Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, the Louisiana-based restaurant company known for its ONE LOVE "" quality chicken finger meals "" is set to open its first San Diego County location in Santee on Tuesday, May 1, at 8867 Cuyamaca St.
The new restaurant will kick off its grand opening festivities at 6:30 a.m., with a "Lucky 20" drawing to award 20 customers ages 13 and older Free Cane's for a Year! Santee's new Raising Cane's will start accepting entries at 6:30 a.m., with the Lucky 20 drawing held between 7:30-8 a.m.
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Mayor John Minto and the Santee Chamber of Commerce begins at 8 a.m. Today's Hit Music Z90.3 will be onsite from 6-8 a.m. to pump up the opening day crowd with a live radio remote. Also during the celebration, "Caniacs" can take photos from 7-9 a.m. with Raising Cane's 1967 Cadillac that was restored and upgraded on the Discovery Channel series Fast N' Loud.
First-time visitors will be treated to traditional cheers and other high-energy chants to launch the location in unique Cane's fashion, compliments of its 120 newly hired crewmembers. Doors open to the public at 9 a.m.
In addition, the first 100 paying, dine-in customers ages 13 and older will receive a free limited-edition Cane's T-shirt, along with a voucher for a free Box Combo "" containing four fresh, never ever frozen chicken fingers, Texas toast, secret recipe Cane's sauce, coleslaw, crinkle-cut fries and a drink "" that may be redeemed on a subsequent visit.
"I've been on the Raising Cane's team in Texas for two years and my family and I relocated to San Diego for this opportunity, so I couldn't be more thrilled to open our doors on Tuesday," said General Manager Matthew Neuroth. "The Santee restaurant will be the first Raising Cane's with a double drive thru, which is huge news! We've assembled an awesome crew and we are excited to start serving our ONE LOVE to Santee. We're also looking forward to getting involved with local schools and organizations in the area and becoming an integral part of the community."
Founded by Todd Graves in 1996 and named for his yellow Labrador, Raising Cane, the rapidly growing company earned the distinction of being among the Top 3 quick service restaurant chains in the nation for 2017, according to the authoritative Sandelman & Associates Quick-Track study, based on food quality, customer service, cleanliness and other important factors.
Along with its focus on chicken fingers, Raising Cane's is renowned for its commitment to active involvement in its local communities. On April 25, Neuroth and his fellow crewmembers volunteered their time planting trees at the park and campgrounds at Santee Lakes.
"We had a lot of fun spending time outside and helping make the 190-acre park even more beautiful," said Neuroth. "Santee Lakes has seven amazing recycled water lakes and hosts over 660,000 visitors a year, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer there for our pre-opening service project. We will also be the Presenting Sponsor for the LSU Crawfish Boil that is coming up on May 27."
Hours of operation at Santee's new Raising Cane's are Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. This marks the 10th Raising Cane's in California, and the 379th system-wide.