This popular fried chicken chain with a cult following plans first Modesto location
What do chicken fingers taste like? Well, Modesto is about to find out.
The popular national fried chicken chain Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers plans to open its first location in the city. The fast-food company is set to move into the former Pier 1 location in northwest Modesto.
Raising Cane’s has garnered a cult following for its fried chicken fingers, signature sauces and Texas toast. Fans of the restaurant call themselves “Caniacs,” and the company’s motto touts its trademarked “ONE LOVE” fried chicken meals. The chain has continued to expand during the pandemic and now has more than 550 locations across the country.
A spokesman for Raising Cane’s confirmed the chain is coming to the city.
“Raising Cane’s is excited to bring its ONE LOVE – quality chicken fingers – to Modesto. We are targeting to open the restaurant in the first quarter of 2023. As we get closer to the opening date, we will share more details as we are looking forward to serving Caniacs in the area,” said a written statement from the company.
Plans submitted to the city show the company intends to tear down the existing building, which was home to Pier 1 until the national home goods seller went bankrupt and announced it planned to close all its locations in May 2020. Since then, the brand’s stores on Pelandale Avenue in Modesto, Countryside Drive in Turlock and Commerce Avenue in Manteca have all shuttered.
That Pelandale Avenue location for the new Raising Cane’s is in the the North Pointe Shopping Center that includes Cost Plus World Market. But in recent years that strip has seen a number of businesses close besides Pier 1, including Catherines women’s clothing and Aaron Brothers framing company.
The large North Pointe center, on the north side of Pelandale, also includes Costco, Lowe’s and a Save Mart supermarket.
According to plans submitted to the city, the new Raising Cane’s will be 3,172 square feet and include a drive-thru and outdoor patio seating. The restaurant’s dining room will seat 58.
While the former Pier 1 building appears connected to its North Pointe center neighbors, the space was actually detached and has a small alley that runs between the buildings. Plans show a drive-thru will wind along the new building’s Pelandale and Chapman avenue sides, traveling counterclockwise back into the parking lot.
This is the second announced Raising Cane’s restaurant planned for Stanislaus County. In October of last year, plans were approved to convert the empty Kmart building on Hatch Road in Ceres into a new self-storage facility from Public Storage. The development deal included new restaurants that will front the property along Hatch, including Raising Cane’s and Dutch Bros Coffee.
The company’s spokesman confirmed at the time that the deal for the Ceres Raising Cane’s was in the early planning stages and that “if all goes to according to plan, Cane’s will open sometime in 2023.”
Founded in 1996 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Raising Cane’s is known for its fried chicken fingers (made from breaded chicken breast tenderloins) and intentionally simple menu. The company sells only four styles of chicken finger meals (in three-, four- and six-finger sizes or on a bun as a sandwich), and a kid’s meal. The chain’s sides include Texas toast, coleslaw and crinkle-cut fries.
The company has location in 29 states and the Middle East. The closest existing Raising Cane’s locations are in Manteca, Fresno and Clovis.
And Modesto’s fried chicken adventures may be just beginning. Unconfirmed word is another popular chicken chain also has its eyes set on the city, not far from the new Raising Cane’s site. Stay tuned for more clucks, I mean news, on that development — hopefully soon.
This story was originally published May 16, 2022 at 12:00 AM.
