Raising Cane's Finally Opens Its First SF Restaurant, at the Wharf

SF chicken finger fans can start planning their jaunts to Fisherman's Wharf to get their fill of Raising Cane's, as the mega-popular fast-food chain has just opened its first SF location there.

The big opening of Raising Cane's happened Monday morning at 211 Jefferson Street, about a block east of In-N-Out and the new Taco Bell Cantina, at Fisherman's Wharf. We first heard that the fried chicken finger chain was headed to the neighborhood back in February, and we thought it would be the second Raising Cane's location to open here, with one that's been slated to open by Stonestown Galleria for almost two years now expected to make it open first. But the Wharf location has come out of the gate first, and soon we'll have two locations to choose from when the Stonestown shop at 255 Winston Drive opens shortly.

We've got a few photos of the new location, which is heavily SF branded with murals and more inside.

According to a PR rep, the new restaurant had a line outside when they opened Monday morning, with the first customer having gotten in line Sunday morning.

Among the opening day festivities, there was a Lucky 20 drawing in which 20 early customers won free Raising Cane's for a year. The first 100 customers to order a combo meal got a Raising Cane's trucker hat and a free box combo card. And that first customer in line received a one-of-a-kind gift basket as a prize.

"Opening our first San Francisco restaurant at Fisherman’s Wharf is an incredible milestone for Raising Cane’s,” said Raising Cane’s Regional Leader of Restaurants Chris Zygler, in a statement. "This is one of the most iconic neighborhoods in the country, and we’re proud to invest in the Wharf and be part of the continued energy and revitalization happening in San Francisco."

Raising Cane's has been something of a sensation in recent years as its been in expansion mode, with the original Raising Cane's location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana dating back to 1996. The chain now has over 1,000 locations, with 100 opening this year alone, and there are plans to open the first Raising Cane's locations in the UK and Mexico in 2027. The chain opened its first nearby location in Oakland four years ago.

The chain offers a simple menu of chicken fingers, with combo meals featuring three, four, or six chicken fingers, each coming with Cane's Sauce, crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw, and Texas toast. There is also a fried chicken sandwich on the menu, but that is about it.

The new Raising Cane's joins a group of businesses and attractions, some of which are still set to open, at the quickly revitalizing Fisherman's Wharf. Taco Bell Cantina opened in similarly splashy fashion, with a DJ, back on New Year's Eve. And on the wharf where Alioto's Restaurant once stood, a new harbor-facing plaza just had its ribbon-cutting three weeks ago.

Still to come is a new location of the Oakland-born Everett & Jones BBQ; the former Pompei's Grotto (340 Jefferson) is becoming Chasca Rio, a Salvadoran restaurant from a team with experience at Foreign Cinema and Vine Hospitality Group; and the Wharf's oldest restaurant, Castagnola's, is being revamped and readied for a reopening soon.

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