Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

I am no Spring Chicken Finger but my kids are the perfect demographic for the modern take on perfect poultry!

We jumped in the hire car and drove to Raising Canes on the back of a social media post or two. Upon arrival, it was and easily be described as popular from the outset. There was a good queue of cars outside, in the drive through and onto the street. This had to be a sign of a good fast food joint, right? We battled past the road queue and headed towards the car park, a fairly extensive affair when all is considered. I know US cars are bigger than our matchbox UK variants but this was also about space available. I am not sure I have seen a parking “lot” that big for any fast food outlet… lest not our side of the pond!

At this point I would love to say we darted across the car park to the restaurant, stole through the door and pulled up a pew but… no. We dodged the traffic in an all too similar way to most US car parks. We opened the front door and came to a halt! In front was a veritable cobra of a queue to the service desk. Music was up, place was buzzing and everyone was enjoying the moment. I cannot safely describe the place as tidy. In fact I think I can only pity those who had to tidy up before going home. However, it seemed that everyone was happy to clear a space to sit down once they had navigated the dragon’s back and finally achieved their objective. As a Brit I am accustomed and happy to queue but I have never queued like this for fast food… here goes.

The queue wait seemed quite short, I don’t know if it was the superb atmosphere the team had created. I couldn’t tell you if it is music that keeps you upbeat or the sheer disbelief that flooded me when visiting a chicken finger based fast food restaurant that commanded this much custom… either way, we were there in what seems a shortish amount of time. Upon reaching the counter the children were sent out the side door to find some outdoor seating. We on the other hand embraced our youthful side and ordered up various Chicken finger based Items, a few drinks and enjoyed the server’s brilliant British bashing banter (genuinely funny!) we had to wait a little while for the food and took our cups to fill “self service style”. The only let down was this point, many of the drinks postmix boxes had run dry and the team (who were working their proverbial socks off) had little if any time to change them. I could comment on staffing and expectations but it did nothing to dampen this experience… we just chose another drink, grabbed our food and left that merry hell of fast food fanaticism!

The food! They were genuinely great chicken fingers, nicely spiced, tender and enjoyable for all. Portion sizes were “as expected” and more than suitable. The crinkle cut chips/fries were lovely and raising canes sauce was good. I would say that it could be better because I have a thing for “famous for” items and I am not sure they should be famous for this. I would say though they have every right to say… “look at us, we are good, you will enjoy this and you will not regret the visit or the experience”. That is quite something to be famous for…...

I had great experience at OTHER locations and thought to show a friend the place on a visit to Orlando after talking up the food.

Went to pick up a late night snack to eat at our hotel around 1150pm and saw a long line at the drive thru. Decided to walk inside to order. There were a few people who already placed orders ahead of us, so we expected to wait a little bit. We ordered 2 Box meals, their standard item.

They were serving food at an okay pace while dealing with drive-thru, mobile, orders, and counter orders. Everything was okay until we started noticing people who ordered food at the counter after us getting their food. That was around 20 minutes in. The following order that came out for another person after us, we inquired with a staff about the order.

This was when things started to get weird as the staff was chatting with the cashier and made me feel like I was interrupting their conversation. He said he would check on the order and walked to the back. I noticed he was doing other orders, but didn't get back to me on the status of my order. I asked again, but his actions made it feel like I was interrupting him - he continued his work. He told me that someone is working on our order.

I tried to flag someone else to ask about our order and at the 30 minute mark, I was getting frustrated. The cashier who was there the whole time commented if she was back there, she would have done something about this - which baffled me because she could have. She instead chose to stand there taking orders to customers who came in intermittently.

After getting another two people to inquire about the status of our basic meals, we were obviously frustrated with the long wait of 40+ minutes. All the while others were getting their food.

A manager came from the back and gave me a gift card for a lemonade and a kids meal on my next order as an apology. It took a few more minutes before we got the standard box meal.

We got our food close to their closing time and the trek that we expected to take 30min round trip became a trip that took over 1hr 15min. Not cool.

Luckily the food lived up to its name.

Unfortunately this location left a really sour taste in our mouths and we were really annoyed. Not sure if I'd even search out another...

This is my third visit to this location, and although I typically refrain from leaving reviews, the recurring issues at this establishment compel me to share my experience. Each time I approach the drive-through, I encounter a line so extensive that it snakes around the parking lot and often spills into the street. Upon arrival, I was perplexed to find that patrons parking in the pickup spots were boxed in by those of us waiting in line for the drive-through.

Once in the drive-through, the experience was chaotic and frustrating. The process was cutthroat and agonizingly slow, with people cutting each other off, honking, and angrily shouting expletives. All this chaos over a chicken finger restaurant. From the moment I joined the line to the moment I received my food, 27 minutes had elapsed. For a drive-through, this is simply unacceptable. I could have gone to an actual sit-down restaurant instead of Raising Cane’s and received better service along with a faster response time.

Regarding the food itself, it was fresh and hot, which somewhat redeemed the nearly half-hour wait. The taste was good and lived up to the restaurant’s promise of fresh food.

Ultimately, I would give this place two out of five stars. The incredibly long lines in both the drive-through and the dining room indicate that this establishment is overhyped by Orlando food enthusiasts. If you are willing to endure excessively long wait times and the possibility of your car being bumped, scratched, or getting into an altercation over chicken fingers, then this might be the place for you.

I highly recommend that Raising Cane’s deploy support staff into the parking lot to aid in directing traffic and to help keep tempers cooled, as it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Some people appear willing to go to EXTREME (cutting others off, yelling, getting out of their vehicles, and bumping others in line) lengths for hot, fresh fried chicken, and it is imperative that the establishment takes steps to ensure...