Groupons for Tropical. My husband and I ordered the boneless chicken, and chicken tenders for our daughter. We were so disappointed with the thin, dried out chicken pieces. The chicken tenders were burnt, and my child couldn’t eat them. They need to improve their recipes, and cooking techniques. My husband stated he was still hungry after we left. Our bill was $ 35.00 before the Groupons. I feel that price is too high for the quality of the food. We were also advised that we could only use one Groupon per table. The owner allowed us to use both Groupons after we offered to sit at separate tables to meet the requirements of the Groupon. I would not recommend. This is not authentic Puerto Rican food, and not a good place to spend your night out.

I went with my wife to eat at this establishment last night, by far this is some of the worst Caribbean food I have ever eaten. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, lived there for 25 years and have traveled throughout the Caribbean, so I would like to say I know a little on how it should taste. We started by ordering an empanada. Not to much to complain about it, besides the chicken not having much flavor, by far this was the best dish. I ordered chicharron de pollo with white rice and red beans. My wife ordered a small mofongo with fried pork. My rice and beans where tasteless, the beans tasted like they had opened a can added onions and potatoes and done nothing else. The white rice had no salt, and it taste greasy. The chicken had garlic mojo and that and the grease was the only thing you could taste. Don’t get me wrong I Love garlic, I could take baths in it. But that does not excuse you from putting some seasoning on the chicken. My wife’s dish could not be eaten. The mofongo taste like it had been fried that morning or day before and warmed up in the microwave. The pork had no flavor, it actually tasted like plastic. I told my wife not to eat it and we just left. I had better food at school cafeterias in Puerto Rico and that is saying a lot. I am ashamed that this place is trying to represent my food. NEVER AGAIN!

Sorry but this place is new and needs improvement. Strange layout it has a cafeteria feel to it. It’s not like their other places. I ordered porkchops with rice and beans and to my surprise it was over cooked chop and crunchy. Not to mention that it was difficult to find. Not returning

Authentic and delicious every time. If you are looking for authentic Cuban/​Latin/​Puerto Rican food, this is the place to go. Great customer service, clean establishment, great portions… enough for the whole family without breaking the budget.

Best food i have so far and the price is good to and the portions they are very good to I like everything so far good ambient

Wow the Mofongo is awesome! Brings me back to a great trip I had in Puerto Rico. Will definitely be back to try other dishes :)

Omg love Cuban Food!!! First of all after walking in I loved the very bright Décor. Very Kewl! Ordered large plantains to share. Hubby had roasted pork with your choice of rice and beans yum! I ordered chicken chunks! I have not had those since eating at a place in NY. (unfortunately that closed) the chicken is nice n garlicky and deep fried to perfection! People beware of the bones in the chunks. They prob use a cleaver to chop the chunks. So goooood. Wish we lived here now yum!

This is not the Puerto Rican food I grew up with. I ordered the Arroz con Pollo, with a side of tostones. It also came with a salad. Tostones were great. The rice and chicken on the other hand were not what I was expecting. It came in a cute «caldero» and had green beans, peas, carrots and corn in it. That is NOT typical Puerto Rican arroz con pollo AT ALL. The rice was mushy and with the shredded chicken it seemed more like a pollo guisado (chicken stew). If they can’t even get a simple dish like that right then I’m afraid to go back and try anything else. Then again whatelse would I try, the jerk chicken? Since when is that a Puerto Rican dish?

If the outside of your business says mofongo and the inside does, too. Why isn’t it on the menu? The advertising is very misleading.

Wednesday Cuban sandwich deal cant be beat here, its kinda skimpy but for $ 5 and it comes with a drink and fries nobody is complaining. I always pay an extra dollar to get the plantains as a side which are awesome here.
One thing to note on the sandwiches is they press them with butter on the outside which I think makes them real greasy so I had to ask them not to put anything on the bread which they are happy to do.
You order at the counter and they bring it out to you, real helpful and friendly staff.

Wow, prepared to be amazed! Was starving and driving around aimlessly trying to find food when I stumbled across this place. Walked in and thought hmmm do I feel lucky? The guy at the counter was really nice and explained the pulled pork and shredded chicken is their specialty. Holy mackerel the pork is amazing, black beans and yellow rice make it outstanding! I’m stuffed but don’t want to waste the food. Guacamole out of this world! You won’t be disappointed and i definitely be back.

My food was overly greasy… without the greasy part, the food was fresh and very good. I will go again but I will not pick anything that is fried or pan fried.

It’s a larger and brighter location than the Wake Forest branch, but the food was not up to the same quality. Everything was kind of greasy and all the fried foods were way overcooked. It’s a new location, so I’m willing to give it another try when they’ve worked the bugs out, but it has a long way to go.

We wanted to visit Tropical because it is new to our neighborhood. Upon entering it appeared that the restaurant was unfinished. The menu was a little confusing with no pictures of the food on the menu. We normally really enjoy food that would be considered «tropical». I guess we did not realize that meant it was dripping in grease.
I ordered the ¼ Chicken with yellow rice and salad. The chicken was pretty delicious, the rice was okay, but the salad had no dressing (none was offered).
The real trouble began after we ate the food, I am just not used to jerk chicken being mixed in with so much grease and fat. I don’t think we will return as the food was pretty good, but I felt so blah, after eating it. If you are used to eating such greasy food, you may like it.

I’ve been so looking forward to the new location pretty much right across Six Forks from my office. Today, I finally made it over! I had the Cuban sandwich special (sandwich, fries, refillable soft drink) for $ 5! Yep, that’s FIVE dollars! The sandwich was HUGE!
The sandwich was not only huge, but delicious. As soon as I bit into it, I was like… oh, this is good! I dipped it at times into the nice hot green stuff (I won’t tell you what my honey called it!), the fries, while not handcut, were pretty crisply fried and good… and of course, that refillable drink. I also have half of MY sandwich for later and half of my honey’s.
Let me mention, they DO bring the food out to you, you get a number for your table. And they bus it. So, you order in a line… kind of like Jason’s Deli.
I will be back!

I found this place by its original Wake Forest location, glad to see its growing again. I had the Boriqua sandwich and it was amazing. They never let me down, the food portions, quality and service is awesome. When my family comes into town this is the first place we go.

Having been to the Wake Forest location, I was so excited to see another location much closer to me! The food is amazing and the staff was very welcoming and courteous. Special thanks to the owner for the mofongo! He made it by request and it was the best I’ve had outside of Puerto Rico! Definitely will be frequenting this place.