Raising Cane’s (Portage)
6005 S. Westnedge AvenueYou can’t say I didn’t warn you. I told you last time I stopped at a Raising Cane’s that it wouldn’t be my last blog post.
Honestly, I’m surprised the Portage location opened before I got a chance to stop at the Grand Rapids location.
We have all been driving past the what looked like completed store for months waiting for it to open. Finally, earlier this month, they cut the ribbon and let the chaos ensue.
Except, there wasn’t really chaos. The City of Portage did set up a traffic plan and they did use it. It worked pretty well too. The first day or two there were lines out on to the road but it wasn’t the massive headache everyone assumed it was going to be.
The first weekend after it opened, I was leaving a K-Wings game at Wings Event Center around 7:30. I decided to see what the line was like. If it wasn’t bad, i was going to stop in and bring home chicken. I wasn’t going to wait in a huge line that stretched out on to Westnedge.
To my surprise, the line was only one car out on to the road….so I decide to stop.
The Portage Raising Cane’s location is on the corner of Westnedge Avenue and Milham Avenue just south of the I-94 interchange. This location used to be a building that housed multiple restaurants. The Little Caesars had been there for a quite a while. The other part of the building was a Schlotzky’s when I got here, then it went through a myriad of restaurants starting with Wing Heaven followed by Skinny Kenny’s, and finally Rollup Ice Cream. And now, after tearing the building down, it’s the area’s first Raising Cane’s.
The drive thru line was moving pretty quick but I decided to go inside. I could see a couple of open parking spots so I pulled in to one.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that this Raising Cane’s looks like every other Raising Cane’s. The decor is simple. Faux brick wall with the Cane’s logo busting through. There are some disco balls for some reason and the floor is large pieces of tile. There’s one big communal table in the middle of the restaurant and several smaller tables along the perimeter. Obviously, the places was full on the first weekend open but it was overcrowded as I walked in to order.
The order counter is at the back of the restaurant. Some Cane’s restaurants have the order kiosks but this one does not….at least not yet. The menu hangs behind the counter on monitors but there really aren’t a lot of options. All they really do is chicken tenders and a chicken sandwich.
I put in an order for two Caniac Combos which is six tenders, fries, slaw, Texas Toast, and Cane’s sauce plus a large drink. The cost for both was right around $30. I usually eat one Caniac Combo on my own and I brought the other home to share. Even with the massive rush of people, it took under ten minutes for me to place an order and get my bag with both boxes of food handed to me.
I popped the box open when I got home and handed my toast to L. That’s the thing she loves about Cane’s. I’ve seen copycat recipes where this is a Japanese Milk Bread but I don’t know if that’s how Cane’s actually makes it. It’s a really soft, pillowy bread with good toast marks around the edges. L doesn’t really like Chicken Fingers so when we stop at Cane’s, we usually just order her a couple extra pieces of bread.
I went for the fries first while I was feeling out who was going to eat how many chicken tenders. The fries are super basic. They’re thinner crinkle cut fries. Absolutely nothing special about these. If you like to dip them in sauce, I suppose these are good dipping fries. Otherwise they’re pretty unassuming crinkle cuts.
Raising Cane’s pretty much only does one thing. Chicken tenders. Yes, they have a chicken sandwich but that’s just three tenders on a bun. The tenders aren’t huge but they are pretty thick, really juicy, and crispy. There’s a pretty unique taste to the tenders that makes these good on their own without the Cane’s sauce. I know that’s kind of sacrilegious but I actually prefer the tenders plain. J and B only ended up eating two or three of the tenders from the second box so I think I ended up eating nine or ten tenders that night. I hadn’t eaten all day so I was up to the challenge.
You know, I like Raising Cane’s and I will continue to eat at this one a couple times a month. The novelty will wear off just like it does with other chain restaurants once they move in to the area. I know we’ve all been looking forward to this Cane’s and I’m excited it’s finally open. Chicken tenders are such a simple joy in life and while you can make arguments there are better places to get chicken tenders from, Raising Cane’s has a niche for quick, tasty, and not super expensive tendy meals. I won’t get quite as excited when I see a Cane’s on my travels from now on but I’m happy we have one here in the Kalamazoo area now.
SW Michigan Dining 