If you want chicken, Yosemite Avenue in Manteca is the place to go.
That’s because when Raising Cane’s opens its first Northern California location Monday in the 1300 block of East Yosemite sandwiched between Manteca Bowl and The Habit the city’s main east-west arterial will be home to five chicken places.
That includes Kentucky Fried Chicken two doors down, Chick-fil-A a block away, El Pollo Loco east of Highway 99 and Popeyes Chicken on West Yosemite.
Monday’s opening ceremonies at 8 a.m. include Mayor Ben Cantu and Manteca Chamber of Commerce conducting a ribbon cutting. Spirit squads from Manteca, East Union, and Sierra high schools will be on hand to pump up the crowd. KWIN 97 will also be part of the opening day activities.
Prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. Raising Cane’s will be accepting entries for its “Lucky 20” drawing. Those whose names are selected and who are 13 years or older will be awarded free Raising Cane’s for a year.
Raising Cane’ Chicken Fingers isn’t Chick-fil-A.
Besides the fact Raising Cane’s essentially serves just chicken fingers including in their sandwich combo they don’t keep the same hours. Chick-fil-A opens at 8 a.m. and Raising Cane’s opens at 9 a.m. But when it comes to closing, Chick-fil-A rolls up the sidewalks at 10 a.m. while Raising Cane’s stays open until 2 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and until 3:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
And if you get a hankering for chicken on a Sunday Raising Cane’s is open and Chick-fil-A is not.
Chick-fil-A is named after what you are eating. Raising Cane’s is named iafter founder Todd Grave’s original dog, a yellow Labrador whose larger-than-life image adorns an exterior wall of the location built on the site of Manteca’s original McDonald’s.
Company representatives during the city approval process said they have one of the fastest order turn arounds in the business for drive-thru customers with orders finished within 2½ minutes of being placed.
Given their limited menu it is easy to see how they do it. Excluding drinks, Raising Cane’s features 14 menu options including extras. Chick-fil-A sans drinks offers 39 items. You can get chicken 10 different ways at Chick-fil-A and only one way at Raising Cane’s. Chick-fil-A offers seven dipping sauces and Raising Cane’s just one. The most unique item(s) for a fast food restaurant on the Chick-fil-A menu might just be the side options of chicken noodle soup or kale crunch while for Raising Cane’s it’s the option of either organic milk or organic apple juice that comes with the Kid’s Combo.
Raising Cane’s 3,247-square-foot building features a double kitchen with a drive-thru lane and a covered 1,194-square-foot outdoor dining patio.
Raising Cane’s has a 17-car queue for the drive thru window. They do what the Manteca In-and-Out Burger as well as Dutch Bro. Coffee on West Yosemite next door to Cabral Motors employs during peak periods. They have extra personnel serving as remote order takers working the line of cars to make sure the “fast” is emphasized in fast food.
Manteca is Raising Cane’s first foray into Northern California with others soon to follow. The closest locations are in Reno and south of the Tehachapi Mountains in Southern California. Manteca is the chain’s 44th store in the Golden State.
Raising Cane’s has hired more than 180 crew members. They are still seeking individuals to join its Manteca Crew. Interested candidates should apply at WorkAtCanes.com. Applicants will be contacted to set up an interview after applying.
To build interest in their opening the Raising Cane’s food truck made the rounds in Manteca last week donating food to 10 organizations and 3,100 families serving around 10,000 chicken fingers.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
