Tropical Grille — Restaurant in Simpsonville

Over the past few months, I have been making regular visits to the Tropical Grille in Simpsonville, hoping each time that my experience will improve. However, with each visit, the situation seems to worsen, and my patience has finally worn thin.

The first thing that caught my attention was the new bowl sizes. The management insists there's no difference, but that's far from the truth. The portions are noticeably smaller, leaving me feeling unsatisfied and cheated. It may seem like a small issue, but when you're paying for a certain amount of food, you expect to get what you paid for. It's disheartening to feel shortchanged every time you order a meal.

But the real tipping point came during an encounter with the manager, Cierra. I ordered a "South of the Border" bowl, but instead, I received a "Cuban" bowl. When I pointed out the mistake, rather than apologizing or correcting it, Cierra argued with me, insisting it was the correct order. Her dismissive attitude was both frustrating and unprofessional, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Then there was the incident at the drive-through. As I was waiting for my order, I overheard a female worker use the hard R-word, not once, but twice, directed at another employee. This kind of language is completely unacceptable and reflects a toxic work environment that no one should have to endure. It was shocking and disturbing to witness such behavior, especially from employees who are supposed to represent the business.

The only silver lining in this string of disappointments was a night when everything seemed to go wrong for the staff, but they somehow managed to pull through. The systems were down, yet the team, led by a blonde-haired manager, impressively managed to get my order out on time. In fact, they were faster and more efficient than usual, handling the adverse circumstances with grace and professionalism. Kudos to them for managing to provide excellent service despite the setbacks.

This glimmer of hope, however, was not enough to outweigh the many negative experiences I've had. The steady decline in service, the rude management, the inappropriate behavior among staff, and the shrinking portion sizes have convinced me that it’s time to take my business elsewhere.

In the end, it's disappointing to see a place with so much potential fall short of expectations. I hope Tropicale Grille in Simpsonville takes these issues seriously and makes the necessary changes to improve their service and environment. Until then, I advise others to think twice before...

Absolutely disgusting experience we had today at Tropical Grille, and it was enough to never keep coming back. The staff was very rude and disrespectful, except for Laura who was VERY nice to us from the beginning, I’m grateful with her. We decided to dine in because we had been working all day, so we went to eat along with our service dog who’s also emotional support, he provides both services. First, a blonde guy came in to ask what service he provided, we showed his ID and he said it was okay, so we continued eating. Then, an hour later when we were finishing up with the food, a girl named Sierra came up to speak to us in a very rude tone, she was having an attitude that my boyfriend and I cannot stand, because there are ways to prove your point, and Sierra’s attitude was absolutely nasty. She said that dogs weren’t allowed, we didn’t want to cause any problems so we told her: “It’s okay. We are finishing up with the food and we will leave right away.” After 10 minutes of finishing the food and picking up our trash so THEY DIDN’T HAD TO, she came back to our table but now she seemed furious, it was impressive to see this kind of employee, never had this experience. She looked us right in the eyes and told us: “You guys cannot be here, you guys need to leave right now! Right away. I thought I was clear five minutes ago when I told you about the dog.” Which I responded to her: “You should’ve been clear to us, we were leaving, we are just picking up after ourselves.” Either way, she was very rude, she literally kicked us out of the restaurant because she told us she had “many complaints” for the dog, when he was always quiet and working. She never let us speak to her about his services and just focused that he was an emotional support, little did she know she is also a service dog because I have anxiety and panic attacks, that’s why I need my dog 24/7. Just wanted to let you guys now that I just spoke to corporate about this issue and Sierra’s attitude, and it is unlawful to kick someone out of a public restaurant with a service animal. I will be also be seeking for legal representation for this matter because this is completely unacceptable. Next time you kick someone out of your restaurant, make sure you do it for a reason, not because someone suffers from anxiety and panic attacks and has his dog...

As a loyal patron of Tropical Grille for the past ten years, it saddens me that this location operates the way they do. Being new to the Simpsonville area, we have now bought food from this location the past year. They are very inconsistent. I've purchased a salad and received it on shredded "taco" lettuce. The meat is always overcooked and tough unlike the other locations. We go and order pounds of meat because we are able to meal prep easily. We always do chicken and their version of steak and carne asada. In the beginning they were giving us two different variations. One was longer strips of steak, the other small bite size pieces tossed in garlic and cilantro. We found out quickly the longer strips are too tough to eat so we therefore order the small bite size pieces because of the tenderness and flavor with the garlic. A month ago, we asked for one, and got the other. Tonight we asked for both (carne and steak) and received both of the same one (the longer tough strips). We still visit other Tropical Grille's and all the other locations do two different ones. We drove all the way back to get the right one recooked or money back and the manager informed us that Simpsonville cooks theirs one way unlike the other locations. These meats are $20 a pound and we got two pounds. If I'm not mistaken, the same person owns all the Tropical Grille's, so why would the meat be different?? Sounds like its a staffing issue where people are not being trained properly or the manager is not ordering the correct product to keep in stock and therefore still trying to make sales with the incorrect items. Either way, steer clear of the Simpsonville location. It is...