Fried chicken is a versatile food enjoyed by all ages. Due to this, many fast food chains such as Chick-fil-a, KFC, Popeyes, and a variety of others make it an easily accessible meal for all families to enjoy. Whether the prices for these meals are worth it, is up for debate.
One thing’s for sure though: Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers (Cane’s) is the most overrated of them all.
While Cane’s is most known for their tangy sauce, the quality of almost any menu item on its own is mediocre at best. From soggy fries, toast, and chicken, to questionable coleslaw, it is safe to say that the food quality needs to be improved.
For a place that is supposed to be known for their chicken, hence the name of the chain, it is disappointing that all the flavor has to come from the sauce. On a convenience level, it is the least convenient for those who tend to multitask when eating and do not want to make a mess relying on using sauce for flavor to enhance the meal.
According to Sofia Tambalotti in the UNISVerse, “As for flavor, the chicken finger as a whole was basic (it’s not heavily seasoned) but was not necessarily lacking taste.”
Another point to be brought up is that while Cane’s has their fried chicken fried fresh to order, it can sadly lead to an over-oily chicken or the breading could almost completely come off.
“While that sounds great in theory, in practice it can lead to chicken so hot that the breading completely falls off and even tastes dry, as our taste tester experienced,” writes Milly Tamarez in the Food Republic.
Now, you would think that the chicken tenders may be the only issue with Cane’s. It is not. My experience with the chicken sandwich they sell is that it is dry and again, lacks flavor. This also is not helped by the soggy fries that pair with it. Not a good combo.
Similarly, Tambalotti expressed her awful experience with the sandwich by saying, “And to get into the worst thing we tried by far, the sandwich […] our first bite was incredibly dry and bland, and all I could taste was the bun that was definitely not toasted.”
It is expressed greatly by many that the food quality at Raising Cane’s is most certainly not the best.
Could the bad food quality be masked through their signature sauce though? Nope. Not for some.
My personal opinion on the sauce is that it is mainly salty and a little definitely goes a long way with it. It is definitely overhyped on social media through videos and posts of people purchasing large cups of the sauce; some even purchase buckets of it.
Jeni Nance, a reporter from The Review, writes, “My first encounter with Cane’s sauce wasn’t great […] I tried it a second time, and despite trying to enjoy the sauce, there was nothing I could do to redeem it […] I tried it with the chicken, fries and even a bit of the toast, but it was still awful […] I was under the impression that the sauce was going to be sweet, but it was sour and kind of bitter […] It felt very thick and heavy, which I feel took away from the food itself.”
Through the various downsides of the food quality at Cane’s, they do slightly make up for it by their affordability, meal deals, and vouchers. These are the main three reasons why people, especially students, enjoy going back to Cane’s given the perks. A good deal is a good deal.
Ultimately, if you want good-quality chicken tenders with seasoning and unsoggy sides, avoid Cane’s at all costs; there are many better fast-food chains to choose from. If you are just hungry and have the taste buds of a 5-year-old, Cane’s is the place to go.
