Pollo Tropical sells catering from its own catering site, and the order form opens every hot package with the same question. Before you pick a protein, a rice or a sauce, you pick a format: Buffet Style or Individual Packaging.
The food stays the same either way. A Classic Pollo package for 25 carries the same chicken, rice, black beans, rolls and sauce in both formats. The format decides whether it arrives in shared trays for a serving line or in one container per guest. We read the form at every catering storefront the brand lists and found the choice on 976 of 976 package listings: both packages, all four sizes, all 122 catering storefronts.
That makes Pollo Tropical easy to fit to an office. A team that eats together at one long table takes the buffet. A meeting where people eat at their seats, or a day when half the team collects lunch between calls, takes the individual containers. You decide the room first, and the menu second.
In this guide
- The format question at the top of every package
- Classic Pollo and TropiChop, side by side
- The four sizes, and the number every line repeats
- Which format fits which room
- Two proteins in one package
- The seven sauces, the sides and the rest of the menu
- How to order, step by step
One Question at the Top of Every Package
Pollo Tropical runs catering through a dedicated catering storefront, separate from its everyday online ordering. The site lists 122 public catering storefronts, one per participating restaurant, and each one publishes its own copy of the menu. All 122 copies carry the same 34 products.
Eight of those products are the hot packages: Classic Pollo and TropiChop, each for 10, 15, 25 or 50 people. On all eight, at all 122 catering storefronts, the first option group is the packaging type.
| Product | Sizes | First choice on the form |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Pollo | 10, 15, 25, 50 | Buffet Style or Individual Packaging |
| TropiChop | 10, 15, 25, 50 | Buffet Style or Individual Packaging |
| Sandwich Platter | 10 | Choose ten sandwiches |
| Wrap Platter | 10 | Choose ten wraps |
Buffet Style adds nothing to the order. Individual Packaging adds a charge per person, so the line grows with the size of the package. The TropiChop description says the same thing in words: individual packaging is an additional charge per person. Either way, every other line on the package stays as it was.
Two Packages: Classic Pollo and TropiChop
Classic Pollo is a plate: grilled chicken on the bone with rice, black beans and a roll. TropiChop is a bowl: two rice bases, beans, chopped chicken or pork, vegetables and sauce. Here is what the form lets you choose in each.
| Part | Classic Pollo | TropiChop |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | Quarter chicken on the bone as standard; half chicken, mojo roast pork or boneless chicken breast for a charge | Boneless chicken breast or mojo roast pork |
| Rice | One of white rice, yellow rice with vegetables or brown rice | Two of the same three, as the base |
| Beans | Black beans, included | Black beans, or no beans |
| Toppings | None | Diced tomatoes, corn, peppers and sautéed onions |
| Sauce | One of seven (two at the 50-person size) | Two of seven |
| Bread | Rolls | None listed |
Pick Classic Pollo for a lunch that should feel like a sit-down meal, with a knife and fork and a plate. Pick TropiChop for a lunch people eat from one container with a fork, at a desk or on the move. Both come in both formats, so a TropiChop can still go out on a buffet line, and a Classic Pollo can still arrive one container per guest.
Four Sizes, and the Number Every Line Repeats
Each size is its own product on the form, so a Classic Pollo for 15 and a Classic Pollo for 25 sit side by side as separate items. Inside each package, the protein, rice, bean, sauce and packaging lines repeat the size in their names: “White Rice For 25”, “Black Beans For 25”, “Guava BBQ For 25”.
That repetition is useful when you check an order before you pay. On a package for 25, each of those lines should say 25. A line that says 10 belongs to a different package, and the extra-sides list at the bottom of each package uses the same naming, so the sides you add match the size you chose.
For a headcount between two sizes, choose the larger size, or pair two packages. A lunch for 35 can run as a Classic Pollo for 25 and a TropiChop for 10, which also puts both of the brand’s formats of the menu on one table.
Buffet Style or Individual Packaging: Which Fits the Room
Both formats carry the same menu, so you can make this choice on the room alone. The general trade-offs are in our guide to boxed lunch catering vs buffet and our comparison of boxed lunch, buffet and family style. For a Pollo Tropical order, the short version runs like this.
- Take Buffet Style for a team that eats together: a celebration, a long-table lunch, or an all-hands where people come back for seconds and choose their own sauce at the line.
- Take Individual Packaging for a lunch-and-learn, a meeting where people eat at their seats, or a hybrid office where people collect lunch at different times. Our guide to boxed lunches for hybrid teams covers that last case.
- Split the order when the day has two shapes. A buffet for the team lunch and a small individually packed order for the people in back-to-back calls come from the same menu, so nobody eats a different meal.
Whichever format you choose, you still pick the sauce, rice and protein yourself, and the order form keeps those lines the same in both.
Plan individually packed meals with CaterAi
Two Proteins in One Package
The Classic Pollo package starts with a quarter chicken on the bone. Its Protein Selection line swaps that for a half chicken, mojo roast pork or boneless chicken breast, each for a charge. A second line, Add Additional Protein, puts another protein in the same package. The brand’s own package description names one pairing: “1/4 Bone-In Chicken And Pork”. You get it by keeping the quarter chicken and adding pork.
| Line on the form | Classic Pollo | TropiChop |
|---|---|---|
| Main protein | Quarter chicken (standard), half chicken, mojo roast pork, boneless chicken breast | Boneless chicken breast or mojo roast pork |
| Second protein | Half chicken, pork or boneless chicken breast | An extra portion of chicken breast or pork |
Mojo roast pork is a Cuban dish: pork marinated in mojo, a garlic and citrus sauce, then roasted. It is the one protein on the menu that is not chicken, which makes it the natural second line for a room that wants a choice. The boneless chicken breast suits a meeting where people eat with a fork, and the quarter chicken on the bone suits a table with plates and knives.
Every package is built on chicken or pork. For a guest who eats neither, speak to the restaurant before you order. Our guide to ordering catering for mixed dietary needs covers how to collect those needs from a team in advance. This guide is not allergy, dietary or medical advice.
The Seven Sauces
You set the flavour of a Pollo Tropical order with the sauce. The form offers seven, and every package asks you to choose.
- Fresh Salsa
- BBQ
- Guava BBQ
- Pineapple Rum
- Cilantro Garlic
- Curry Mustard
- Spicy Poyo Poyo
Guava BBQ and Pineapple Rum carry the tropical fruit the brand is named for. Cilantro Garlic is the herb sauce the brand also builds two of its catering sandwiches around. Spicy Poyo Poyo is the one sauce whose name says spicy, so pair it with a milder sauce on a TropiChop, which takes two. Each sauce is also sold on its own in a 16-ounce container, for a buffet line where people add their own.
Sides, Platters, Desserts and Drinks
The rest of the menu is short and fits around the packages.
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Extra sides | White, brown or yellow rice, black beans, corn, sweet plantains, house salad, Caesar salad, and rolls by the dozen, in the same four sizes as the packages |
| Meats on their own | Boneless chicken breast (ten at least), fire-grilled whole chicken, mojo roast pork for ten |
| Sandwich Platter for 10 | Ten sandwiches from grilled or crispy chipotle chicken and grilled or crispy cilantro garlic chicken |
| Wrap Platter for 10 | Ten wraps from grilled chicken quesadilla, grilled chicken Caesar and crispy chicken Caesar |
| Desserts | Chocolate chip cookies, individual flan, individual cuatro leches |
| Drinks | Gallons of sweet mango tea, unsweet mango iced tea, lemonade, fruit punch and a sports drink; cans; bottled water |
| Sauces | All seven, 16 ounces each |
Sweet plantains are the side to add. They are ripe plantains cooked until they caramelise, a standard of Cuban and Caribbean tables, and the form sells them in every package size. Flan is a baked caramel custard, and cuatro leches is a milk-soaked cake from the tres leches family. Both come as individual cups, which suits either format.
For the same kind of lunch from local catering partners instead, the directory has pages for Caribbean catering, Cuban catering, grilled chicken catering and burrito bowl catering, and menu pages for boxed meals, buffets and sandwich and wrap platters.
How to Order Pollo Tropical Catering
- Choose the storefront. Open the catering site and pick the restaurant nearest the office. All 122 catering storefronts are in Florida, and every one offers pickup and delivery.
- Pick the package and the size. Classic Pollo or TropiChop, for 10, 15, 25 or 50.
- Choose the format first. Buffet Style or Individual Packaging. It is the first line on the package.
- Build the package. Protein, rice and sauce for Classic Pollo; protein, two bases, beans, toppings and two sauces for TropiChop.
- Add a second protein if the room wants both chicken and pork.
- Add sides, desserts and drinks. Check that every line inside the package carries the same number as the package.
- Raise dietary needs before you pay. Speak to the restaurant directly about any serious allergy.
The storefront message reads “Orders must be placed at least 24 hours in advance”, and it gives one catering phone number for anything sooner. The same number appears at all 122 catering storefronts. For delivery, the storefront shares your phone number and email with its delivery partner so the driver can reach you. Our office manager’s guide to ordering catering covers what to have ready on the day.
Where Pollo Tropical Catering Fits
This is a Florida lunch with a Caribbean accent: grilled chicken, mojo pork, rice and beans, plantains and a table of bright sauces. It suits a team lunch in Miami, Orlando or Tampa, a client visit that should taste of the region, or a training day that needs one container per person. Our guide to client appreciation catering covers the client visit.
If your office knows other bowl-style menus, the Chipotle catering guide and the QDOBA catering guide cover two of them. The Jollibee catering guide and the Firebirds catering guide cover two other brands whose order forms repay a close read.
A Better Option for Recurring Office Meals
Pollo Tropical is good at one lunch in Florida. By the tenth lunch the same room is choosing between the same two packages, and an office outside Florida cannot order it.
Zerocater works the other way round. You describe the room once, including who eats at their desk and who skips certain foods, and CaterAi builds a menu from local catering partners that deliver to your address. It then rotates the menu so the team does not eat the same lunch on a loop. Our office lunch ideas and office catering budget guide show what a rotation can look like, and our corporate catering page covers the service in full.
Build a rotating office lunch with CaterAi
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Pollo Tropical do catering?
Yes. Pollo Tropical runs a dedicated catering site with 122 catering storefronts, all of them in Florida. Every storefront publishes the same menu: Classic Pollo and TropiChop packages in four sizes, sandwich and wrap platters, sides, sauces, desserts and drinks.
What is the difference between Buffet Style and Individual Packaging?
The format. Buffet Style sends the package in shared trays for a serving line. Individual Packaging sends it in one container per guest. The protein, rice, beans and sauce are the same in both. It is the first choice on every Classic Pollo and TropiChop package.
Does individual packaging cost more at Pollo Tropical?
Yes. Individual Packaging adds a charge per person, so the line grows with the package size. Buffet Style adds nothing. The food in the package does not change.
What comes in a Pollo Tropical Classic Pollo catering package?
A quarter chicken on the bone per guest as standard, a choice of white rice, yellow rice with vegetables or brown rice, black beans, rolls and one of seven sauces. The 50-person size takes two sauces. You can swap the chicken for a half chicken, mojo roast pork or boneless chicken breast for a charge.
What is a TropiChop catering package?
A bowl-style package. You choose boneless chicken breast or mojo roast pork, two rice bases, black beans or no beans, the four vegetable toppings and two sauces. It comes in the same four sizes as Classic Pollo and in the same two formats.
Can I get chicken and pork in one Pollo Tropical package?
Yes. Both packages carry a line that adds a second protein to the same package for a charge. In Classic Pollo you keep the quarter chicken and add pork, which is the option the brand’s own package description names.
What sizes do Pollo Tropical catering packages come in?
Classic Pollo and TropiChop each come for 10, 15, 25 or 50 people. The sandwich and wrap platters come for 10. Sides come in the same four sizes.
Does Pollo Tropical deliver catering?
Pickup and delivery are both on at all 122 catering storefronts. The storefront message asks for orders at least 24 hours in advance and gives a catering phone number for anything sooner.
What sauces come with Pollo Tropical catering?
Seven: Fresh Salsa, BBQ, Cilantro Garlic, Curry Mustard, Guava BBQ, Pineapple Rum and Spicy Poyo Poyo. Each is a choice inside the packages, and each is also sold on its own in a 16-ounce container.
Every menu item, option and store figure in this guide was read from the brand’s own catering storefront on 28 September 2026. Menus change, so check the catering storefront for your own restaurant before you order. Nothing here describes an order that was placed. This guide is not allergy, dietary or medical advice.
