Source: R1 Digital / R1
Raising Cane’s, the popular fried chicken chain started in Louisiana, opens its first Triangle location on Tuesday in downtown Chapel Hill.
Why it matters: The restaurant occupies perhaps the most prominent corner in all of Chapel Hill — Franklin and Columbia streets — and has been under construction for two years.
- The result is a two-story palace of chicken that looks significantly different from the restaurants that used to occupy the space.
- It opens just in time for the start of UNC’s basketball season as well as the UNC-Duke football game on Saturday.
- Cane’s is a rarity in North Carolina: its only other locations are on East Carolina University’s campus and on Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville.
- In spirit it is closer to Zaxby’s (a chicken chain that’s been in North Carolina for years) than Bojangles, the beloved and homegrown fast-food institution.
What’s next: Expansion in the Triangle does not appear to be done, with multiple employees telling Axios that the Cane’s has plans to open a location near N.C. State University in Raleigh.
