Comparison

Pollo Tropical vs AlaMesa

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pollo Tropical

Easily order your favorite Caribbean-inspired dishes for pickup or delivery. Join the loyalty program to earn points, receive exclusive offers, and get rewarded with free food. Discover new menu items and save your go-to orders for quick reordering.

Highlights
  • Browse menu
  • Place pickup orders
  • Place delivery orders
  • Join loyalty program
  • Save favorite orders
  • Find nearby locations
Features
Read full description

Download the Pollo Tropical app to get more out of your Pollo Tropical experience, and sign up for MyPollo! rewards to start earning points and get a free TropiChop® bowl after your first purchase! Use the new Pollo Tropical app to browse our menu, place orders for in-store pick-up, or delivery. Join our loyalty program to receive exclusive offers, save your favorites for easy re-ordering, and earn and redeem rewards. KEY FEATURES • Search for locations near you by zip code. • Browse the menu and discover new items. • Order as a guest or sign-up to join MyPollo! to earn rewards. • Place orders for in-store pick-up or delivery. • Save your favorite orders for quick re-ordering. • Get notifications from us announcing new menu items, special events, and more!

About

AlaMesa

Discover over 700 restaurants and bars in Cuba with this award-winning app. Find places to eat and drink like home, with detailed information, menus, photos, and offline maps.

Highlights
  • Search restaurants, cafes, bars by location, cuisine, name, price
  • View menus, photos, contact info, and site characteristics
  • Save favorite dining spots
  • Offline maps and GPS navigation
  • Information in English and Spanish
Features
Read full description

Discover places to eat and drink like home during your stay in Cuba. Easy to use thanks to a design that has already been awarded, this tool lets you choose from more than 700 restaurants and bars of the most important cities of the island. Who are we? The leading platform for information on gastronomy and culinary culture in Cuba and the most up to date Directory of Restaurants in the country. Features: - Easily search restaurants, cafes and bars by location, type of cuisine (eg Chinese, Italian, Indian.), Name and / or average price. - View menus, photos, phone numbers, addresses, site characteristics, and all the information you need to choose a place to eat. - Keep a list of your favorites for easy reference. - Find your way around with offline maps & GPS support. References: “…AlaMesa, an app to connect Cubans to restaurants…” Barack Obama (President of United States. La Habana, Cuba, 21.03.2016) "...a popular Yelp-meets-TripAdvisor-meets-OpenTable app that provides restaurant listings, locations and prices" TechCrunch: http://tcrn.ch/1rqbHC7 "a Yelp-like app called Alamesa that provides information about the location of a restaurant its average price and cuisine both in English and Spanish" The Miami Herald: http://hrld.us/26GeHdK "Some North American and European dining habits are evidently rubbing off on Cuban diners as well: Cellphone-toting food fanatics can download apps like AlaMesaCuba that allow them to look up and rate Havana’s newest restaurants." New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1PRGnjN "The app, which works offline (though download it before you leave for Cuba), is a great way to discover new restaurants in a country not renowned for its food." The Guardian: http://bit.ly/1UnQ4hl Follow us: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alamesacuba Twitter https://twitter.com/alamesacuba

Screenshots

Pollo Tropical4 screens
AlaMesa4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: AlaMesa at 95% against Pollo Tropical's 20%. AlaMesa also leads on ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Pollo Tropical's advantage is ratings volume (43K vs 70) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pollo Tropical holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pollo Tropical has 43K ratings behind it against 70, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 20% of Pollo Tropical's written reviews are positive against 95% of AlaMesa's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pollo Tropical ships an update every 6 weeks, AlaMesa every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pollo Tropical versus AlaMesa: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPollo TropicalAlaMesa
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (43K ratings) — better4.5 (70 ratings)
Positive reviews19.8% of reviews95.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43K — better70
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size142 MB79 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFiesta Restaurant Group, IncISLA Management LLC

Customer experience

Pollo Tropical

All ratings42,522 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews318 reviews
Positive19.8%
Neutral11.0%
Negative69.2%

AlaMesa

All ratings70 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral4.3%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive95.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.0%

Bugs and requests

Pollo Tropical

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App login and account issues
  • Unreliable order processing
  • Inconsistent app behavior across devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to edit orders
  • Better order tracking and status updates
  • Improved rewards program integration
  • More customization options

AlaMesa

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Pollo Tropical

No in-app purchases

None

AlaMesa

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pollo Tropical free?
Pollo Tropical is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AlaMesa free?
AlaMesa is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pollo Tropical or AlaMesa?
Pollo Tropical is rated higher. Pollo Tropical averages 4.8 out of 5 from 43K ratings, while AlaMesa averages 4.5 from 70 ratings.
Do Pollo Tropical or AlaMesa have ads?
Pollo Tropical shows ads; AlaMesa does not.
Which is updated more often, Pollo Tropical or AlaMesa?
Pollo Tropical ships an update every 6 weeks, and AlaMesa every 2 months. Most recently, Pollo Tropical was updated on September 28, 2026 and AlaMesa on June 11, 2026.

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