Raising Cane's has locked in an opening date for its new Walker restaurant: Monday, Nov. 16. The chicken chain is taking over the site of a vacant TGI Fridays at 3179 Alpine Ave. NW near I-96, and it's now hiring roughly 100 workers to staff the place before the doors open.
The restaurant at 3179 Alpine Ave. NW near I-96 in Walker will open Monday, Nov. 16, according to WOODTV. The new building is planned as a 3,100-square-foot restaurant with a double drive-thru, indoor dining and an outdoor patio, as reported by MLive. It will be built on the site of the vacant former TGI Fridays, which is being demolished as part of the project, the same report notes.
The project cleared a local hurdle late last year. The Walker Planning Commission approved the site plans and a special land use for the drive-thru on Nov. 19, 2025, per the mlive.com report. That approval set the stage for the Louisiana-based chain's latest West Michigan push, which has moved quickly over the past year.
Hiring Now Through Early November
Raising Cane's is hiring for cashier, customer service associate and fry cook positions ahead of the opening, with starting pay of $15 an hour, according to the seed reporting from MLive. Interested candidates can apply at jobs.raisingcanes.com. Starting now and continuing through Nov. 6, the company will hold interviews at Homewood Suites by Hilton at 3410 Walker Ave. NW, the same outlet reports.
Interviews will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., then again from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., with walk-ins welcome, per the same WOODTV account. For a chain that gets roughly 75% of its business through the drive-thru window, staffing up before opening day is no small detail — speed and volume are core to how Raising Cane's operates.
What's On the Menu
The chain is known for its chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and signature sauce, per the WOODTV report. The menu includes chicken fingers, sandwiches and coleslaw, rounding out the simple, fried-chicken-forward lineup that's fueled the company's rapid growth nationally.
That growth has been dramatic. Raising Cane's is now the third-largest chicken chain in the U.S. by sales, trailing only Chick-fil-A and Popeyes, according to CNBC. The chain opened 118 restaurants in 2024, with about 100 more expected in 2025, the outlet reports. Regional vice president Kevin Ryan told WOODTV the company plans to open about 100 restaurants in 2026 and expects to exceed 1,000 locations by year's end.
A Fast-Growing West Michigan Footprint
Walker will mark Raising Cane's fourth West Michigan restaurant, following locations in Kentwood, Portage and Grandville, according to WOODTV. The chain's first Grand Rapids-area location opened in Kentwood on Nov. 18, 2025, per mlive.com. Coverage of how the Walker location should be tallied differs: WOODTV describes it as the chain's fourth West Michigan location when counting Kentwood, Portage and Grandville together, while Crain's Grand Rapids has described it as the chain's third Grand Rapids-area spot.
Raising Cane's opened its third West Michigan location less than a month ago, on Oct. 22, at 3980 Rivertown Mall Path near Rivertown Crossings in Grandville. That restaurant was described as the chain's eighth location in Michigan overall. It operates Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., according to WOODTV's coverage of that opening.
Michigan locations include East Lansing and Portage, and the chain's first Michigan restaurant opened in East Lansing in 2022. The company is planning to open 20 more restaurants in Michigan over the next decade, mlive.com reports. WOODTV also reports Raising Cane's is planning a location in Holland Township and eyeing other West Michigan areas, including Norton Shores, as the chain continues chasing ground on Chick-fil-A and Popeyes one drive-thru lane at a time.
