Tropical Hut | Why They're Irrelevant

Tropical Hut is one but probably the oldest fast food restaurant in the Philippines founded in 1962. Before there was Jollibee it WAS that burger joint that families and friends troop for a scrumptious meal. Over the past decades, the invasion of American fast food restaurant in the Philippines changed all that with the arrival of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and McDonald’s. But there are local fast food restaurants has stepped up their game to continue its Filipino relevance to this industry namely Jollibee, but what happened to Tropical Hut is like most have with a culture like a Jeepney which eventually tries not to change and this leaves both what they used to be.

For its longevity, Tropical Hut stayed the same only the aesthetics have changed inside their restaurants. They still serve the widely popular Ranchero and other famous dishes in the menu without the need to try out and venture to experiment new things.

Max’s Fried Chicken (now known as Max’s Restaurant) is probably older than Tropical since 1945 and yet they managed to break into the international Fast Food industry overseas, and still keep its cultural identity intact while at the same time trying something “New” in the delight of patrons dining in their restaurants. With Tropical Hut they’re like the jeepney they keep going until their wheels have come off and that may ring true to its present decline in this digital age of social media.

I happen to dine at Tropical Hut the other day before heading home and I’ve been holding off on not having dinner but decided upon trying to grab a quick bite at the nearest store from my former office. Back more than a decade ago I and some of my mates from work have turned a short tradition to have breakfast at Tropical Hut before heading home.

It was those days they’re still relevant with the quality of food but has been slowly being irrelevant with the aesthetics namely the façade inside the store like the table and chairs and how very 1990s that they are sometime in 2005/2006. Now that they sort of upgrade all that but it didn’t change the notion that quality of their food and pricing on the menu as has been left to be desired for the reason why they continue to slowly become irrelevant and here are the reasons why…

Staff Act as if You Don't Exist after that Minor Incident Without Apology.

Scripted Customer Service

The number one problem in most countries is Customer Service it’s either they’re reading a script or they are just doing it because of what the job has asked them to do. Everyone is a customer and if you feel like being offended with their type of services obviously the problem is how they are being trained or not everyone is taking things seriously about the job and only matters is getting paid for it each month that seems to be the common thing in most fast food restaurants in the Philippines.

When I was about to get things done at the counter with the staff there was a minor accident. My drink was spilled to the trey and not a word was uttered by the staff to even apologize for the incident. The entire staff reaction inside the store was so numb you want to berate them for their lack of empathy. When not one of them even muttered a word I muttered in a low voice “you should have ‘Thank You’ and then I reply ‘You’re Welcome” and just like an insult one staff did say “Thank You” like obviously trying to make the situation even worse.

The Hawaiian Burger Meal with Large Drink and Fries. 

Stingy Fast Food Service

This has become a trending observation whenever I’m dining at KFC, Jollibee, and McDonald’s and recently with Tropical Hut that when you say “No Ice” as request they will still put ice on your drink no matter you have told them already. The same goes to how they put the issue in their tissue as a one-ply only policy sort of policy that you’re aware the food you’ll be chowing down is going to be messy and still be stingy about the table napkins they provide unlike in other countries.

I don’t know what’s the reason why these fast food restaurants are giving ONLY ONE table napkin that certainly shows their stingy in their quality of food has been so bad Jollibee or McDonald’s tend to taste better and how they serve a little more when you dine at Tropical Hut.











Cheap Food for Expensive Price

The Burgers at Tropical Hut is an original and this goes the same with their other dishes like their rice meals, but in the past years the quality has slowly declined with portions on their Tuna Salad I previously talked about and cost of their menu has gone up like the tariffs has certainly affected this restaurant.

If you want to still serve quality food it should be the other way and its weird how the quality of their food has gone down and still the price point for each meal has gone up. I ordered a Hawaiian Burger Meal that includes regular fries and a soda, but I was offered to upgrade it and add PHP 40.00 Pesos ($1.00 AUD) to have both large on top of the PHP 135.00 pesos ($3.62.00 AUD) meal.

What I was expecting is not everyone has expected with the large fries that would appear to be just another REGULAR size if it was translated to Jollibee or McDonald’s fries. The drink, of course, was still large for its standards but they didn’t provide a lid for the cover that would have prevented the minor accident spilling my drink because due to Makati laws about use of plastic they are not allowed to give you a plastic lid cover unless you’re going to order a take away.



Outdated Way to Hire an Employee

Like every company of small business, the way to hire an employee in the Philippines should have changed its perspective. We’re living in the world where everyone has their opinion shared through social media and this advertisement in this store will prompt you why job discrimination in the Philippines is the ‘normal’ thing that will never change unless you decide to work in another country.

Seriously, do you need an employee with a “pleasing personality” in this advertisement including the height and appearance of that certain individual? In Australia when they’re looking for new hires they don’t put these details they announce if you’re passionate enough regardless of age, sex, or religion with a good attitude you’ll make it. This is the reason why the unemployment rate in the Philippines is so high and the reason a lot of them are sleeping in the streets.

Of course, the excuse here it would be that the job is determined what the person should be aligned with the education and past experience. You can train a random individual to do a manageable task without the need for past experience or previous educational background. This is just my personal opinion but the way Tropical Hut still does these like other companies is that most Filipinos would still pursue other job opportunities elsewhere because of discrimination and at the same time an outdated minimum wage that will unlikely never going to change.



Lastly, the other reason why Tropical Hut has slowly become irrelevant is probably they stopped trying to be notably relevant and ride on that people will still have nostalgia factor to think that those customers will still come and dine-in. They’re just in it to grab your money and not to make you feel valued as a returning customer. This is probably what I think but as the way, things go now people will just ignore anything around them and just continue to eat at these places.

I have many memories of dining at Tropical Hut regardless of the quality of their food, but at this time you got to be concerned about how things have changed. Tropical Hut SHOULD know that change is a permanent thing and to keep up with other competitors should not leave them riding the same tide as the Jeepney was. I never had ANY good experience with these local fast food restaurants in the Philippines.

There is always something not-so-good about how the service not only with this restaurant, but most of the food industry how the staff reacts and how they treat their customers is so terribly bad which mirrors how they represent the company and why they’ve slowly become irrelevant.