Raising Cane’s (Ann Arbor)

• 1116 South University Avenue, Unit B
• Ann Arbor, MI 48104
• (734) 452-0934
• Website
• Menu

I wasn’t planning on going to Ann Arbor last week but I ended up there anyway.

My colleague and I had a job assignment in Lansing. We figured it was going to be a pretty easy day. We would spend a couple of hours in Lansing then be back in Kalamazoo early afternoon. I had a lunch stop planned along the way.

On our way to Lansing, the home office called and added on an assignment in Ann Arbor. We didn’t have a lot of time between when the Lansing assignment ended and when we needed to get to Ann Arbor so my lunch plans in Lansing were out the window.

We got to Ann Arbor around 1:30 PM and went to work right away. Our hope of getting back to Kalamazoo early were dashed and now we had the problem of we were unlikely to get a lunch a break.

Fortunately, we ended up in the South Uni area and there are plenty of food options that we could grab quickly and eat in the car while we were working.

We both decided to just make things easy and grab lunch from the Raising Cane’s on the corner of South University Avenue and East University Avenue near the University of Michigan’s Diag. The restaurant is on the bottom floor of a ten story mixed used building that was built in the last couple of years replacing a one story PNC Bank that had been on that corner for several years.

You’re probably going to see more Raising Cane’s blog posts popping up over the next few months. There’s one in Grand Rapids now and there’s a completely built ready to open location in Portage as well. I’ve blogged about Cane’s before including my first experience in Oak Lawn, IL as well as for the location in Michigan City, IN, Grove City, OH and East Lansing. I actually didn’t even know Ann Arbor had a Cane’s until we drove by it on this day.

There is no drive through at this location because it’s more of a downtown like district. Parking is kind of hard to find as most of it is street parking. Being that’s it’s essentially on U of M’s campus, those street spots are hard to come by. We found one a couple of blocks away and walked back to the restaurant.

The store is pretty big and looks like pretty much every other Raising Cane’s I’ve been to. There are disco calls hanging from the ceiling, bricks painted on the wall witih the Cane’s logo busting out of it, and some Americana type pictures hanging on the walls. There is a pretty big seating area with some of those uncomfortable pub style fast food seats as well as a couple of booths. There were a few people sitting down eating but other than that, the shop was mostly empty at about 3 in the afternoon.

The order counter is up a ramp when you walk in to the store and there is a pretty large area to queue which was probably helpful when they first opened. There are two self service order kiosks off to the left side. I started to walk towards those to order as soon as I saw them.

There was no line to order though and I heard, “I can help you down here” so I just headed to the register to order. There aren’t really a lot of options at Raising Cane’s. You can get chicken fingers or a chicken sandwich so ordering is quick and painless.

I ordered the Caniac Combo which comes with six chicken fingers, crinkle cut fries, Texas Toast, slaw and a large drink. The cost was a little over $17 and I had a box of food in less than five minutes.

I started with the fries to get them out of the way. I’ve said it before. They’re nothing special. They’re just frozen crinkle cut fries tossed in the deep fryer. They’re totally fine and they’re tasty, there’s just not much to them. They’re great for dipping in the Cane’s Sauce but I’m not a huge sauce guy….which I know is a weird thing to say when talking about Raising Cane’s.

The chicken tenders were next on my to-do list. I actually really like Cane’s chicken fingers and have worked to recreate the recipe at home. I think I figured out what gives them the unique flavor is a bit of powdered sugar. I could be wrong about that but it’s the closest I’ve gotten at home. The tenders from the restaurant aren’t very big but they’re super juicy, tender, and really crispy. Cane’s is one of those places right now that I have a hard time passing up when I see one. I wonder if it will be the same once the one in Portage opens and I’ll have greater access to these delicious chicken fingers.

The final piece of the meal is the Texas Toast. It’s actually kind of nuts how good this bread is. My daughter doesn’t like chicken fingers but she loves the toast from Cane’s so whenever we stop, she doesn’t get any actual chicken but she asks for everyone’s bread. I like to save it for last as it’s a good wrap up to the meal.

I’m really glad we came across this Raising Cane’s when we did. Both of us were hungry, tired, and not all that happy about being in Ann Arbor. The chicken fingers from Raising Cane’s made the day a little bit better.