On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Auburn’s Downtown Design Review Committee (DDRC) met with Sarah Holmes, Raising Cane’s property development manager for the Southeast, and other Raising Cane’s representatives, to discuss initial plans for a new Raising Cane’s location at 103 N. College St., directly next to Whataburger.
With the help of its famous Cane’s sauce, Raising Cane’s, which first started with a location at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1996, has quickly become a dominant force in the fast-food, chicken finger space. Today, with only a few simple menu options and CEO Todd Graves' leadership, Raising Cane’s has become one of the top 3 fast-food chicken chains in the U.S. In 2024, Raising Cane’s opened 118 new restaurants and is hoping to continue its expansion.
The proposed Raising Cane’s building would be constructed by demolishing the former Bourbon Street Bar location, which closed in 2020, and replacing it with a new structure that more directly aligns with the design language of Raising Cane’s.
“At Raising Cane’s, we are always looking for opportunities to bring our 'One Love' — Craveable Chicken Finger Meals — to new Communities, and we are actively exploring opportunities to bring a new restaurant to Auburn,” a representative from Raising Cane’s said.
"Raising Cane's is the best chicken finger restaurant that there is. Quality control is top notch. There is no weak points, and they're very generous with their product; your plate is always full," said Micah Myers, a chemical engineering senior at Auburn.
Myers commented that, while Auburn has a chicken finger joint on every corner, half of them are too salty, too greasy and always packed.
"If we had a [Raising Cane's] open, I don't know if you could afford to keep it open, because the people would eat out all the stock. I'd be the first one at the door if they ever opened one here. I would camp out like they do at Neville Arena," Myers said.
As of now, the recent discussions with the DDRC and Raising Cane’s are part of a thorough, time-consuming process that requires site plans, utility plans, streetscape plans and renderings. All of these must be approved before Raising Cane’s can submit final building plans. Then, if these building plans are approved, Raising Cane’s can begin the demolition of the existing building and construction of the new one, which both city officials and Raising Cane’s hope will be sometime in 2026.
“Raising Canes is currently reworking its aesthetics to meet the design standards of the Urban Core. The DDRC is the advisory committee on aesthetics in the Urban Core. Raising Cane’s is seeking this approval before site plan approval at the City’s recommendation. Once there is DDRC support for their design, they will need site plan approval,” Justice Wahid Cotton, the planning director for the City of Auburn, said.
According to the design guidelines, the Urban Core is the city town center and the primary entrance to Auburn University. Specific standards apply for zoning districts, and among the highest standards are applied for the Urban Core. Raising Cane's must adhere to these before the building process can begin.
“We have robust design standards for several zoning districts. The most stringent of those standards reside in the Urban Core. Their design was mostly code-compliant," Cotton said. "In the meeting, Raising Cane's floated a few locations for discussion, such as the Broadway location in Nashville, the Chapel Hill location in North Carolina and their Boston location for more urban expressions of their design.”
Before the next meeting on Nov. 19, Auburn city officials will have to explain to Raising Cane’s which aspects of the site they believe need to be altered so that the possible future location will fit in with surrounding buildings and stand the test of time in downtown Auburn.
“As a chicken tender enthusiast, I’m always interested in the ever-evolving dynamics of the chicken tender wars," Cotton said about a possible new chicken finger restaurant in Auburn. "From a design standpoint, even though this project won’t have the intensity of past projects, Raising Cane’s can build a contributing structure to our vibrant downtown.”
With the recent closure of historic Tenda Chick at Corner Village on North Dean Road and the existence of several other chicken tender chains in the area, like Guthrie’s and Foosackly’s, many are weighing the impacts of opening a Raising Cane’s location in Auburn.
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