The week before Thanksgiving, Raising Cane’s inaugurated their first restaurant in Monterey County. The chicken chain was founded humbly in 1996 by two newly graduated former college students, Todd Graves and Craig Silvey. Despite going to different colleges in Louisiana, the duo built a business plan for a fast-food chicken restaurant, partially based on the established Southern chain, Guthrie’s, in their Senior year of college. The project was submitted as a business class assignment by Silvey and promptly got a B- grade from the professor. Despite the professor’s grade, the two decided to found a chicken-finger restaurant, and were able to apply for and win a Small Business Administration loan in 1996, opening their first location near the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge campus that year. Named after Graves’s dog Cane, the lone chicken shop in Baton Rouge would flourish into one of the fastest-growing fast food chains in the United States, with around 915 locations nationwide as of 2025 and worldwide locations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. After Chick-fil-A moved into Northridge Mall in 2021, a swath of new businesses, like Dave and Buster’s, began reporting plans to open locations in or around the mall. Cane’s got their announcement in early 2024, breaking ground on a building near the Big 5 in the Northridge parking lot that same year. After much anticipation, the restaurant opened on November 18, 2025, to a large line of cars and people; some individuals camped outside overnight to be the first to try Graves’s chicken at the new location.
Salinas’s Raising Cane’s is identical to other Cane’s locations across the United States: disco balls hanging from the ceiling, sculptures of the company’s mascot, Cane, and portraits of Elvis and other icons of years past. The menu is simple, with different combos corresponding to the number of chicken fingers one would like in their meal—the Caniac Combo for six, Box Combo for four, and 3-Finger Combo for three—and a sandwich option. A meal comes with crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw (only in the 3-Finger or Sandwich combos), Texas toast, and, of course, the signature Cane’s Sauce. For beverages, Cane’s offers fountain drinks, along with their spins on Southern-style Lemonade and Iced Tea.
As for me, I think Raising Cane’s is decent. The Texas toast is always great, especially when dipped in the creamy and tangy Cane’s sauce, while you can never go wrong with the Lemonade and Iced Tea, whichever one you choose. The coleslaw is good, but not always a favorite. Cane’s Fries are average to me and can be very dry and salty depending on the batch, but are definitely not the worst fast food fries I have ever had. Personally, I believe Cane’s weakness lies in the chicken fingers. The chicken itself is juicy and cooked well, but it doesn’t have a lot of seasoning and flavor, especially when not dipped in Cane’s Sauce. Overall, though, I do enjoy eating at Raising Cane’s whenever I get the chance.
Hate it or love it, Cane’s is a welcome addition to the Salinas and Monterey County communities, and who knows, maybe the city of Pacific Grove can get a Raising Cane’s location to occupy the old Carl’s Jr site.
