Raising Cane’s to close all college campus restaurant locations

Andrew Kerley, Audience Editor

VCUDine announced in an email that Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers will be closing all college campus restaurant locations, including VCU’s Laurel & Grace Street location, will be closing at the end of the spring semester.

Raising Cane’s is planning to have five restaurant locations in the greater Richmond area by spring 2024, according to Raising Cane’s public relations specialist Hannah Henderson. Two locations in Chester and Midlothian opened earlier this year. 

“Richmond is a huge growth market for Cane’s,” Henderson said. “Our goal is to open more free-standing, drive-thru restaurants in the area to provide ‘Caniacs’ and members of the community easy accessibility to the chicken finger meals they crave.”

The location’s 2021 re-opening attracted a crowd leading out the doors of the building, according to a previous article by The Commonwealth Times. The long lines continued to be a regular occurrence throughout the store’s lifespan.

“It was the one thing that was open after parties and stuff, late at night,” said VCU political science student Natasha Njorog. 

VCU anthropology student Jackson Whalen said that he is a little bit sad to see Cane’s close.

“I kind of hated it [Cane’s] at the beginning of the year, but it has developed a place in my heart,” Whalen said.

Raising Cane’s partnership with VCUDine allowed students to exchange a single swipe for three chicken fingers with a side of fries, Texas toast and their signature Cane’s sauce.

“I just really liked the Cane’s sauce,” Whalen said. “The sauce has become a very craveable thing. They had to have been putting something in it that we didn’t know about. I wouldn’t eat it without the sauce.”

VCUDine hosted a blind taste test on March 27 at Laurel & Grace in order to determine a potential replacement for the eatery. 

Students in attendance were given two different cuts of fried chicken to taste, with the option to vote for their favorite in a survey afterwards.

VCU biology student Natalie Pettyjohn preferred the new chicken as opposed to Cane’s. 

“I like the chicken [from option one] better than Cane’s already,” Pettyjohn said. “It was a lot crispier.”

Pettyjohn said that VCU’s dining plan has a lot of fast food

“I’m not a big fast food person,” Pettyjohn said. “I like a lot of fresh produce, fruit and salad. I feel like, unless you go to the dining hall, you can’t really find anything like that.”

VCU is aiming to replace Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers by the beginning of the fall semester, according to VCU Business Services Communications Specialist Anna Obermiller.