El Paso, Texas (KFOX14) — Raising Cane’s built its restaurant concept around a straightforward idea: Focus on one main dish and work to make it consistently well.

During a Daytime visit to the Raising Cane’s at The Fountains at Farah, Lawrence, an area leader for the restaurant company, explained how that philosophy shaped everything from the chicken fingers and sides to the drinks, catering options and closely guarded Cane’s Sauce recipe.

“We only sell one thing, so we have to be perfect at it,” Lawrence said. “And I promise you guys this: We are perfect at it.”

We also explored the story behind the restaurant’s dog-inspired name, the role catering can play during the busy back-to-school season and the company’s involvement in El Paso community events.

Here are seven things to know about Raising Cane’s and its intentionally limited menu.

1. Chicken fingers are the restaurant’s “one love”

Chicken fingers are not simply one option on the menu. Lawrence said they are the reason the other menu items exist.

“Our one love is these beautiful chicken fingers here,” he said. “That’s all he really wanted.”

That focus dates back to the company’s earliest days. Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves opened the first restaurant near Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Aug. 28, 1996. The company says Graves developed the restaurant around a limited menu serving chicken finger meals, despite being told by professors and potential lenders that the concept would not work.

Lawrence said concentrating on one primary item allows restaurant crews to spend their time learning how to prepare it consistently.

We compared the approach to becoming an expert through repetition.

“You’re exactly right,” Lawrence responded. “We only sell one thing, so we have to be perfect at it.”

2. The sides were selected to complement the chicken

While the menu includes several familiar sides, Lawrence said each one was chosen to support the restaurant’s chicken finger meals.

“He created the entire menu just to complement our one love,” Lawrence said.

That includes crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast and coleslaw.

“To balance us out, because we all care about nutrition, right, he added the coleslaw,” he said.

The result is a menu that offers different combinations of the same core items rather than a long list of unrelated entrees.

3. The drinks receive plenty of attention, too

The restaurant’s focused approach extends to its beverages.

Raising Cane’s offers lemonade along with sweet and unsweetened tea. Lawrence said the lemonade is prepared fresh each day.

“The cool thing about our lemonade is that it’s hand-squeezed every single day, so it’s fresh and it’s ready to go,” he said.

The company’s official catering information says the lemonade is made with real lemons, pure cane sugar and filtered water. Its sweet and unsweetened tea is brewed fresh several times throughout the day. Both are available by the gallon for catering orders.

Lawrence admitted that sweet tea is a personal favorite, but he quickly returned to the restaurant’s main message.

“I’m absolutely addicted to our sweet tea, but our one love is our chicken fingers,” he said.

4. Raising Cane’s really was named after a dog

The yellow Labrador pictured throughout Raising Cane’s restaurants is more than a mascot created for the brand.

Lawrence explained that Graves named the restaurant after his dog.

“He had a dog named Cane,” Lawrence said. “He chose to name his restaurant after Cane, just to represent the love that he had for his dog.”

The company’s official history adds another detail: Graves originally planned to call the restaurant “Sockeye’s,” referencing the salmon he fished while working in Alaska. A friend instead suggested that he name it after Raising Cane, the Labrador that frequently joined him at the original restaurant’s construction site.

The tradition continued after the original Cane died. Raising Cane III now serves as the company’s mascot, following Cane I and Cane II.

“We’re on our third Cane now, and I’m super excited about that,” Lawrence said.

5. Catering is designed to be easy to carry and serve

In our segment featured a catering spread with trays of chicken fingers, cups of Cane’s Sauce and large beverage containers.

“This is exactly the setup that you will be receiving if you wanted to cater with us at Raising Cane’s,” Lawrence said.

He described the containers as straightforward for customers who need to transport food to a school gathering, work event, party, game or family meal.

“It’s very easy to hold, easy to access,” Lawrence said.

Raising Cane’s offers individual combos for groups as well as Tailgates with larger quantities of chicken fingers. Its official catering page lists Tailgate options ranging from 25 to 300 chicken fingers and recommends planning for three to four chicken fingers per person. Customers can add fries, Texas toast, coleslaw, sauce and gallon-sized drinks.

Those options can be useful during the back-to-school season, when families, classrooms, sports teams and workplace groups may be planning meals for larger gatherings.

6. Community participation remains part of the local plan

The Daytime visit came as El Paso families and schools were preparing for a new academic year.

Lawrence said Raising Cane’s crews were also preparing to participate in community activities around the city. During the segment, he pointed to Minerpalooza and Way Out West as examples of local events where the company planned to have a presence.

The company’s broader community program focuses on working with schools, nonprofits and local causes through fundraisers, sponsorships and donations of goods. Its stated areas of focus include education, hunger relief, active lifestyles, pet welfare and entrepreneurship.

For Lawrence, the local events, catering options and restaurant experience all return to the same focused message.

“One love,” he said. “Chicken fingers.”

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