We go so you don’t have to, BUT, you are going to want to.
Note: In a previous post I covered my two hour conversation with one of the VPs of Raising Cain's. I also spoke of the fact that they buy local, and they buy fresh. Another thing I have learned is that the "chicken tender" is an actual piece of the chicken. They should not be confused with nuggets, or any other re-manufactured chicken things. When you have a chicken breast, and pull it apart. the piece that remains close to the bone and is pointed on both ends is the chicken tender. The Filet Mignon of the Chicken. Tasting Raising Cane's while immersing myself in the Caniac culture.
Yesterday, I had an amazing experience. I walked into the new 800 pound gorilla in the fast food world, Raising Cane's, in Strongsville where I had been invited if I could not wait for the new Lakewood location to open up. Well, I love chicken, and I have been witnessing the “Caniacs” just lose themselves when you say, “Raising Cane's is coming to Lakewood.” But it was one parent that really grabbed my attention. “When my son got home from his first stint at college the first thing he said was, ‘I have to run out to Cane's and get some chicken.’” This mother was amazed that instead of wanting to relax and have some home cooking he wanted to run off to this place called Cane’s and off he went to Strongsville.
Well this brought back to the front of my thought process, maybe I should see what this is all about. So yesterday I grabbed Deb and took the 29 minute drive to Pearl Road in Strongsville to Raising Cane’s to experience first hand this phenomenon and the growing Caniac movement up close.
The first thing I noticed while driving down Pearl Road and past McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell and other legends of the fast food industry was that while all had customers, Raising Cane’s really do not stick out like the rest. They almost blend into the background compared to the others.
We pulled into the place which is also fairly new to the strip, and walked in to order. The first thing I noticed was it had a Strongsville feel. High school uniforms, local photos etc. But simple, and a little funky. It all seemed cookie cutter like the 5th time you went to a different Applebees, or Dave’s Famous, and you think, “Who gathers all this stuff for all of these different restaurants?" All familiar but all different. Then I looked over the beverage dispensers and there was a black velvet painting of Elvis. Hmm, black velvet art in 2019 is always a statement.
The other thing I noticed was the true lack of a menu. There are 4 things that Raising Cane’s offers, just four items. Chicken Fingers, French Fries, Texas Toast, and Cole Slaw, and beverages. That is it, nothing else. Everything else on the menu is a combination of those items in different quantities. You can also get the items ala carte, but the real action is in combinations of those 4 ingredients with Cane’s Sauce, and a beverage. What you order is based on how many strips, fries, cole slaw and sauce you want. We walk up to the counter and the young woman asks, “What may I get you today?” in a pleasant fresh way. I mention we are newbys, and she smiles and says, “Well, you probably want to try everything in one of our combo baskets.” So we decide the “Caniacs Combo” would suit us. Six Chicken Fingers, Fries, 1 Cole Slaw, 1 Texas toast, Two Cane Sauces, $10.99.
We get an iced tea, grab our cup and head over to the Elvis painting. 3 different kinds of iced tea, all perfectly filled 3/4 of the tanks, with perfectly crushed iced, and we wait. While we look around I noticed that others, probably locals, have their orders in seconds. Even a family of four had their order in, getting beverages and sitting down as fast as any ordering I have ever seen. Even the kids knew exactly how many fingers they wanted and blew through the line. Hmm starting to make sense.
We receive the call that food is ready, grab it and sit down. In the condiment area they had a proper ketchup dispenser and little paper cups for condiments. Everything you could want, well ketchup, salt and pepper. Hmm? No hot sauce, just Cane sauce and that is so prized it is sold with the meal or by the container, like gold, or some nectar of the gods.
Deb sat down with ketchup, salt, pepper and napkins. I grabbed a couple fries and dipped them in the ketchup while reaching for some salt and took a bite. Laying the salt down, Deb asked, “How are they?” I said, “They are perfect.” They needed no salt, the salting was spot on. Now this is subjective, but at the same time this “perfect” thing started occupying my mind. It was just weird, I mean yes it was new, and yes it was clean, but there was this ohhh so perfect feeling around everything almost disconcerting for a person looking for flaws, as well as peaks.
Deb smiled and asked about the chicken. By this point I had taken a bite, and even another with Cane Sauce. So I had my thoughts, but wanted to hear hers. She took a bite, looked up and said, “This is the most perfectly cooked piece of chicken I have ever had.” Now this is a statement that carries massive weight. Deb has been in the food business most of her life. Managing restaurants from Gershwin’s downtown to Max’s Deli. She is an amazing cook herself, in 35+ years of being together I can only remember one meal not working. Swear to god, those who have tasted her cooking agree. Most of our friends want her to open her own restaurant. So when she says the most perfect chicken she has ever eaten, it makes one pause. Except, I thought the same thing with both my bites earlier. The chicken, and the breading melt in your mouth. The term both of us used was “like butter.” OK, this has to be just some strange phenomenon.
I reach over and open the small portion of cole slaw, grab the plastic spork and dig in. Now one of the things I have noticed is that cole slaw is very much up to individual taste, and it is oh so hard to get right for everyone. Some like mayonnaise-based, some like vinegar-based, some even like vodka-based. Some like it with long strands, short chopped, and even almost pureed. So this should be interesting. I took a bite, and my overwhelming thought was, “Damn this is fresh!” The slaw was crunchy with a little mayonnaise-based sauce but not overwhelming. Which made it refreshing and damn good, I imagine for everyone.
This left us with that piece of Texas toast to try. I reached over took a bite, and set it down. Finally a weak link on the plate. Of course I have never really understood Texas toast or Texas for that matter.
Driving home, we were able to come up with 4-5 chicken fast food restaurants we might have enjoyed more. Raising Cane’s offers perfectly cooked chicken and fries, so this is strictly on flavor. I spoke with a couple others who agree, the basic list was in order; Mr. Chicken, KFC, Popeye’s. Locally we have Southern Cafe (Fried Chicken and Waffles), Woodstock (Jerk Chicken, Wings) Around the Corner (Wings), West End Taven (Wings/Fried Chicken), China Garden (Chicken Sticks) which all offer more flavor.
So we have this strange food enigma: perfectly cooked, or flavorful? Which is not completely fair to Raising Cane’s as they offer Cane Sauce which kicks the taste up. The Cane Sauce is almost like tarter sauce to fish. And I love spicy food many do not.
Then it occurred to me where Raising Cane’s wins hands down. Families and on the road. You pull into any of the other restaurants I mentioned above, and a family of 4 would have a potential for thousands of combinations. Which leads to thousands of potential questions and delay. At Raising Cane’s there is only one question, “How many strips do you want?” This would seem to make taking care of a family or even a large group pretty easy. No worry about burgers, fish, turkey, or even white or dark meat. There are no questions about original or extra crispy, spicy or not. One must not overlook that for GenX’s children on down, Chicken Nuggets/Strips represent a major food group for those that grew up over the last 20 years. So this is not just comfort food for millions, but perfectly cooked comfort food for millions.
Judging by the line, and the smiles around the restaurant, it is comfort food that is well received, and appreciated.
Speaking with the managers, I learned that they are almost done in Strongsville, then headed to do the finishing touches and training here in Lakewood, then off to Tiedeman Road near Brookpark Road to finish that one. Raising Cane’s is here in the area, and I think located between two high schools, on the main drag of Lakewood, with the amount of kids and busy people, they should do OK. Check it out, just to see if I am right or wrong. Perfectly cooked? I bet you say yes, then let the debate grow in your head.
Raising Cane’s welcome to Lakewood!
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