One of the hottest attractions in the state right now is actually a fast-food restaurant in Enfield.
Raising Cane’s opened its first Connecticut location there on Feb. 13 and the hysteria has continued ever since.
During Friday’s dinner rush, the end of the drive-thru line extended into the Enfield Square Mall parking lot, just as it has for nearly two weeks. Believe it or not, compared to week one, that line was short.
Still, the drawing power is strong. Some say it’s the chicken, others say it’s the sauce.
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“The sauce is really different. It’s kind of like pumpkin and peppery,” Misael Quinones, of Springfield, Mass., said.
Whatever it is, it’s drawing people by the carload. Actually, hundreds of carloads, to Connecticut’s first Raising Cane’s location. Addressing the demand, the restaurant has hired police to direct traffic for almost two weeks.
“They expected a significant influx of patrons, of customers, and they called it correctly,” Enfield Police Chief Alaric Fox said.
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Ten days after the Enfield restaurant’s soft opening, the demand continues - but what’s creating it?
“I don’t know. It’s pretty popular on TikTok and on social media so it’s gotta be good,” said 19-year-old Hailey Tinnui who drove 45 minutes from Plymouth to try her first Raising Cane’s chicken finger.
Social media is definitely spreading the word. Nobody wants to be left out of the craze. One marketing expert from Quinnipiac University said second-hand appeal is building the hype.
“People really Want to try something that maybe they’ve heard about or seen on a road trip. They pass by or heard people mention, but they haven’t been able to visit themselves,” Professor of Public Relations Hilary Fussell Sisco said.
And then, of course, it’s the line itself. At some points, it has been nose to tail, double wide, extending from the restaurant to the Enfield Square Mall. An unexpected, but effective marketing tool.
“If you talk about a line that wraps around the building, and you talk about waiting in line, it makes people think it’s worth waiting for,” Fussell Sisco said.
Regardless of what’s drawing people to Rasing Cane’s, there seems to be marketing genius behind it. Then again, maybe it is just the sauce.
“It’s really weird,” Quinones said. “But it’s really pleasing, and it goes really well with chicken.”
What’s happening in Enfield could eventually be the case in some other towns. There are plans to open Raising Cane’s restaurants in Simsbury and Wethersfield.
