Raising Cane’s, one of the most popular chicken chains in the country, has plans to add ten new locations in Chicagoland by year’s end.
The company recently revealed plans to open a new location across from Millenium Park towards the end of the year. Now, a representative from the company tells What Now Chicago of the other nine locations they have planned for the surrounding area. Like most locations, these will all be corporate-owned. The Baton Rouge-based company opened its first Chicagoland location in 2017, before expanding into the windy city the next year. Now the company has over 20 locations in the area.
By the start of 2023, Raising Cane’s plans to open new locations in Arlington Heights (Palatine Rd.), Joliet (Plainfield Rd.), Waukegan (S. Waukegan Rd.), Shorewood (Brook Forest & Vertin), Chicago (Jefferson & Taylor), Crestwood (Cicero & Cal Sag), Countryside (LaGrange & 59th), Algonquin (Randall & Country Line), and New Lenox (Lincoln & Willams). All of this comes as part of the company’s goal to be on “every corner of Main and Main, so we are easily accessible to our customers,” according to CEO AJ Kumaran.
Founders/ CEO Todd Graves launched Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers in 1996 with Craig Silvey. What started as two business majors getting rejected numerously by investors has become a global restaurant chain with over 600 locations worldwide. The company began to expand internationally in 2015 when it opened a new location in Kuwait. After surviving the pandemic by pivoting from dine-in to pick-up and take-out service, the company continues to make strides in becoming one of the most popular chicken chain restaurants in America.