Raising who? Louisiana fast-food chicken chain makes its South Beach debut
Craving chicken fingers, South Beach? A Louisiana fast-food chain has made its debut off Lincoln Road, adding to the number of eateries it has planned for South Florida.
Raising Cane’s — founded in Baton Rouge by Louisiana State University student Todd Graves on campus in August 1996 and named for his Labrador Retriever Raising Cane — opened its second MiamiDade restaurant at 1651 Washington Ave. last week to a long line, company spokeswoman Julia Doyle said.
The eatery with a following of loyalists called CaWashington, niacs features Cane’s special sauce, crinkle-cut fries, sweet tea and the hallmark tenders. The South Beach site sits across from the
New World Symphony and steps from the Lincoln Road mall.
After opening in Homestead in November, Raising Cane’s intends to open another seven restaurants in South Florida and elsewhere in Florida this year. The chain with more than 600 U.S. restaurants.
“South Florida, and the entire state of Florida, has been a target for us for years. It has been about finding the right real estate, and we feel very good about the sites we have selected,” Doyle said by email. “We picked this site, on the corner of Lincoln Road and
because of its visibility and how high traffic the area is. It is great exposure for the brand, as we work to expand our presence around South Florida.”
The arrival of Raising Cane’s brings another food chain to Miami Beach. For years, independentlyowned retailers and restaurants have exited Lincoln Road due to high rents and concerns regarding foot traffic. The Cheesecake Factory and other restaurant chains are on the way.
“Rents are very high; that’s why you’re getting the chains,” said Mirielle Enlow, former chair of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Real Estate Council.
She noted, “It’s who can afford the rent. It’s the same thing as the Cheesecake Factory. That corner was deteriorated and I was impressed how they’ve made it. I miss my mom and pops [shops]. [But] I’d rather have a Cheesecake Factory there than a vacant building. If it’s going to take chains to bring these buildings back to their beauty then I guess that’s what it’s going to have to take.”
While national restaurant chains are arriving in Miami Beach, other chains — such as Regal, once a big movie theater operator — are exiting in a sign of the times when watching flicks at home has overtaken going out to see movies on the big screen.
Here are where and when the other Raising Cane’s are
coming to South Florida this year:
MIAMI-DADE
Cutler Bay, 19705 South Dixie Highway (summer)
Doral,Northwest 36th Street and 82nd Avenue (fall)
BROWARD
Pompano Beach, 2501
Federal Highway (summer)
PALM BEACH
Boynton Beach, 1550 West Boynton Beach Blvd. (April)
Royal Palm Beach, 100 N. State Road 7 (spring)