Macon has its first Raising Cane's. The chicken finger chain opened its doors at 4951 Riverside Drive, marking the company's 15th Georgia location and its first anywhere in Central Georgia, bringing with it 110 new hourly jobs for cashiers, customer service associates and fry cooks.
The grand opening, reported by The State, featured a live DJ and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, along with free branded hats and combo cards for the first 100 customers who ordered a combo meal. Twenty lucky visitors were entered into a drawing, with one winner walking away with free food for a year. 13WMAZ reported that the restaurant had hired 110 employees.
Why Riverside Drive
The Macon restaurant officially broke ground in April, sitting directly across from The Shoppes at River Crossing, the station's reporting notes. Before this opening, the closest Raising Cane's location to Macon was in McDonough, leaving a gap in Middle Georgia that the company has now filled.
Commercial real estate records reviewed by LoopNet show the property is built under a 15-year absolute NNN ground lease near Gateway Drive and Riverside Drive, placing it right across from the 750,000-square-foot shopping center. The listing also notes that the five-mile radius around the site has an average household income exceeding $134,000.
One Menu, Fifteen Georgia Stores
The Macon shop joins existing Georgia locations in Albany, Athens, Buford, Columbus, Conyers, Cumming, Dacula, Duluth, Kennesaw, McDonough, Snellville, Statesboro, Valdosta and Woodstock, according to The State's reporting. True to form, the chain still describes itself as a restaurant that serves only chicken fingers, with a menu built around crinkle-cut fries, Cane's sauce, Texas toast, coleslaw and a chicken sandwich. The chicken is marinated for 24 hours before being cooked to order, and the company says it uses no heat lamps. For the season, Macon customers can grab a graphic Halloween cup for $1.49 with any combo or 32-ounce drink.
The Macon debut was not an isolated event. It was one of seven store openings the company rolled out across six states in October, including first-time entries in Macon, Springfield, Oregon, and Wausau, Wisconsin, per Retail Industry News. Additional October openings landed in California, Idaho and Michigan the same month.
From a College Business Flop to a $5.7 Billion Chain
Raising Cane's traces back to the mid-1990s, when founder Todd Graves pitched the business plan in an LSU college course and reportedly got the lowest grade in the class, according to Forbes. Undeterred, Graves saved up startup money working as an oil refinery boilermaker and commercial salmon fisherman before opening the first Raising Cane's near the north gates of LSU on Aug. 28, 1996. The chain, headquartered in Baton Rouge, was named after Graves' dog.
Three decades later, that single-menu concept has become one of the fastest-growing names in fast food. Raising Cane's has surpassed 1,000 locations worldwide and plans to add roughly 100 new stores during 2026, Forbes' reporting notes. The company opened 118 locations in 2024, with around 100 openings forecast for 2025. Forecasts put its 2025 sales at $5.8 billion and average unit volume at $6.8 million per restaurant.
Much of that growth has come without traditional franchising. Roughly nine out of every ten Raising Cane's locations are corporate-owned, funded through company debt and cash flow rather than franchise capital, according to Business Model Analyst. That structure allows the company to retain restaurant margins and control unit economics. Business Model Analyst said Forbes estimated Graves's net worth at $22 billion in September 2025.
The company isn't slowing down. Raising Cane's aims to reach 1,600 restaurants and $10 billion in annual revenue, with plans to expand internationally into markets including London and Mexico. For now, though, Macon diners can skip the Athens or McDonough drive and get their chicken fingers fix right on Riverside Drive.
