Raising Cane’s begins process of building Boro restaurant

Chicken fingers place, part of national chain, to be built on old Applebee’s lot

A fence around the old Applebee's restaurant site on Highway 80 East went up last week, which will be demolished and a new Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers restaurant will be built. No construction schedule or opening date has been released. (JIM HEALY/staff)

Raising Canes Old Applebees.jpg — A fence around the old Applebee's restaurant site on Highway 80 East went up last week, which will be demolished and a new Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers restaurant will be built. No construction schedule or opening date has been released. (JIM HEALY/staff)

Last September, Statesboro City Council approved a setback variance allowing Raising Cane's to build a 2,700-square-foot restaurant on the 1.53-acre lot where Applebee's operated from 1999–2017. The site has been vacant since 2017.

No timetable for when the first phase of the project — demolition of the Applebee's building — will begin or when the Statesboro Raising Cane's will open.

The proposed Raising Cane's project in front of Lowe's calls "for a new building, with a 75-foot building setback, to allow vehicle queuing and a double drive thru on site," according to the variance request in September.

In fact, the overhead-view site sketch outlines two drive-thru lanes filled with cars passing between the suggested new Raising Cane's building and the property line that runs alongside Ole Times Country Buffet. Currently, there's hardly room for an alley between the former Applebee's building and Ole Times, let alone two rows of cars, ordering kiosks and additional space.

But within the sketch of the 1.53-acre lot, the square representing the proposed new building is placed closer to the corner of Bernard Lane and the highway. The square is labeled with the Raising Cane's logo and a building area of 2,683 square feet.

Raising Cane's layout.jpg — The submitted plans to the city of Statesboro for the Raising Cane's restaurant on the site of the old Applebee's are shown here. (Courtesy city of Statesboro)

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers was founded in 1996 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Todd Graves and Craig Silvey. Only Graves is mentioned on the corporate website as still involved with the company. The business magazine Forbes this year listed Graves 46th among the Forbes 400 richest Americans and as the wealthiest resident of Louisiana, with an estimated $17.2 billion "net worth."

In a release from the company last week, a spokesperson said the company has more than 900 restaurants currently open in 44 states, and at least 29 are scheduled to open in 2026.

"The 2026 new year marks another exciting chapter for Raising Cane's as we continue growing and welcoming more customers into the Raising Cane's family across the country," the release stated. "As we look at the year ahead, our focus remains on building something special for the long term."

Raising Cane's staple is chicken fingers — the only main course available on the menu. The chicken fingers are also part of a sandwich, and combos that include fries and coleslaw.

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