Friday, November 6, 2015

Pollo Tropical Planning a Perimeter Paradise

The recently opened Pollo Tropical on Buford Drive in Buford 
Chicken chain looking to open new location.

Miami-based Pollo Tropical is in talks to open a new restaurant on Ashford-Dunwoody Road, across from Perimeter Mall.  The new freestanding restaurant would be built in place of the former DeKalb County police precinct on the triangular parcel at 4453 Ashford-Dunwoody Road.

The restaurant would be adjacent to Starbucks and at the cusp of the Ravinia office complex.  

Alan Kennedy, a director of Hines, who owns the property, spoke to members of the Dunwoody Homeowners Association at a meeting earlier this month and referred to Pollo Tropical as “a higher point of reference than a Panera.” Pollo Tropical is definitely a step above typical fast food, but alluding to it being somehow "better" or more "high end" than Panera would seem to be a stretch.  

If approved, Pollo Tropical would join McDonald's and Chick-fil-A as the only "quick serve" restaurants with drive- thru service in the immediate vicinity of the mall.

Sterling Pointe, currently under construction, and Ravinia Row, proposed, are both likely to bring more casual and full service restaurants to the area.  

In addition to the Dunwoody location, Pollo Tropical is planning a new location in Tucker. The restaurant would be built in an outparcel of the existing Target store at the corner of Northlake Parkway and LaVista Road, just off I-285.  The restaurant would be part of the newly created City of Tucker.   The restaurant and accompanying drive-thru must still receive council approval for the proposed SLUP (Special Land Use Permit).   

Pollo Tropical is also renovating their failed sister restaurant, Cabana Grill, on Scenic Highway in Snellville.  The restaurant, in an outparcel of Lowe's Home Improvement, is expected to reopen as Pollo Tropical in "Winter 2015."  

Pollo Tropical has been expanding its presence since re-entering the Atlanta market in 2011. There are currently nine locations open in Georgia.   Other locations are reportedly in the works in Gainesville, Hiram, McDonough and Newnan.

Are you in favor of Pollo Tropical being approved in the Perimeter Mall area? Where would you like to see the next Pollo Tropical open?  Do you consider Pollo Tropical more high end than Panera?

Please share your thoughts below. 

8 comments:

ImAndy said...

Terrible location. You can only access it from one side of the street starving off half your traffic. At least starbucks had a real entrance but it still takes 3 and 4 traffic light cycles to get back on Ashford dunwoody. If it wasn't for immediate traffic from the hotel and office building they wouldn't make it either.

The ExxonMobil is also terrible to get in and out of and I avoid it all together.

Those parcels need to stay banks or Verizon stores or something similar with less traffic

Anonymous said...

Pretty much agree across the board. Hate to see the stretch b/w 285 and Walmart get more crowded every year. Use to be, you could go Ash Dun. or Abernathy toward 400 to get in and out the immediate area quickly, no matter the time.

The exxon is best accessed from the rear, via the semicircle part of perimeter center. Sometimes I cross through the alon's lot too if that's more efficient. Going to sbux is a nightmare, or a meeting at Ravinia. New chick fil a pad site at the mall is awesome though. Noticed they close kind of early.

Ham said...

Sorry, but every time I hear about this chain of restaurants I think about Breaking Bad. Is Gus in…

Anonymous said...

Is the the same as the chicken restaurant that used to be on the corner of Lavista and N Druid Hills where Einstein Brothers Bagels is located? I know it was a chicken restaurant, but I don't recall the name.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon,

That is correct. That was a franchised location whereas this and others new to Atlanta are all corporate owned.

Thanks for the question and for your readership.

Anonymous said...

The former Dejalb police property on Ashford Dunwoody is a great location for a lot of different types of businesses, including certain retail. However I really do not think that Pollo Tropical is a good fit for that specific location. I also think that property is likely very expensive and I would hate to see an abandoned Pollo l in that space 18 months later; that would not be ideal for the area. They should take the location of the former log cabinish barbecue joint on Chamblee Dunwoody near Mt Vernon. BTW, that is a corner bakery going in at Sterling point. Any word (from anyone) on the big QT going in on Ashford Dunnwoody in front of Rivinia just at the corner when you exit the highway, about half mile just before log cabin Starbucks? Any word (from anyone) on the timing of the new Marlows in Brookhaven ? Eli you have the best blog in the entire city. I appreciated and I know we all appreciate your hard work and diligence. You should get some kind of Emmy or Vespie or whatever it is in the blog world.

Anonymous said...

Eli, Where's my previous post?

Anonymous said...

That location is just abysmal, they should put this kinda thing in the Walmart shopping center down the road.

How about doing something with that old bank on the corner of Ashford Dunwoody and Perimeter Center East (next block down from this proposed Pollo joint)? Really wish a gas station would go there so because the Exxon is overloaded all the time.

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