Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers plans to open its first southern Illinois restaurant
The City of Fairview Heights will welcome a new Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers location in 2021.
Raising Cane’s will take up residence at 6565 N. Illinois St., the former site of Ruby Tuesday, which closed earlier this year. This new location will be the first in southern Illinois.
The company said in a statement that it is targeting next summer for its opening in Fairview Heights. The restaurant will include a 72-seat dining room, with 22 additional seats in a covered patio, the statement said.
The company said it plans to hire about 80 employees next summer.
“We are looking forward to serving the Fairview Heights and Belleville communities, and once an official opening date has been finalized, we will celebrate with a public announcement,” the statement said.
The City of Fairview Heights has reviewed permits and applications submitted by Raising Cane’s LLC. The Fairview Heights City Council passed a proposed resolution to approve a special-use permit and site development plan for the new restaurant at an Oct. 6 meeting.
Paul Ellis, economic development director for Fairview Heights, confirmed to the News-Democrat prior to the Oct. 6 meeting that Ruby Tuesday would be demolished.
Schematics for the new restaurant were included in the Oct. 6 meeting agenda. Details include the construction of a 3,332-square-foot, single-story building with a drive-thru, indoor and outdoor seating, and 43 parking spaces, including two handicapped spaces.
“I’m hopeful that construction will start [early] in the first quarter of 2021,” said Bill Barnes, a principal broker for NAI DESCO, who handled securing the location for Raising Cane’s. Barnes said final building permits from the city are pending.
“Construction typically takes around 150 days,” Barnes said.
Project plans also say that hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday-Thursday and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Plan details also stated that about 50-75 full- and part-time employees will be hired, with an average of 12 employees per shift.
In addition to the future Fairview Heights location, Raising Cane’s has 13 Missouri restaurants in the St. Louis area. Barnes is also working to establish a location is Columbia, Missouri. There are roughly 500 Raising Cane’s restaurants in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii.
Raising Cane’s was founded in 1996 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Todd Graves and specializes in quick-serve chicken finger meals. The menu consists of chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, Cane’s sauce and soft drinks. A variety of combo meals are available.
Raising Cane’s prides itself on giving back to communities where their restaurants are located. More than 25% of the company’s profits have been given back to these communities, according to the company. Emphasis is placed on schools, food banks, active lifestyle events, pet welfare and business and entrepreneurial organizations.
According to the company’s website, the business was named for Graves’ dog, Raising Cane, a yellow Labrador retriever who “loved to be around people.” Graves and his wife, Gwen, now have Raising Cane II, who is a certified therapy dog that accompanies Gwen on weekly visits to children’s hospitals.
For more information about Raising Cane’s, visit raisingcanes.com.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
