Pollo Tropical vs AlaMesa
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Browse menu
- Place pickup orders
- Place delivery orders
- Join loyalty program
- Save favorite orders
- Find nearby locations
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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!
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
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.
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.
| Parameter | Pollo Tropical | AlaMesa |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (43K ratings) — better | 4.5 (70 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 19.8% of reviews | 95.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 43K — better | 70 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 142 MB | 79 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc | ISLA Management LLC |
Customer experience
Pollo Tropical
AlaMesa
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
Pollo Tropical
No in-app purchases
AlaMesa
No in-app purchases









