Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

Don't believe the hype. My family and I went here to try it out, because we had watched it come to be, literally, from the ground up. Please understand that these are my opinions and perspectives. I know fully well that they differ from everyone else. I was born and raised in the south, primarily Louisiana, which is where the founder of Raining Cane's is also from. When I go somewhere to eat southern food, I expect southern style seasoning, and I am looking for that southern style flavor profile that is common all throughout.

Let's break this down. For a family of 5, I spent $53 for everything. Not terrible. We take our food home, and the smell alone is enough to want to dig in as fast as possible. I ordered the "Box Combo" which comes with Texas toast, cole slaw, crinkle-cut fries, special sauce, and four chicken fingers. You can tell a lot about a place just by how much attention is given to the cole slaw. Unfortunately it was bland at best. Not sweet, not tangy, nothing. The fries were soggy, and were in desperate need of salt. The Texas toast didn't even feel like bread, just a gummy textured piece of something that has the appearance of bread. The taste of said toast left a waxy film on my tongue afterwards. That brings me to the chicken. Chicken has an unwritten checklist that all southerners possess in their soul. Each box needs to be checked, if not at least 90% at a minimum, in order for a return visit and/or to qualify as "true southern-style fried chicken". Was it tender? Yes. Was the chicken juicy? No. Was it cooked all the way through? Yes. Did the fried bits on the outside have a good "crunch"? No. Was there seasoning in the breading? No. Was there seasoning in the chicken meat itself? No.

The lack of flavor from the chicken is made up for in the secret sauce that comes with every meal, or on every sandwich they serve. And, honestly, I can see why. The sauce is amazing. It's probably the best dipping sauce I have ever tasted. Is it enough for me to go back? No.

The customer service is decent. It's a fast food restaurant. I don't expect red carpet service.

To sum up, if you like basic chicken that has been fried for around $9-10 a person, then this is the place for you. If you are a french fry connoisseur, then I highly recommend you eat them as soon as you get them, because they will turn soggy and pitiful within 10-15 minutes. If however, you prefer chicken that promotes flavor and seasoning, you are better off going...

Only giving two stars because the fries were nice and salty.

First of all, the drive-thru and its made-up traffic laws are very confusing for 1st time customers. The drive-thru was pretty stacked and took probably 15-20 minutes to get through. The employees were civil, but great customer service clearly isn’t a big tenet of Cane’s business model, and this will be problematic having a competitor across the street whom excels in it. It was just a very “McDonald’s” vibe in that respect.

As for the food, the chicken didn’t impress me. The breading was falling off as we were trying to eat, and the strips were soggy on one side due to the condensation on the styrofoam. The Texas toast also has a wheaty flavor that I was hoping was going to be more garlic-y. CFA is light years better IMO, and even Popeye’s beats out Cane’s for me. Like I said, I did really enjoy the fries. I liked the Cane’s sauce, but after trying it, my son insisted on his Honey Roasted BBQ from CFA.

What I was very unimpressed with was the fact that they served my 3 year old sour milk. He told me it was old and I almost threw up my entire meal when I tasted it to confirm. The employees couldn’t have known due to it being in a sealed package with a good date, but something went very wrong in shipping or storage.

I have been looking forward to trying this place for months and was super bummed that my experience was so underwhelming across the board. Unfortunately, I don’t plan to...

After spending a rather hefty sum, which we expected, to treat our family to dinner - all a first time for the five of them - and a repeat experience for the two of us, we were beyond dismayed for our young granddaughter and our son in law to both find a hair in their food, chicken sandwiches. Upon returning the sandwiches to the front counter to show them the items and the hair present in them, the employee asked us if we wanted new ones or if we were ok and just informing them for others after us. We asked to speak to a manager on duty, and the employee that came to speak with us said she would have to ask her manager when they were done with their break. Afternalso discovering we had been shorted the slice of extra toast we had ordered and paid for, I notified the same employee that we initially informed about the hair in the chicken sandwiches, and he informed me he would need to see the receipt to verify we had indeed ordered and paid for it. There will be no returning to this particular restaurant, and our first time experiencing family members will not be going back given the cost of the food for the lacking quality and...