Raising Cane’s opening first Northeast Florida restaurant July 15 with giveaways

Restaurants

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers will open its first Northeast Florida location July 15 with food giveaways, mascots and a cheerleading team.

The fast-food chain is at 8308 Merchants Way in Oakleaf Station in West Jacksonville.

Raising Cane’s is known for battered chicken fingers and a secret sauce recipe that is only known by managers.

A Raising Cane's Chicken Tender's box combo comes with tenders, crinkle-cut fries, Cane's sauce, Texas toast and a drink.

Doors open at 10 a.m. but those wanting prizes should arrive early, according to a July 7 news release. The first customers, 13 years old and older, will vie to be one of 20 to receive free Cane’s for a year. Entries will be accepted between 8 and 9 a.m. Customers must be present to win.

Customers buying the first 100 combo box meals will receive a free commemorative hat and a card for a box combo at a future visit.

The interior of the Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers at 8308 Merchants Way in Oakleaf Station.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is at 9 a.m. with donations being made to the Jacksonville YMCA and I Love Music Foundation.

Restaurant hours will be 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and from 10 to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Mascots for the Jacksonville Icemen and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp will attend and there will be a performance by the Oak Leaf High School cheering team and the I Love Music Foundation drumline.

The Oakleaf Station Raising Cane’s is a 3,457-square-foot project on 1.21 acres built at an estimated project cost of $1.35 million. The restaurant will have outdoor patio seating, a drive-thru and a freestanding canopy. It is estimated to have 71 inside and 35 patio seats.

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is opening its first restaurant in Northeast Florida. There are more than 900 Raising Cane’s in 40 states.

Sleiman Enterprises is the developer of Oakleaf Station east of the First Coast Expressway.

The chain said it will hire 150 workers for the location and is seeking candidates. It is accepting walk-in applications at the restaurant or online at jobs.raisingcanes.com.

Four more Jacksonville Raising Cane’s locations are being explored.

One is on 1.34 acres of the former Regency Square Mall property at 9501 Arlington Expressway that is slated for redevelopment. It would be on an outparcel at Arlington Expressway and Atlantic Boulevard.

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers in Oakleaf Station has indoor and outdoor seating.

Another two are closed Pollo Tropical restaurants in The Markets at Town Center in Southside and in River City Marketplace in North Jacksonville.

A fifth location was discovered through a June 27 JEA service available determination letter. It will be in Mandarin in another closed Pollo Tropical restaurant at 10989 San Jose Blvd.

The Nation’s Restaurant News trade publication reports that Todd Graves founded Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Raising Cane’s in 1996 in an old building that he renovated at the north gates to the Louisiana State University campus.

Raising Cane’s features a wall with local flair and owner Todd Graves and his dog. The restaurant concept is named for Graves’ yellow Labrador retriever.

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.”

RaisingCanes.com shows 22 locations in Florida, with the closest in Gainesville and three in the Orlando area. There are more than 900 Raising Cane’s in 40 states.