Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers

Todd Graves and Craig Silvey, who were enrolled in a business plan writing course at LSU at the time (Todd did not go to LSU; he grew up in Baton Rouge and went to The University of Georgia. Craig went to LSU), wrote the business plan and Silvey submitted it, for which he received a C-minus. Todd worked at Guthrie's Chicken Fingers while at UGA, which is the sole basis for the Raising Cane's business. His boss was Roddy Smith. Smith eventually became the 1st Director of Operations Raising Cane's. The Guthrie's location Todd worked at, located in Athens, Georgia, went out of business and, a few years later, it was renovated and reopened as a Raising Cane's location. [1] The business plan was rejected numerous times by potential investors, so Graves earned the needed money working as a boilermaker in a Los Angeles refinery and fishing for sockeye salmon in Alaska. He and Silvey obtained an SBA loan which they used to open the first restaurant in Baton Rouge at the intersection of Highland Road and State Street near the LSU campus.[2][3]

Many restaurants switched from dine-ins to pick-up and take away in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others closed completely. As of July, some locations had reopened dining rooms although Todd Graves said the company was in no rush to do so.[4]

Graves' original dog was Raising Cane, a yellow labrador. The current dog is Raising Cane III, adopted in January 2018.[5]

The Caniac Combo

Raising Cane's offers a limited menu consisting of five main combos: the "Box Combo," the "3 Finger Combo," the "Caniac Combo," the "Kids Combo," and the "Sandwich Combo." It also includes several "Tailgates" that come with a bulk of chicken fingers. The side menu includes french fries, Texas toast and cole slaw. The company uses canola oil[2] to cook their chicken tenderloins and fries.