Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is a fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in chicken fingers. They recently opened at 5601 Ramon Road, in Palm Springs, California. Is Cane’s worth the hype? Is Cane’s even good, other than the fact that it’s blowing up on social media? Luke Sonderman tells us about other fried chicken that is superior to Raising Cane’s. Is Cane’s chicken too bland? Too cold? Not worth it? Well, we’re about to find out thanks to Luke’s straightforward review. —  Editor Ani Madanyan

By Luke Sonderman, Chicken Connoisseur

Fried chicken is a very important piece of American cuisine. Recently, the newest fried chicken sensation has been the glorious fried-chicken sandwich which has spread to fried-chicken joints all over the world, even in our Coachella Valley. 

My favorite fried-chicken place in the Coachella Valley is Dave’s Hot Chicken on Jackson Street in Indio. Dave’s Hot Chicken serves massive chicken tenders and chicken sliders. While ordering, you get to pick your spiciness level from Lite Mild to Reaper (which is so spicy, it requires the consumer to agree to a waiver before ordering). 

Number 2 on my list would have to be Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken on Varner Road in Palm Desert. I have been eating at this Popeye’s since before I can remember. Popeye’s not only serves tenders and delicious sandwiches but also bone-in chicken, unlike most other fried chicken places in the Coachella Valley. I usually order their spicy-fried-chicken sandwich or their spicy tenders. 

Before I trigger all of the die-hard Cane’s fans, let’s just hate on Kentucky Fried Chicken for a little bit. I have to admit, their bone-in chicken is pretty good. But their popcorn chicken, chicken tenders, and chicken sandwich??? I’d rather eat sand. Their chicken tenders and sandwich are completely dry and have way too much black pepper on them. 

Although we don’t have one in the Coachella Valley (for now), I have to give Chick-Fil-A some appreciation. Chick-Fil-A is by far my favorite fried-chicken joint and fast-food restaurant outside the Coachella Valley. They have the juiciest chicken in their sandwiches and their tenders along with the tastiest buttered buns with two pickle slices. Their waffle-weave fries are so waffley they’re out of this world. On top of that, their milkshakes are the best milkshakes out of every fast-food joint in the United States. They do something to the milkshakes, I don’t know what, but they are so good.

Finally, this one is for all the Raising Cane’s fans out there. YOU’RE WRONG. Raising Cane’s is not even close to the best fried-chicken joint out there. Yeah, their tenders aren’t too bad, but what’s all the hype about? Their menu is super basic, and everything is so plain. They completely copied Del Taco’s crinkle-cut fries, which aren’t even that good to begin with. I went to the newly opened Palm Springs location and waited over an hour in a super-slow drive through just to receive cold chicken, a missing piece of toast, and a lemonade full of melted ice. And, after being open only a month, there has already been a corpse found in front of Raising Cane’s (kesq.com). 

So, if you don’t want plain cold chicken, or if you don’t want to be found dead in the parking lot, you may not want to wait an hour in the drive-through at Raising Cane’s Chicken. Get some Dave’s Hot Chicken instead.