Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

I know a lot of locals really like Raising Cane's - that's one of the reasons I decided to eat there a few times to discover why. And to tell the truth? I'm stumped.

The chicken I received was watery and flavorless. Granted, it was pretty busy. Maybe the fryer was overcrowded or set a bit too hot. Either way - not good for a restaurant whose signature is fried chicken tenders.

The breading on the chicken did not hold up to the five minute drive home. It was soggy by the time I opened the to-go container. On top of that, the breading seemed unseasoned. Meh.

Just in case I was being too critical, I shared a piece of chicken with my spouse. He concurred with my too points above unprompted.

The dipping sauce that was provided for the chicken looked appealing: pinkish, smooth and dotted with pepper. It too, sadly, had no punch and little flavor. I was expecting some tang or a little bite. Disappointed again.

The fries were competent, of the frozen crinkle cut variety and seasoned. They actually were too salty for me. I ended up blotting off the seasoning to make them palatable. It's an easy mistake to over-salt fries and from the multiple small pieces I was given, I suspect I got the caboose from a fry-dump-season train.

The coleslaw was overwhelmed by the dressing creating a sloppy, crunchy mayo flavored side. (Too wet seems to be an emerging theme here.)

My Texas toast was marbled by dark, almost burned bits. Strangely I like my Texas toasted extra toasted. It was probably the best part of the meal.

Okay. Okay. I know the region is known for sweet tea, but this tea was far too sweet, even for me. I like my tea sweet! But this was crazy-sweet. I sampled the tea, cut it with 2/3 unsweet tea, and it was still too cloying to drink. I considered using it for a science experiment to see how much sugar settled out of the tea if I left it alone. But it ended up going down the drain when I opted for a glass of plain tap water.

Service at Raising Cane's is sometimes good, sometimes not: I have even gotten stellar service - last night it was a mixed bag. The young woman at the counter seemed distracted

All in all, I have to say, "Sorry Cane's." I have eaten your offerings seven or eight times now, and even though I want to be happy, I have never been satisfied by quality. Quantity has been adequate, if slightly high priced. I doubt I will...

Just to start off, your product and your people are excellent.

The space is anxiety-inducing, and I say that as someone that doesn't get anxious easily. Square footage is certainly a limitation, but the flow doesn't feel like it works well from a customer perspective. For a restaurant at which everyone picks their food up from the counter, there is no apparent area to wait without uncomfortably shifting out of the way of others that have just ordered, are getting beverages, or entering the main door, or even exiting the further door, as I tried to wait farther away yesterday. The parking lot is rough too. I've noticed that traffic on the road is blocked less often, but it's rare that I can park in less than 2 minutes, in the free-for-all of drivers taking whatever path is necessary.

I want to reiterate that I really enjoy y'all's chicken, and the people that work at your restaurants are generally great--not always welcoming, but efficient and nice enough. We're just here to get food, after all. I also really like how much philanthropy and decent compensation for workers is a part of Cane's business model.

I was disappointed a couple months ago that after receiving a wrong order in two visits fairly close to one another, I submitted feedback on the website, but I never heard back nor was offered a refund for the missing food. C'est la vie.

I'm realizing that if I didn't like your food so much, I probably wouldn't come even the couple times a month that I do.

Still, I'm glad to have y'all in Athens, and I know y'all are still figuring things out in that space. I'm hoping the experience there gets...

I don’t care how good your food is, you can’t treat customers with no respect. I ordered a large tailgate order (approximately 200 dollars). They told me on the phone to come inside when I get here to pick up the order. When I get here at 11 (which was the time I told them I would be here), the doors are locked, luckily (unlikely) this other employee was going in for her shift. When I pulled the doors they were locked and the employee that was going in looked at me and didn’t say anything so I said “they told me to come inside to pick up my order because it’s a large order” SHE PROCEEDS TO IGNORE ME. She then gets let inside by another employee. Then I walk in behind her to which another employee starts yelling that customers are not allowed inside, so the same lady that ignored me tells that employee that I’m here to pick up a big order. Then she asks me to step outside then another customer walks in and sits down on a bench. The employee that yelled that they aren’t allowed to have customers comes out and asks for the name on my order and apologizes because “they aren’t allowed to have customers inside” I said there’s one sitting right there and she ignored me (typical of this restaurant apparently). She then comes back out and tells me that the order was scheduled for 11:30 and it’s not ready yet. So now I’m having to wait for my order that I placed for 11. I will never order from here again. This is the most ridiculous customer service I’ve ever received and it’s not even over yet. I still haven’t even...