Raising Cane’s plans big Orlando push
Raising Cane’s is bringing its fried chicken finger meals — and not one other meat option — to Orlando.
The chain of more than 600 restaurants is opening its first Florida restaurant in Miami Beach this year and has about 25 sites in the pipeline across the state, with about 10 in the Orlando area, Co-CEO AJ Kumaran said in an interview Tuesday.
The restaurant offers fried chicken fingers served with crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, sauce and coleslaw.
“You can get a chicken finger meal or you can get a chicken finger meal,” Kumaran said. “We do only one thing.”
The meals come in different sizes and there are drinks, including sweet tea and freshsqueezed lemonade, Kumaran said. It does allow substitutions, such as more fries instead of coleslaw.
A list of restaurants provided by the company show an Altamonte Springs location opening, along with two Kissimmee stores, and an Orlando store around Orange Avenue and Illiana Street, all in the third quarter of 2023.
Another Orlando restaurant, around Narcoossee Road and Irenic Way near Lake Nona, is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2023. A third Kissimmee restaurant is also planned for then.
In the first part of 2024, another Raising Cane’s is eyed for around Palm Parkway and Daryl Carter Parkway near Walt Disney World.
“I think it’s going to be a big market,” Kumaran said.
He said the chain could beat those expected opening timeframes as they are conservative early estimates.
Each of the company’s restaurants typically employ 125 to 200 people, Kumaran said.
The chain was founded in 1996 in Baton Rouge by Todd Graves and its restaurant support center is in Plano, Texas.