Raising Cane's chicken tenders coming to Pittsburgh region

Pittsburgh, like most cities, has its share of fried chicken chain restaurants — KFC, Chick-Fil-A and Popeyes, to name a few.

But now another very specialized fried chicken entity is ready to flock to the Steel City.

Raising Cane’s chicken tenders is planning to open its first restaurants in Pennsylvania in 2022 and in the Pittsburgh region by the end of next year or in early 2023. An exact location has not been revealed.

Raising Cane’s is a swiftly growing fast food entity with corporate offices in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La., and nearly 600 restaurants in 31 states. While it has yet to open a location in Pennsylvania, it has nearly 60 restaurants in Ohio, said Raising Cane’s Vice President Dustin Shearer, a Johnstown native.

“We’re super-focused. We do one thing better than anybody else can: quality chicken finger meals.” Shearer said. “The food is amazing. The centerpiece of our entree is how many chicken fingers would you like.”

The chicken fingers come in a three-piece meal, a box combo with four and “Caniac” with six.

“That’s all we do. We also have a sandwich, and we have a great sauce,” said Shearer.

If you don't want to feel on top of the world, then don't eat a Caniac Combo. Got it? pic.twitter.com/oHJD3L0629

— Raising Cane's (@raisingcanes) November 23, 2021

The sauce is made in-house every morning, Shearer said. Its ingredients are a secret.

The online survey site Technomic rated the sauce No. 1 in a November article on “the most craveable sauces among restaurant chains.” Raising Cane’s sauce came in 20 percentage points above its closest competitor.

“Consumers are really passionate about this chicken finger specialist’s sauce, specifically calling out its ‘uniqueness,’ ” Technomic said. “The signature Cane’s Sauce was created as a dip for the chicken fingers, but consumers love it so much, they also slather it on the chain’s Texas toast and fries, they admitted.”

Shearer said the restaurant chain has been receiving a lot of inquiries from Pittsburghers wondering when “Cane’s” is coming.

“We’re super-excited about Pittsburgh,” said Shearer. “We’re ready to enter the state of Pennsylvania next year with a pretty good amount of restaurants in the first couple of months and many more to follow.”

He did not specify which parts of Pittsburgh were being considered for Raising Cane’s locations.