Raising Cane’s is poised to cross the 30-restaurant threshold with a 3,181-square-foot restaurant featuring drive-thru and patio seating that will be located at 710 E Indian School Rd, according to a building permit that was issued yesterday, July 5, by the city.
A representative of Raising Cane’s did not immediately return a request for comment.
Last October, What Now Phoenix reported that the Louisiana-based quick-service chicken brand had plans to open six locations across the greater Phoenix region by spring 2023, including Glendale, Chandler, Mesa, and Goodyear. At the time, the company’s portfolio in the area stood at 22, with one of the Mesa outposts set to be its thirtieth.
In an interview with What Now Phoenix, VP of company restaurants, Jason Zwerin said, “Phoenix has been a great market for Cane’s. We’re seeing some of our highest volume restaurants in the system there, and as we continue to open up more restaurants it’s been great to see the brand recognition, and also serving a whole bunch of new Caniacs,” the brand’s affectionate term for its loyal clientele.
Zwerin went on to add, “We currently employ over 2,200 crew members in the Phoenix area, and with those six restaurants in the pipeline that’ll take that number to about 3,000. So we’re just excited to continue to create more job opportunities and continue to work in those communities and continue to give back.”
Founded in Baton Rouge in 1996 by the uncompromising entrepreneur Todd Graves, Raising Cane’s now has more than 600 locations across the country. However, that success was not without its doubters.
According to Graves’ story on the company’s official website, Raising Cane’s “began as a college dream” which was parlayed into an assignment for Graves’s business course that, “ironically, earned the lowest grade in the class. The professor said a restaurant serving only chicken fingers in South Louisiana would never work.”
Since then, Graves has gone on to not only build a chicken empire but also earn wide acclaim, with such accolades as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, SCORE Award for Outstanding Socially Progressive Business, Restaurateur of the Year by Louisiana Restaurant Association, and Louisianan of the Year by Louisiana Life.
