Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers appears to be coming to Jacksonville.
The 27-year-old chain known for a narrow menu of fried tenders, Cane’s Sauce, slaw and toast is exploring a site at southwest Argyle Forest Boulevard and Merchants Way in Oakleaf Station.
Raising Cane’s is considering a 2,691-square-foot, 50-seat restaurant with a drive-thru and patio seating.
The 1.21-acre site is between Gator’s Dockside and Bank of America in front of the Epic Theatres. Sleiman Enterprises is developer of Oakleaf Station.
Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. in Jacksonville is the civil engineer for the project. JEA is reviewing a service availability request.
The Raising Cane’s menu comprises box combos of chicken fingers, fries, coleslaw, sauce, Texas toast and drinks. The sandwich combo comprises three fingers on a toasted bun.
Tailgates can be ordered in 25, 50, 75 and 100 chicken fingers.
Drinks include sweet and unsweet tea, lemonade and fountain drinks.
Extras include a chicken finger, sauce, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and coleslaw.
Raisingcanes.com shows 14 locations in Florida, with the closest in Gainesville and two in the Orlando area.
Florida is a new state for the company. The first opened in November 2022 in Homestead. “With over 200 Caniacs lined up early morning to be the first Florida customers, the enthusiasm for Cane’s in Florida is already strong,” raisingcanes.com reported.
The second opened in January 2023 in Miami Beach.
The Nation’s Restaurant News trade publication reports that Todd Graves founded the brand in 1996 in an old building that he renovated at the north gates to the Louisiana State University campus.
It said Graves based it on a business plan he created in college, for which he received low marks.
“The restaurant concept is named for Graves' yellow Labrador retriever at the time, Raising Cane, who accompanied him at the construction site,” the NRN.com site says.
“Graves originally planned to call the brand ‘Sockeye’s’ after the salmon he fished in Alaska to help raise money to start the business. A third dog, Raising Cane III, joined the family in 2017.”
NRN.com says Raising Cane’s concept is simple and based on its “One Love” - chicken finger meals.
“The company declines to ‘clutter’ its menu with new products that don’t fit in the core menu offering,” it says.
Prnewswire.com reported Oct. 10 that Raising Cane’s is one of the fastest-growing restaurant brands, with more than 750 restaurants in more than 35 states, the Middle East and Guam and plans to open 100 restaurants across several new markets in 2023.
Raising Cane’s joins the area’s chicken fingers and chicken tenders growth as Slim Chickens also plans its first location in Glen Kernan Park.
Other chicken tender chains include Huey Magoo’s, Zaxby’s, Chick-fil-A, PDQ, KFC, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and other fast-food and fast-casual restaurants and grocery stores.
