Raising Cane’s expands in Sacramento area, opens Elk Grove location to long lines
Raising Cane’s Northern California expansion continued, opening its newest site in Elk Grove to long lines on Tuesday.
The Baton Rouge-based chicken fingers restaurant chain’s new location at the Marketplace 99 shopping center on West Stockton Boulevard gave an invitation-only sneak preview on Monday before throwing open the doors 9 a.m. Tuesday.
“Clearly, the community had some anticipation and we’re flattered,” said Chris Zygler, a regional vice president, who helped open the store along with more than 60 other employees, managers and trainers, some dispatched from as far away as Cincinnati to get the new location off the ground.
Business was brisk mid-afternoon in the indoor dining room and outside in the drive-thru lines for the store’s official Elk Grove debut. Zygler says the company is putting more than 200 people to work at the new 9,000 square-foot site with cashiers, kitchen, drive-thru, drivers and managers.
Raising Cane’s has nine Sacramento-area locations including Citrus Heights, Davis, Lodi, Roseville and Stockton.
The eatery’s operating hours account in part for the hefty staffing numbers. Hours are 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
“We want to be available for first responders and those working on the overnight shift,” Zygler said.
So the story goes, Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves was one of those third-shift workers who scrambled to find a meal in the overnight hours. Graves would later build the extended hours into his business model.
The chain has now grown to more than 530 locations in 28 states.
Laurie Kubicek of Rancho Cordova and her family tucked into their Box Combo lunches of chicken strips and fries, thick-cut toast and coleslaw. The Kubiceks with son Ty were all part of a large group of Capital Christian High School parents and athletes at Raising Cane’s on Tuesday where earlier the restaurant had donated $2,500 to the school’s football program.
“This is quite the place,” said Ty Kubicek, a Capital Christian defensive lineman and Sacramento Bee all-Metro selectee. “It’s a new place and should be super-popular. We’re used to In-and-Out and Chik Fil-A. Now, we have Raising Cane’s.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 5:45 PM.
.JPG)