Raising Cane's opens Thursday at Universal CityWalk

I think Raising Cane's is fine, but do not understand the fanaticism for a restaurant that essentially serves just a single menu item. I did catch the founder/CEO's appearance on Shark Tank last season and he discussed the importance of sticking with what you do well and not diluting your business chasing ancillary revenue, but it's wild to me how busy their restaurants are and how popular they've become in such a short period of time. I guess it shows how powerful marketing to college students can be and establishing habits of 18-24 year olds - Cane's started in Baton Rouge selling for tailgates at LSU football games and for late night crammers and the original concept was panned by the founder's business class professor.

FWIW, the way Cane's does their grand openings is that the first 100-200 (depending on perceived popularity of the location, my guess is that this one would be 200) people in line receive a free combo on a future visit and are entered into a drawing to receive "combos for a year" (10/20 out of the first 100/200 will win).

Well, I do not want to eat at a fast food franchise while on vacation.

There are many places like Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food or the NBC grill or Mythos Restaurant.....

@Brian - This one is at CityWalk in Hollywood, and yes while I try to avoid chains while on vacation, I think it's fine to enjoy fast food on vacation when you need something quick to eat if it's a chain you don't have in your area (not everyone has time to sit down for a meal at Mythos or other table service restaurants). For example, we almost always go to In and Out when we travel to the West Coast or Culvers when we're in the Midwest (or that completely out of place location right next to Carowinds). Raising Cane's has just started penetrating our market in the past couple of years (Washington, DC), and a lot of regions still don't have a location, so I'd say it's probably still a "novelty" right now in tourist locations - FWIW, their Times Square location is one of the most profitable fast food restaurants on Earth, and I'd expect this spot in a refreshed USH CityWalk will be extremely popular.

Dave's hot chicken is another great example of a company marketing to college age kids and succeeding. But as for the fast food thing, well, theme parks are expensive. I'd rather just stop quickly at Chick-fil-A afterward than spend $30 on mediocre park food, especially if I'm tired from a whole day at the parks and would rather not do a whole sit down thing in city walk.

Russell, I find it interesting that you cite Raising Canes as overhyped because they've only got a single main option, then state In-N-Out, which is similarly hyped and also only features a single main option, as a frequent inclusion in your travels. I sometimes refer to Raising Cane's as the In-N-Out of chicken strips when describing it to those not in the know, and personally I don't mind restaurants like this that specialize in a limited number of options. I'd rather a place do a couple things well than have a wider range of offerings which aren't all that great.

Despite being a Caniac, though, I probably wouldn't bother with this location simply because CityWalk has other quick-service options that I can't get on a weekly basis at home. However, if you're at the park, feeling a desire for chicken strips, and don't mind walking an extra quarter mile, this is a heck of a lot better option than anything inside the gate.

AJ, while I wouldn't call In-and-Out's menu expansive (what I would call a "streamlined" menu of burgers and fries), it's far more expansive than what Cane's offers and the not so "secret menu" offers dozens of other choices (Animal Style, protein style, Flying Dutchman, etc...). Much like Chipotle, the number of actual menu items at In-and-Out is very limited, but the options and combinations including variations not explicitly listed on the menu are quite vast. Cane's menu is chicken strips, chicken strips, chicken strips, a chicken sandwich (comprised of chicken strips on bread) and not much else aside from crinkle fries (the worst cut of fries known to man IMHO) and coleslaw with very little variations you can request aside from the number of strips you order (you can't very well ask for medium rare strips). I'm not knocking the chain, because they're obviously doing something right and their chicken strips are quite good (and that sauce is a money printing machine on its own), but it surprises me that they've been so successful despite one of the most streamlined, focused menus in the industry (the founder's business professor thought the same thing when the initial business plan for the restaurant was given a failing grade).

For me, In-and-out is very much a novelty because the chain refuses to expand beyond the Western states (they have recently penetrated Tennessee when previously the furthest east they got was Texas), so despite the limited menu, the chain holds some appeal as a one-time visit while on vacation. Cane's still has some novelty for me as they've just started penetrating the DC market (though the closest restaurant is still 20-30 minutes from where we live), and would probably eat at a Cane's while on vacation (and actually did when we were in Las Vegas earlier this year). It still doesn't alter my surprise at the success of the chain - though I do wonder if this recent rapid expansion will dilute their success especially considering that all of their locations are corporate-owned (not franchised like most fast food restaurants). I think about DC's own fast food chain, Five Guys, and how rapidly they expanded their franchised locations (there were only five locations in the late 90's that were all owned by the founders before Mark Mosely, former Washington place kicker, bought the right to franchise the concept around the world) in the previous decade and how they've become almost as ubiquitous as McDonald's or Burger King and the only way they can grow revenue is to raise prices, which has gone viral, negatively, over the years given the value that the restaurant represented when it launched.

Personally, if I were in CityWalk Hollywood, I might eat here if I was still hungry after a day at the park (I assume they'll be open pretty late) as a convenience since you'll walk right by the location on the way to your car, and might even leave the park for lunch at Cane's if I didn't feel like eating any of the specialty foods inside USH (mostly inside WWoHP, Springfield, or Mario Land).

The correct fry cut ranking is curly, waffle, crinkle, steak, regular, shoestring, then home. Crinkle is top three.

Properly fried shoestring unfairly underrated there. That's my number one. Steak is DL, IMO.