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Ricardo Figueroa is following his dream of having a tropical-themed restaurant in Southeast Texas.

Tropical Bar and Grill recently opened its doors for dine-in service, and Figueroa said he has big plans for the eatery’s future.

For the first time, the doors will be open on Sunday and will continue the new schedule.

“Most of my life, I wanted to make enough money and go somewhere on the beach,” he said. “I don’t care where or which country. So, I wanted to have a restaurant on the ocean with that atmosphere.”

Figueroa said he is one of 13 siblings who all learned to cook. He worked with one of his brothers, who owns a restaurant in the northeast, for five years before coming to Southeast Texas to pursue a career in welding. After doing that for a few years, he saved up enough money to venture into one of his passions for owning his own restaurant.

Right now, Tropical Bar and Grill focuses on catering orders, Figueroa is working to make the location one of the areas top dine-in destinations.

“We were always doing events, even when we sold our old place,” he said. “Regardless where we moved to, we had people wanting us to still do their events. There are those times of the year where there are no events. We decided to make this a restaurant.”

The restaurant is located at 6551 West Port Arthur Road.

Along with a host of Mexican dishes, the grill offers some seafood favorites.

“I am trying to have a menu to where if I get 50 people at once, I can have items that we can make in 20 or 30 minutes,” he said. “We do seafood platters. I will find a formula to do those for five tables at a time.”

The location closed down during the pandemic, but Figueroa said he is ready for a revamp. He is waiting for his liquor license, which he plans to have by the end of October.

He is working on buying more TVs with the hopes of showing football games and other large sporting events.

“I never wanted a formal restaurant,” he said. “If you get a table and want to stay for six hours, I don’t care. I don’t want to rush. If it happens that they come in and out, it is fine. We do a lot of wings for the amount of people we bring in.”

Figueroa said there would also be nights for live music and a dance floor painted like the beach to allow patrons to slip into the tropical daze.

For those looking for employment, Topical Bar and Grill is hiring and looking for cooks with experience in the kitchen.

Those interested in seeing more of the Tropical Bar and Grill menu can check out the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Call 409-300-4447 for more information.