{"id":262233,"date":"2026-04-23T04:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/262233\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T04:48:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:48:27","slug":"new-raising-canes-rival-eyes-texas-for-major-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/262233\/","title":{"rendered":"New Raising Cane’s rival eyes Texas for major expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often dubbed the \u201cfilet mignon of chicken,\u201d this Raising Cane\u2019s rival<\/a> is now setting its sights on expansion into the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t heard of\u00a0Huey Magoo\u2019s Chicken Tenders, don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re not alone. The fast-casual chicken tender chain<\/a> was founded in Orlando, Florida in 2004 and currently has about 80 locations across 12 states \u2014 most of them in the southeast. But the company is currently pursuing an aggressive expansion effort, including dozens of franchise restaurants planned for right here in Texas. And two of the very first locations could open in deep South Texas.<\/p>\n

According to new filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, two Huey Magoo\u2019s are currently in the works for Laredo<\/a> and the Rio Grande Valley city of Harlingen<\/a>. Both restaurants would be about 2,500 square feet.<\/p>\n

Construction of the Laredo<\/a> restaurant, which will be located at 7309 San\u00a0Dario Ave. Suite 100, Laredo, TX 78045, was expected to begin this month and be completed by October, TDLR records show. The project involves limited demolition and then remodeling a space at an existing retail plaza in front of a Target store on the northbound side of Interstate 35.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Valley\u2019s first\u00a0Huey Magoo\u2019s will be built near the Harlingen<\/a> interchange where Interstates 2 and 69E meet. The\u00a0Harlingen restaurant will entail new construction of a pad site next to Bass Pro Shops at 114 Bass Pro Drive, Harlingen, TX 78552, TDLR records show. Construction is set to begin in May and finish by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

Huey Magoo\u2019s is an Orlando, Florida-based \u201cfast casual\u201d restaurant chain that specializes in \u201cpremium, hand-crafted chicken tenders\u201d that the company characterizes as \u201cThe Filet Mignon of Chicken.\u201d There are about 85 Huey Magoo\u2019s across 12 states, with the majority located in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Ohio. There\u2019s also one restaurant in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Huey Magoo\u2019s claim to fame is its \u201cpremium\u201d chicken tenders made from \u201cthe best 3% of the chicken \u2014 the chicken tenderloin,\u201d company officials said. Huey\u00a0Magoo\u2019s marinates its tenders for 24 hours and offers them served hand-breaded or grilled. Customers can choose from a variety of dipping sauces, including the company\u2019s signature Magoo\u2019s and Spicy Magoo\u2019s dips, which foodies on Reddit describe as tangy, mayo-based dips that may include flavors such as garlic and onion powder and Worcestershire sauce.<\/p>\n

Diners can get\u00a0Huey Magoo\u2019s tenders served in a sandwich, wrap or salad. Sides include crinkle-cut fries, \u201chand-spun fresh-cut\u201d potato chips, coleslaw and side salads. Huey Magoo\u2019s also offers a variety of beverage options, including specialty lemonades.<\/p>\n

Huey Magoo\u2019s doesn\u2019t just have plans for deep South Texas. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had reached franchise agreements to open nearly two dozen of restaurants across North and East Texas. As part of two major franchise agreements, Huey Magoo\u2019s is planning eight locations in the North Dallas area<\/a>\u00a0and more in Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston and Montgomery counties in the Houston metroplex<\/a>. It\u2019s all part of a plan to have at least 100 locations by the end of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Often dubbed the \u201cfilet mignon of chicken,\u201d this Raising Cane\u2019s rival is now setting its sights on expansion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[821,2321,2320,820,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-262233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-mysabusiness","tag-mysarealestate","tag-mysasotx","tag-mysastaff","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}