A proposed Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers Restaurant for the former Pep Boys property in Washington Township, is scheduled to be presented before the Township’s Planning Board on July 18th.
Raising Cane’s is a fast food restaurant focusing on freshly made in-store chicken fingers with their signature “Cane’s Sauce”… and even with a very focused menu, has developed a cult-like following in communities where the restaurants operate.
And they are making a huge investment in South Jersey… soon we’ll all be “Caniacs!”
The Washington Township project will require the former Pep Boys building on the Black Horse Pike property to be demolished, to make way for an all new construction fast food restaurant which will feature indoor dining, an outdoor seating area, and dual drive-thru lanes.
Access into the property would be from the Black Horse Pike as well as the side street, Ganttown Rd.
42Freeway first brought news of this project to readers back in January of this year, but the initial reporting came from the town’s Business Buzz Facebook page. (Facebook)
At that time there were very few details regarding the site configuration for the project, but in this article I share the proposed site plan.
The core building design seems to be an exact duplicate of what was recently proposed in Deptford New Jersey.
Raising Cane’s is Raising a Big South Jersey Presence
If you aren’t already aware, Raising Cane’s is making a big push into the South Jersey market with locations to come for Marlton, Cherry Hill, Deptford, Washington Township, Burlington and Glassboro.
The core development phases are just getting started at a just a few of the locations, starting with the initial site clearing and prep phases.
The properties for Marlton and Cherry Hill have been cleared, and the demolition of the former Don Pablos building in Deptford just started today actually.
While we reported on the Glassboro location (planned for a former Rite Aid property on Delsea Drive), that project has not progressed towards a Planning Board meeting as of yet.
42Freeway is also working on a story about a Raising Cane’s in planning for yet another area community… but I am still researching those details.
Raising Canes – Washington Township
The Washington Township Raising Cane’s will be a 3,312 square foot restaurant building with two drive through lanes, parking areas and a full lot rebuild.
As mentioned the configuration of the building appears to be a duplicate of what was approved in Deptford Township at the site of the old Don Pablos, but movements within the property for the drive thrus and parking, will obviously differ for the locations due to the different shapes of the development lots.
There are a few variances requested for the Washington Township project, namely loading spaces required, number of parking spaces, and signage.
Signage variance requests are commonplace and basically appear in every project, as towns have intentionally set the standards for signs to be smaller, which gives the town an opportunity to discuss the details the planning meeting.
An interesting twist on this Raising Cane’s is they actually want to develop MORE parking spaces thatn the property zoning calls for. It’s usually the other way around with when a developer tries to squeeze a large project into a smaller space, and parking spaces are usually impacted.
As mentioned there will be access to Raising Cane’s from Ganttown Road via a short (and already existing) side access road. This existed for Pep Boys also.
The Raising Cane’s drive-thru is a full two lane drive thru, meaning all the way through to the point of paying for and receiving your food, they can maintain two separate lanes. It appears that the configuration also supports the the more standard ability of taking orders from two different kiosk lanes and then merging them into one… presumably when things aren’t too busy.
The building will sit in the center of the property and the core flow of the traffic is counterclockwise around the building. At the point where the drive-thru lanes start there are two drive-thru lanes and then a separate lane positioned for drivers to avoid the drive-thru.
A small outdoor patio dining area is to be positioned in front of the store, facing the Black Horse Pike.
The Raising Cane’s “Caniacs” Experience
I can’t mislead my reader… the rest of this article is basically a copy of what I just posted yesterday in my Deptford update. If you aren’t familiar at all with Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and their Caniacs, please read on!
Last summer I visited the newly opened Raising Cane’s location in Center City Philadelphia to see what all of the fanaticism was all about!
Raising Cane’s is a premium chicken breast “finger” which is always made to order… and their chicken is hand-breaded and never frozen. Seriously they are only about chicken fingers. Deliciously tender chicken fingers.
And you won’t find a variety of sauces for your chicken fingers either as they carry their own special recipe sauce called Cane’s Sauce.
Trying out Raising Cane’s in Philadelphia PA. Fresh and tender chicken fingers and their amazing Cane’s sauce!
Based on internet lore and copy-cat recipes, the sauce appears to be based on; mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. The Cane’s sauce recipe really is a secret though. It’s made fresh in the store but that responsibility is left with the store General Managers!
They also offer sides; Crinkle-Cut fries, Coleslaw and Texas Toast… and of course Cane’s Sauce.
If it’s your first time visiting, consider trying the Box Combo that has all of these items in the basket. But be warned.. it’s a LOT of food!
Don’t get me wrong, those sides are a very strong supporting cast, loved by Raising Cane’s fans as much as the tenders are.
Distinctive Raising Cane’s branding as shown in a Philadelphia PA location.
And the freshness theme carries through to the sides.
The coleslaw is made daily in each store. The fries are Grade A potatoes. And the Texas Toast starts with a pull-apart sesame seed bread that they add butter and garlic blend too, and toast on the flat-top griddle.
Links and Locations
Raising Cane’s – Turnersville (Proposed)
5241 Route 42
Turnersville NJ
Public Hearing – Planning Board
July 18, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.
Municipal Building
523 Egg Harbor Road
Sewell, NJ 08080