Tropical Grille — Restaurant in Greenville

Terrible experience last night, we will NOT be back. I placed the order online and noticed that the time given for pick up was way longer than if I had just walked in. No big deal but when I picked up the food it was not hot/fresh and the to go containers were somewhat soggy. I.e. it had been sitting out a while. That in itself was not a huge issue but what followed was. When I gave my name they handed me a bag and I said "so everything is in here?" and the answer without checking was yes. When I got the food home there were no sauces and no sour cream (which I selected online and paid extra for) so I had to go back. I tied calling the phone number given on the online receipt but it went straight to voicemail with a message that the box was full and not taking messages. So I took the receipt in with me and the staff was rude and seemed offended that I was telling them that these items were left off. And, one of the orders was totally wrong (clearly ordered a wrap but got a bowl) but at this point I was just cutting my losses because the family was waiting on me and now the food is cold and everyone is hungry. They shoved a bag at me with the sauces and never once said "sorry" or apologized for the issues. Again I asked "are you sure that this is right?" but when I got home with the sauces it was still missing several. BTW, they were NOT crowded, only a handful of customers so no reason that you can't get it right. After all of this the food was bland at best and the meats were dry. The service and the food used to be good, not sure what has changed, but it has. For $57.00 I'll being doing...

Every time I eat at Tropical Grille, I constantly find consistent quality Cuban cuisine. My food is always fresh with fantastic flavors I first found in Tampa's Cuban Cuisine Community. It is hard to forget the flavors of picadillo, ropa vieja, arroz congri, medianoche, anything mojo, flan, and of course, the Cubano (I dare you to tell someone from Miami Tampa's Cubanos are better!) When I moved back to Greenville, I missed the Cuban food until Tropical Grille blessed us with all of the fantastic flavors that were created to bring folks together and spend time with each other. You cannot rush Cuban food. The sauces at Tropical Grille take the amazing flavors that already exist and stand on their own and punt those flavors into outer space, much farther than Elon will ever go! Yellow and white were my favorites. I hated cilantro so didn't touch the green. One day I was given some on accident so, I tried it. The rest, as they say, is history. There is just something about how Lazaro created the green that draws me. Now, I must have all of them. Thank you for that palate expansion! From Pelham Road to Main Street, Highway 14 to Verdae, Woodruff Road to Easley, I know the food will be fresh, taste wonderful with the same flavors that I find at the other locations., and that I will not be hungry for the rest of the day! The other thing I know is the staff in each store has put their heart and soul into what they do, and that soul comes through in the care with which they cook and serve. The staff strives for quality. If anything does happen to disappoint, they WILL...

I used to really love this place, but I guess all good things must come to an end. I took my family for dinner last Sunday (7/27). We tried to eat in the restaurant, but it was crazy stuffy in there. The sun was streaming through the windows and the ac didn't seem to be on (or maybe it didn't work). Didn't they used to have shades? We ended up taking our food to go after sitting in there for a few minutes. The cashier who took our order seemed to be bothered that we were there. And then she flipped that tip screen on me. I always hated that tip demand for food I order and pick up and the counter. I need to remember to pay cash so I don't get that damn tip screen. Food was decent as always, but it just doesn't seem worth the price. I pay a bunch of money for a bad experience and often regret lately.

EDIT: Thanks for the owner response. I feel bad leaving a negative review as I do enjoy TG and I'm glad we have this growing restaurant in the Greenville area. I get the AC can be an issue in the Pelham location. We are currently in a heat wave after all. IMHO, counter-service restaurants should change POS tipping options from a percentage to a small dollar amount....