Chicken tenders and fries have always been the safe bet when going to a restaurant that you have never been to before.  It’s what you wanted to eat everyday when you were a little kid not knowing other foods even existed.

Obviously some places make better tenders or some places have better fries or both.  It’s hard to mess up such a simple and easy meal.

Some places specialize in the art of making tenders and that may be all they serve, like the well-known tender chain around Cincinnati, Raising Cane’s.

Raising Cane’s was founded in the 1990’s by entrepreneur Todd Graves, who’s idea of a chicken finger place was looked over countless times by investors.  Graves decided to use his own money and build his own restaurant close to LSU’s campus.

Graves had to compete with a rival restaurant, also by the campus, who also sold just chicken tenders.  Cane’s thrived, became the favorite of the student body and drove the rival restaurant out of business.

Today, there are 360 locations spread out across the United States and a couple overseas in different countries as well.

Cane’s is a very popular spot in Cincinnati and people have expressed lots of praise about it.  The closet locations to the westside will be found in Clifton and just off Colerain Ave.

The hype for the restaurant became even more intense when word broke out that a Cane’s was going to be built on Glenway Ave.  A mere ten minutes away from Elder.

Passionate fans of the place, like Senior T.J. Kearns, think it is the best restaurant, hands down, and while taking a survey of the senior class it seems others feel that way too.  Some said they go there every week to grab a bite to eat.

News flash.  Raising Cane’s isn’t that great.  Now let me be clear, is Raising Cane’s good? Yes.  Would I stop there if it were convenient for me to? Maybe, but would I go so far as to think it is great? Not a chance.

Let’s break down what they have to offer.  The menu in a nutshell consists of tenders, fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, and the famous Cane’s sauce.

The coleslaw is irrelevant so we can scratch that off.

They have good chicken tenders, but to me there are a couple other places that have them beat on that like O’Charley’s and my personal slept on tender place, F&N Goode Chicken.

The fries aren’t crispy every time.  Normally they can be served soggy and limp.  Countless other places have better fries than the poor effort Cane’s puts out.

The Texas toast and the sauce, I will admit, are the real deal.  The toast is perfectly crisp every time and the sauce is like no other.

But if you are a chicken tender place, shouldn’t the chicken be the best part about it?  To add to that, shouldn’t fries also be as equally good as the chicken because tenders and fries go hand in hand?

The best items available at this place are the toast and sauce, at a chicken tender place.  Now I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem right to me.

If I have persuaded you to agree with what I have said, an alternative for the a better combination of tenders and fries you need go no further than O’Charley’s.

In my opinion, the best tenders out there and the fries are a great addition and crispy, not soggy like Cane’s.

Word to the wise, if you want to specialize in just a certain item, you should probably make it so outstanding that it never gets old and Raising Cane’s has not done that.