Inflatable mattresses and tents lined South University Avenue Tuesday morning as students turned the Ann Arbor streets into an overnight campsite for one thing: a plate of fried chicken fingers. By 8 a.m., the corner of South and East University avenues rang with chants as about 250 community members eagerly awaited the grand opening of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. Those who made it there first had the opportunity to win free Raising Cane’s for a year in a random drawing.
The restaurant, a chain which serves a combo of chicken fingers, fries and toasted bread accompanied by a signature mayonnaise-based pepper sauce, is the third of its kind in Michigan after the Canton and East Lansing locations.
During the opening ceremony, Jessica Baranski, Raising Cane’s area leader of training, presented a model of a cricket to Chloe Warren, the Ann Arbor location’s restaurant leader. Baranski told The Michigan Daily this upheld a longtime tradition honoring the first Raising Cane’s location in Louisiana, founded by Todd Graves in 1996.
“They started construction of the first Cane’s, and as they were tearing down a wall, they found an infestation of crickets,” Baranski said. “Not really what you want to find when you’re building a brand new restaurant. But (Graves’) buddy was taking a Chinese mythology class and told him, ‘Hey, did you know that crickets are actually a sign of good luck, prosperity and fortunes?’ So to represent that, we give every new restaurant their very own cricket to represent good luck and prosperity.”
Warren said the new location would receive a unique nickname, “40 Acres,” to reflect the history of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.
“The city of Ann Arbor gifted 40 acres for the University to be built right here,” Warren said. “Every Cane’s gets a nickname, so we are nicknaming ours ‘40 Acres’ since we are on the original 40 acres of land that this University was built on.”
Engineering junior Noah Lombardo was first in line for the opening. In an interview with The Daily, Lombardo said he is continuing his streak of early attendances at similar events.
“I’ve actually had a thing for being the first at fast-food chicken places,” Lombardo said. “A very strange niche, I’ll give you that. But I wanted to be the first here in Ann Arbor. I’ve been to Chick-fil-A, Lee’s Chicken, but this is the first of the Raising Cane’s.”
In an interview with The Daily, Business sophomore Courtney Casey said the restaurant’s location lends itself well to being a place for social gatherings.
“I’m really impressed by the amount of seating they have,” Casey said. “It looks super nice in here. Honestly, a good place to hang out with friends, connect with people. It’s such a convenient location with Ross right there and the Diag. A lot of people live over here in the apartments and high-rises, so I think it’ll be super popular.”
In an interview with The Daily, Engineering sophomore Malik Mashlab, who also visited on opening night, said the Ann Arbor location is a much needed late-night dining option on campus.
“For a lot of walkable students, and students who don’t have cars, it’s going to bring a lot more people to stay on campus,” Mashlab said. “Especially being open late, since Ann Arbor doesn’t really have a lot of late-night food places, it’s gonna be great for that. If I’m studying at the (Shapiro Undergraduate Library), I’m going to be able to grab some Cane’s late at night, even though it might be 2 a.m.”
In an interview with The Daily, Dustin Shearer, Raising Cane’s vice president of company restaurants, said the new location connects to the chain’s roots in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, also a college town.
“Our first location started at a campus, so we’re very passionate about being on a campus,” Shearer said. “The University of Michigan — it just felt like the right place to be. We’ve been looking for this place for a couple of years. It’s been a long time coming.”
Shearer said high demand at the location can support social good through fundraising.
“The busier we are, the more we can do for the community,” Shearer said. “We’re looking to partner with anybody that we can to give back to the community by fundraising. And you name it, we do it. So it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Daily Staff Reporter Thomas Gala-Garza can be reached at tmgala@umich.edu.
