Founding Founded by
Todd Graves and Craig Silvey, the original restaurant, nicknamed "The Mothership", opened on August 28, 1996. It is located in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana near the North Gate of
Louisiana State University (LSU). The company is named after Graves's
dog, a
yellow Labrador. Other yellow Labradors have served as company mascots, as well as certified
therapy animals. Graves and Silvey were studying at different
universities when they wrote a
business plan for a chicken-finger restaurant which Silvey submitted in a business plan-writing course, receiving a B-minus grade from the professor. At the time, Graves worked at
Guthrie's Chicken Fingers. The business plan was rejected numerous times by potential investors, so Graves and Silvey earned the needed money working various manual labor jobs. Silvey sold his share of the partnership shortly after the second restaurant opened.
Branding In 1996, while renovating the first Raising Cane’s location near
LSU,
Graves uncovered an old mural from a former bakery, "Wolf's Bakery", that inspired the restaurant's logo with its red-brick tones, flowing white script, and a yellow tagline declaring "bread at its best". The name "Raising Cane's" pays tribute to his yellow
Labrador, Cane. Locations feature custom murals. These brand elements can be seen in official merchandise released by Raising Cane's. In addition, Raising Cane's sells limited-edition merchandise, like the Graduation Plush Puppy released in 2025.
Expansion In March 2020, many of Cane's locations switched from dine-in to pick-up and
take-out service only due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, whereas others closed temporarily. As of July 2020, certain locations had reopened their dining rooms, although Graves said the company was in no rush to do so on a full scale. In 2021, in response to a shortage of workers at the time, the company began dispatching hundreds of its corporate employees to work in its restaurants as
cooks and
cashiers, in addition to their existing duties regarding the hiring of new
employees. The company planned to hire 10,000 new employees. The company's co-
CEO said that the corporate employees are trained in the kitchen and on the register under normal circumstances. In 2022, Raising Cane's sued a
shopping center in
Hobart, Indiana. After the restaurant chain had signed a long-term
lease, it was revealed that the shopping center had a non-compete agreement with
McDonald's which prohibited other vendors from selling de-boned chicken products in the complex. On June 27, 2023, Raising Cane's opened up their first
New York location in
Times Square. == Products ==