The Vitals:
the spot: Raising Cane’s locations throughout US
the eats: Chicken
the bucks: $1.81 per chicken strip
the full nelson: the sauce lives up to the hype but is Fast Food still worth it in 2025?
My son recently caught the bug for Raising Cane’s. When it comes to food I like to think we have been raising him “right” meaning introducing him to diverse range of foods and emphasizing chef driven food, local sourcing . . . yada yada yada.
And that means he is gonna get a taste for fast food. Enter Raising Cane’s, the fast food chicken finger chain which started in Louisiana. Cane’s is a relative newcomer to the fast food game. When it started in 1996, I was in college. Unlike my college career, Cane’s took off and does like a $1 billion in revenue.
In the moment I found it pleasant enough. In retrospect it’s easier to analyze the Raising Cane’s experience with a little more scrutiny. The chicken was juicy although noticeably underseasoned. The Cane’s sauce is legit delicious. In fact I know two chefs who sought out to remake Cane’s sauce for their popular burgers. But there is a drawback: the price.
My kid’s combo meal was like $12. That came with fries, bread, coleslaw, a drink and four Chicken fingers. It’s chicken breast, I’ll give you that but I’ll bet money it’s commodity poultry. The frozen crinkle cut fries were plentiful and not surprisingly overcooked. There was a large piece of bread too, which struck me as unnecessary, and a little coleslaw.
The drink was almost too large. Overall this combo is loaded with carbs, light on protein and generous with sugary beverage. Suddenly the idea of RFK in charge of our nation’s health doesn’t seem so preposterous. This meal is exactly why we have a population struggling with type 2 diabetes.
Look, I ain’t gonna yuck your yum if this is your thing and no one said you need to eat this way every day. But the cost for this meal should raise an eyebrow. As a little family of three, the idea of forking over almost $40 for three Raising Cane’s combos is silly to put it mildly. It really makes me pause and ask this question: is fast food worth it in 2025?
I can think of a few fast food exceptions but I’ll gladly begin my recipe hack experiments for making my own Raising Cane’s sauce and making my own chicken fingers at home. I’m not a total savage though. If my kid wants it(and he is thin as a rail) I’ll get him some Raising Cane’s here and there. Still I would ask you all this: is fast food worth it in 2025?
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