Almost 30 years ago to the day (August 28, 1996), Todd Graves opened the first Raising Cane’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. To this day, that restaurant still stands in pretty much the exact shape Graves originally built it in. Head down to LSU and visit the Cane’s, and you’ll see leopard-print seats, a disco ball, original wood paneling, a “velvet Elvis” that’s actually just a towel, and more.

Keith Lee, who popped by to celebrate the 30th birthday, said it was like walking into a time capsule. It was. For a moment, you’re standing in 1996 rather than 2026, when Graves and his original crew worked like dogs (perhaps like the namesake, Cane) to get the restaurant off the ground.

This was after Graves received the worst grade on his business plan in college and was turned down by several bankers and businesspeople who just didn’t get the idea of restricting the menu in Baton Rouge, where Cajun and Creole food reigns supreme, to chicken tenders.

Now, 30 years later, it’s a global brand, one of the biggest restaurants in the entire world, and celebrating a monumental occasion.

It’s the 30th Birthday of Raising Cane’s

If you’re unfamiliar with the impressive, improbable origin story of Raising Cane’s, it’s a doozy. Todd Graves got the worst grade in his class for a detailed plan for his restaurant because it seemed to go against all industry trends. That, as well as getting turned down for loans endlessly, grew the chip on his shoulder.

Graves took up 90-hour work weeks in oil refinery to try to raise the money on his own. A fellow worker suggested he try commercial fishing in Alaska to make more money, so he took a trip and camped out until he got a job. Eventually, the money came; Graves built the restaurant, and truly, the rest is history. It’s history worth revisiting three decades later.

The CEO and founder spoke at length about how proud he is that Cane’s has been able to employ thousands of people and promote them to leadership internally. He’s proud of all the charity work they’ve been able to do, pledging to commit more to pet welfare and to one day, hopefully, be able to donate into the billions.

“To be able to do these things today is an absolute privilege to be able to do it,” he said. “And what I’m really looking forward to is the next 30 years, be able to do things on a much bigger scale. Like I’ve said, I think God may be good at checking fingers and helping people.” Graves also noted that the next 30 years includes more international expansion, including Mexico and London in the very near future.

It can be hard to get a business off the ground, as Graves well knows. But he had some advice for burgeoning entrepeneurs that are going through exactly what he went through. “Once you have product and service, you’re good at it, and you’re committed, and it’s a passion and a dream of yours, then you have to believe in yourself 100%,” he said.

He continued, “Every person that told me no, I used it as fuel. It’s so hard to start, and have a chip on your shoulder. Every time someone tells you you can’t make it, then you go, yes, I can. And it gives you that because it’s so hard, your sleepless nights. You’re running on fumes… You just got to remember that because you can either do that, you can use it as fuel, people tell you no, prove them wrong, or you can get discouraged.”

Birthday Cake

To celebrate a birthday, you need a birthday cake. And to cement this momentous occasion, legendary cake artist Duff Goldman crafted an exquisite, stunning recreation of the Raising Cane’s story. He also did the 25th birthday cake, and he joked, “I think the biggest difference as far as like our design process between the 25th and the 30th was really just making sure we got the numbers right.”

He revealed that it’s a roughly 70-pound cake that took 55 hours to complete. It, and the cakes he does for any occasion or anyone, is a true labor of love. But there’s something so central about a cake for an event that makes it all worthwhile. That cake may not mean anything to Goldman or the others involved, but it means something to the recipient.

“I feel like cakes really are like the kind of the lightning rods for that joy and that emotion and just that feeling that whatever you’re trying to gather there. And they become these physical manifestations of joy,” Goldman said. “I understand that it means that much to somebody else. That’s what we pour into these cakes. And I think that’s what keeps us going, you know?”

Making a 30th anniversary cake for a huge event like this is no easy feat. It might be, however, easier than going toe to toe with Buddy Valastro, who has also done some cakes for Todd Graves and Raising Cane’s. For the 28th birthday, the golden year, Valastro made a cake for a new Boston flagship.

“Battling out with Buddy is pretty difficult. That guy is an incredible artist. He’s a great cake decorator.
So, you know, every time we go head-to-head, you know, it was pretty tough and it was not all for television,” Goldman joked.

“I love Raising Cane’s,” he continued. “I love that chicken. I eat Raising Cane’s on every road trip whenever I see one. But for Todd and for everybody at Raising Cane’s, all of these things have deep personal meaning, right? I can make something, but it’s really important for me to make sure, like the way that we do the coleslaw, this is chipped as opposed to sliced, right? Chipped coleslaw like this, that’s the style of coleslaw that they make for Raising Cane’s.”

An Explosion

Raising Cane’s opened up in 1996, and it wasn’t until the early 2000s that it expanded into more than one state. Today, they’re in 44 states and six countries, a fact well represented in the pop-up museum that is right next to “The Mothership” restaurant. It showcases the growth of Cane’s and the origin in Graves’ upstairs apartment and parking lot out back.

Obviously, it has exploded in a way that few restaurants have. Keith Lee, who was present for the celebration, has seen a similar explosion in brand on social media. He is the food reviewer, and he obviously knows a lot about both food itself and the industry.

“Everything happens the way it’s supposed to and when it’s supposed to,” Lee said. “When you are passionate about something and you have a true identity in that, the people who identify with that and that can relate, God willing, they’ll find you.”

Lee also, as a fun new revelation, teased that he’s considering going into the restaurant business, and he spoke about keeping some of the same local, family values that Raising Cane’s has. His vision would be to open a restaurant, which may or may not happen, where local chefs come in for a period of time and make the menu their own so that it reflects the community.

Community is important to Lee and Graves. “When you have an identity and you have a culture that is wrapped in that identity, and you have people who can relate to that and you can have a closer connection to it, I think that that really can help catapult a brand,” Lee said. Catapult might not even be an accurate word for the growth Cane’s has experienced.

Most restaurants don’t make it this far. If The Bear has taught the world anything, it’s that opening a restaurant is unyieldingly difficult. It requires a lot, and Graves was unwilling to give anything but that to open the first Cane’s, and the rest that has followed, as unfathomable as it might’ve been, was the result of all that hard work.