Less than a year after the opening of the first Bay Area location of popular chicken-finger chain Raising Cane's in East Oakland, that location has decided to close its dining room to patrons out of safety concerns.
There were immediate lines of customers and cars at Raising Cane's when it made its debut in Oakland last July. The uber-popular, New Orleans-based chain sells pretty much one thing, which is fried chicken fingers, and the demand for that boneless goodness was clear.
Now, though, that location at a shopping plaza at 8430 Edgewater Drive in East Oakland has been the site of multiple car break-ins, and as NBC Bay Area reports, the restaurant is responding by shifting to drive-through service only.
"Customer and Crewmember safety is always our top priority," said Raising Cane's in a statement. And there was no word on whether they would eventually reopen for indoor service.
There have reportedly been "numerous" robberies in the neighborhood recently, per NBC Bay Area. And, SFist reported last year that a nearby Starbucks, on 98th Avenue near Oakland Airport, had become a hot spot for smash-and-grab thieves and car burglaries.
Edgewater Drive is also adjacent to an approach to Oakland Airport as well.
Raising Cane's has other locations in the region in Vacaville, Davis, and Stockton. The Vacaville location also just opened last year.
The popular chain was dubbed the "fastest growing chicken chain" in the U.S. last year, after they opened their 600th location in Corona, California.
Photo via Google Street View