Raising Cane's

Ask any BU student where to get the best chicken fingers around- most of them will tell you Raising Cane’s right here in Allston, and the ones that don’t are probably being conscious of their consistently long lines. It’s a unique spot both in name and location- of their ~311 restaurants, this is the only one north of Ohio, which by contrast has 8. (For those curious about the name, I urge you to dismiss that curiosity. I’ve read the whole story and it kind of explains it but not really.)

What I find most interesting about Raising Cane’s is that they sell chicken tenders- only chicken tenders, aside from coleslaw, fries, and texas toast. (OK, technically, they have a chicken sandwich where they put the tenders on a bun with lettuce and sauce.) But how, exactly, does that business model thrive in 2017- a time when dietary restricted consumers are catered to at almost every major restaurant? Since I’m no businessman, I’ll go with Occam’s razor; they just sell really tasty chicken tenders.

Personally, the limited menu makes my job super easy as a reviewer- order any combo and that’s it, really. The combos are all 2, 3, 4, or 6 pc fingers with sauce, coleslaw, fries, Texas toast and a fountain drink.

Let me begin with the Texas toast. THIS IS A GRILLED HOT DOG BUN WITHOUT THE SPLIT IN THE MIDDLE. A FARCE! I am truly outraged for the entire state of Texas (by the way, I’ve lived in New England my entire life and spent a grand total of maybe 4 hours in Texas during layovers). But how exactly does this qualify as Texas toast?! Look, someone really needs to explain this to me. Either Raising Cane’s needs to rename this menu item or I’m going into every bread isle in America, crossing out “Hot Dog Buns” on every package, and writing “Pre-Texas Toast” on all of them. That’s not how I want to spend the rest of this life. That would be quite silly. A petition would probably be more effective.

But what makes this even more mind-boggling, Texas boasts OVER 100 RAISING CANE’S LOCATIONS! How do these proud, strong, hard-working Americans allow this sham, this caricature to bear the name of their great state?! Again, I’m no Texpert, but if I ordered a Texas toast in Texas somebody damn well be handing me a fried loaf of bread! And I WILL SALUTE THEM.

And here's a funnier .gif from the days of myspace that's also Texas related!

...Anyway, that grilled bun tastes alright, though.

However, the coleslaw and fries are both truly unspectacular. Both items are in fact so average, for every character I’ve typed after that first sentence I become more and more indifferent to reality itself. If I continue to go on about them for even a few sentences more, I may disappear into the fabric of reality as though I’ve never existed. I’ve actually had to type this last bit with my knuckles, as my fingers have become ghostly and are passing right through the keyboard. 

PHEW! I reread my passionate rant about Texas toast and my fingers appear to have returned to normal. But I’ll tell you whose still got abnormal fingers- RAISING CANE’S! In fact, they’re paranormally delicious!

(Yeesh. After that bit, I’m tempted to go back and keep typing about the sides.)

But really, I’m only slightly exaggerating how good the chicken fingers are. Super tender, with a nice light breading. Honestly, for as long as I live close-by, I really see no reason to order chicken fingers anywhere else- unless maybe I’ve developed a wicked drug habit and only have enough spare change to order something off a kid’s menu somewhere. 

But, hey, who needs drugs when I have yet to introduce the REAL BULL OF THE RAISING CANE’S RODEO- ITS THE CANE’S SAUCE!

If you’ve read my posts before, you’ve probably realized by now I don’t play when it comes to quality condiments. And if you haven’t, and you don’t know my affection for condiments (which I affectionately abbreviate to condims): last night for dinner I had ketchup, mayonnaise, and relish with a side of hamburger. For real, son. I do that sometimes. One might say i'm condim cray!

But rightly so, when it comes to this Cane’s Sauce. It is a real chicken dipping masterpiece. And the folks at Raising Cane’s know it too- that’s why the RECIPE IS A SECRET! That’s right, a secret condiment recipe- who could even fathom such a thing?!

“Cane’s Sauce is tangy with a little bit of spice and full of flavor. We use our own proprietary blend of premium seasonings and spices in our Sauce and our Restaurant General Managers make a new batch every day in each Raising Cane’s kitchen. Our Sauce recipe is top secret and known only by our General Managers, who are sworn to secrecy (so don’t even ask).” -www.raisingcanes.com

Well, perhaps the full recipe is known only to GMs, but my superior, condiment-honed palate detected four major players: mayonnaise, ketchup, black pepper, and salt. Random Rachel at food.com backs me up; she claims to have discovered a close version of the recipe by looking at similar sauces at other restaurants and trial/error combos. Here’s her's: http://www.food.com/recipe/cane-sauce-for-dippin-chicken-233189. She writes for food.com so she probably knows her shit brah

So to wrap up this ramble: Raising Cane’s. Weird name, great chicken, awesome sauce, don’t expect anything from the sides. Altogether: a B+ joint for a quick meal, if you like chicken fingers. I’m also factoring in that the entire menu compromises of six items. Although that makes ordering easy, it makes the decision to actually go to RC’s a tough one, when you can get way more variety almost anywhere else.

Oh yeah I almost forgot- the drink. Might as well review the entire menu, right? Well, those Texas folks will be highly disappointed to know there's no Big Red here- only Pepsi products. Blech. COKE IS IT! 

Review by sl33zy

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Got a big ass hunger? Then you need a Big Az Burger!

There are times where you are on the go and find yourself hungry but with minimal options at hand. It happens to the best of us. You're cruising home, late night, after seeing your favorite band and partying all night and your stomach starts growling. You see those familiar fast food places blinking their neon light death rays into your brain and just the thought of it turns your stomach. Perhaps you stop at a convenience store to pump some gas and perhaps grab a snack there. You look at the candy, chips, and pastries and wish for something with a little more substance. Your eyes dare dart over to the frozen sandwich display and your brain tells you to stay away, because you've been burned before. But there, amidst all the unappetizing bland looking crap, you see something that stands out. What appears to be a giant hamburger that doesn't look bad...in fact, it looks...pretty damn good. Another step forward and the bold logo declares that this isn't any regular burger...this is a Big Az Burger! 

Suddenly, your night starts looking up. 

So when Big Az Burgers told us they were going to send us some burgers to try in the mail, we were pumped to try them out. So let's do it! Today we're tackling not only the Big Az Cheeseburger, but also the Kickin'Jalapeno Cheeseburger, and the Country Fried Chicken Sandwich! 

The Big Az Triple Threat!

First up, the Big Az Cheeseburger! This is how it will look on the shelf in your local convenience store. Actually, these guys boast that you can find Big Az Burgers now in almost every convenience store in America! Impressive!

So I unwrapped this beast and it's surprisingly hefty. Popped it in my microwave and a mere ninety seconds later I'm faced with a piping hot cheeseburger. That's not just a colorful turn of phrase, my friends, this burger was so hot, if I had taken a bite right then, I have no doubt that my face would have melted away like that one bad guy in the first Robocop movie.  Most of you probably won't have a problem with this, because being an even moderately smart person, you know to let your food cool before you try to take a bite. This is a skill I have never possessed. But somehow this time I managed to hold back, and it's a good thing! 

When I finally picked it up to take a bite, I realized fully that this is one BIG AZ BURGER. It's not one of those shriveled up monstrosities I've had before when stopping at a convenience store at 2am on the way back from a night out at the bar. This thing was serious.

So. Much. Cheese.

They come without any condiments so that's how I decided I was going to try them. I have to say, right off this burger has a lot of flavor. There's a generous amount of cheese on it too. This was something I was worried about, because usually frozen burgers that come with cheese have a piece on them that looks like it might be as big as a postage stamp and you can't even taste it. The Big Az Cheeseburger had so much cheese that I had to stop and marvel at it a few times.

My neighbors probably make fun of me so bad...

The bun was nice and chewy and held up quite well. The burger as a whole was soft and tasty and I quickly found myself finished with it and quite satisfied. It was this good on it's own, so I figure if I threw my favorite condiments on top, this would be a home run. We're off to a good start here!

Next up is the Kickin' Jalapeno Big Az Burger! If you're a regular reader of our fine site, you might know by now that I usually talk about fearing spicy foods, but then go on to tell you how much I liked the spicy items I review. It seems like I'm lying, but I swear, I'm not. Perhaps I'm simply becoming a fan of spicy foods and my brain doesn't know how to interpret it. Either way, I'll start by telling you I was a little worried that this burger would be too spicy for me! That looked like a lot of jalapeno pepper slices! 

There was a distinct difference in smell when I took this one out of the microwave. The jalapeno pepper aroma was quite strong, which made me slightly more worried about it being too spicy. But after checking out the amount of cheese on it, I was willing to take my chances. The Kickin' Jalapeno Big Az Burger has a slice of cheese above and below the patty. How awesome is that? Why don't we do that on every burger, ever, from now on?

Jalapeno overload!

Decided to flip up the hood and let you all see just how many jalapenos we're talking here. Quite a few! But after diving in, I can say, it wasn't too spicy. Don't get me wrong, by the time I finished this beast, I had a steady burn going, but it wasn't so much that it overtook the flavor at all. The jalapenos added an interesting texture to the burger and all the extra cheese really stood out.

Once again we find that my fear of spiciness ends up being false. I ended up enjoying the amount of heat this burger gave off and the general flavor that the peppers added to it all around. Again, this is a serious burger. I would say both of these burgers were easily twice the size of something you're getting off of a dollar menu from one of the big chain fast food joints. 

Now comes the wild card! The Big Az Country Fried Chicken Sandwich! This definitely had me intrigued after the two burgers. A quick stop in the microwave and suddenly I'm met with a huge chicken sandwich dripping with melted cheese!

It had the same chewy bun as the burgers, and my main concern when looking at this was that the breading on the chicken would be soggy, because, let's face it, that's the worst. But when I reached a trembling finger towards the breading, I found it crispy. All around. It wasn't just a fluke. The chicken patty was also so big that it protrudes from the bun on multiple sides. A hearty sandwich indeed.

A lot of these frozen chicken sandwiches can be a bit dry inside. But the Big Az Country Fried Chicken Sandwich ended up being pretty moist, which was a great combination with how crispy the outer breading was. Cheese? No need to worry. These guys are all about giving you a serious cheese slab every time!

Again, the Big Az name lives up to it's boasts. This chicken sandwich left me quite full and happy. I imagined that it would be great with a little bit of lettuce, and maybe some buffalo sauce. Or maybe bbq, ranch and crispy onions. The sky is the limit. The Big Az Country Fried Chicken Sandwich is excellent on it's own, but if you're a fan of cool sauce combinations or other condiments, they give you a great starting point to build from.

After having tried the Big Az Cheeseburger, the Big Az Kickin' Jalapeno Cheeseburger, and the Big Az Country Fried Chicken Sandwich, I have to say, I was impressed by them all. Folks, I've eaten some pretty questionable things in truck stops and stores on my various trips across the good ol' US of A, and I'll tell you, the Big Az Burgers make them all look like they aren't fit for human consumption. Am I going to tell you that they are better than a burger you're going to get at some high end restaurant that you'll pay $15 for? Nah, but that's not what these are about! There's a reason they have won the Convenience Store Consumers Choice Award multiple years. These burgers and sandwiches are there when you need them, and they are leaps and bounds above their competition.  Next time you're on the go and need a massive burger to quench your big ass hunger, remember this review and scoop up a Big Az Burger! Not only is it a hearty, tasty treat, but with a fun name like that, you can annoy your friends with endless "Big Az" puns. Who doesn't love that?!

Hold up.

One last thing before we go, since I had a few extra sandwiches to play with, I decided to create a monster of my own. Behold, the Mega Big Az Burger! That's right, I melded together not only the Cheeseburger, and Kickin' Jalapeno Cheeseburger, but also the Country Fried Chicken Sandwich! 

This thing felt like it weighed five pounds. It was so thick that there was no way I could possibly take a bite out of it. I began to think I may have met my match. 

A man faced with the impossible. 

But in the end, my jaw unhinged like a python and I was able to taste the Mega Big Az Burger in all it's glory. I'd like to tell you that I dug down deep and somehow found it in me to finish this thing...

Look at that intensity!

But that was not the case. I had to tap out barely a quarter of the way into it. It was a cheesy, meaty monster that felt so dense that I think if I pitched it at someone and it hit them in the head, they might be knocked unconscious. Bad ass. I failed the Mega Big Az Burger challenge, but if any of you readers out there think you can take one down, send us pictures or a video of you doing it and we just might send you some FGFB swag!

 For more information on Big Az Burgers visit their website:  www.advancepierrepromos.com 

For where to find Big Az Burgers, check out their Facebook Page: BIGAZ Facebook Page

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Review by Rich Brunelle, who currently lives in Seattle, but is known to many as New Hampshires favorite son.


*This is a sponsored blog; while the views expressed here were genuinely mine, consideration was paid to me by BIGAZ Burgers to review this product!

Pizza Hut BACON STUFFED CRUST PIZZA!

I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection lately. The deep thoughts were brought on by eating Pizza Hut’s Bacon Stuffed (stuft?)Crust Pizza. Swirling around my head have been thoughts on other bacon stuffed foods. I’ve indulged in bacon-laden cinnamon rolls, bacon-gorged cheeseburgers, and bacon-infused soda. Did the addition of greasy pork morsels improve these foods, I asked myself. I then realized that there were in fact stupid questions, despite what my teachers always told me.  Swine makes everything better and you should never question that.


Pizza Hut has been a love it or hate it chain for years, but I urge you to check them out if it’s been a while. They’re no longer the oily and indigestion-causing pizza chain. That honor now goes to Domino’s. How have they improved? They’ve added a plethora of ways to customize your pie-from garlic butter or pretzel crusts to white or buffalo sauces to a few new toppings. For me, it’s all about that balsamic drizzle at the end. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out Hut’s intuitive online pizza ordering system. The future is now!

Back on track. Thank you, Pizza Hut. After several depressing months of uninspired offerings from my favorite chains, the Hut goes ahead and appeals to my most depraved instincts by impregnating their new crust with cheese and bacon. They’ve done this before, but not with Applewood Smoked Bacon; they used regular Hardwood Smoked Bacon. We can all agree that there’s a major difference in the smoking process? Ok, I couldn’t tell the difference, it tasted like bacon and that’s all that matters.

If you’re one of those obnoxious people who doesn’t eat their crust, this ain’t the pizza for you. To make room for all the fatty goodness PH had to increase the crust size. Simple physics. The good news for those loathsome crust-chuckers is that the new crust resembles buttery Bosco sticks as opposed to dried out bread heels. And you can add RANCH flavor to them. RANCH.

That’s grilled chicken and cherry peppers on my creation. The chicken tastes like actual chicken, not that rubbery crap you find occasionally. The peppers surprised me with a blast of sweet heat and added another layer to the flavor profile. To the newbies, that’s the balsamic drizzle, which adds a tangy/sweet flavor. My only qualm about this pizza is that it drooped in the middle, so a fold was in order. Not sure if they didn’t cook quite long enough or the amount of toppings made it sloppy, but this was a messy pizza.

The crust was phenomenal. Like I said before, they were like cheesy, bacon-y, ranch flavored breadsticks-and they’re attached to a pizza! I was expecting the cheese to ooze and/or stretch , but just like the disappointing Quesarito-no stretchy cheese!-the cheese was just kind of there. But it was melted nicely and added even more satisfying texture and flavor to the pizza. The bacon was in bit form, perhaps a bit chunkier, but still had a strong bacon flavor.
I was already a fan of Pizza Hut and their endless customization and drizzle options. Their decadent new crust just gave me another reason to splurge.


Slight droop and messy pizza with tons of flavor and satisfying melted cheese and bacon equals: A-

Review by Mark!

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Wingstop Smoke 9 wings!

I had seen Wing Stop around before but never ended up stopping into one. So when one of our readers emailed us asking if we had tried their new Smoke 9 wings, I decided that it was time for the FGFB to roll up on a Wing Stop and see what they were all about. 

We were turned away from the first location because their card reader was down. Hey, It happens right? No big deal! Not like I expected them to roll out a red carpet for the me. They can't all be Qdoba, right? 

Luckily there was another location just twenty minutes away!

This location was nestled in a little mall area with plenty of parking. We parked right in this handicap spot in front and strolled in like we owned the place. (Just kidding. We would never do that. Respect.)

The inside was clean and decorated with lots of Aeronautics memorabilia. It took me a second to put that together. Planes? Wings? Wing Stop? Ohhhh okay.

Then the sign was staring me in the face. The wings that took them nine times to perfect! A dry rub with a mesquite bite and smoky finish! The Smoke 9 Wings! So not only did I order those, but also decided to try lots of other stuff. If you're going to do a review, you might as well do it right, right?

Let's start with the coleslaw. It's never incredible. It's often terrible. I grew up eating the stuff from KFC and loving it, but these days that's been downgraded to just liking it. This slaw was a lot like KFC's. A lot like it. Maybe slightly less sweet. Not bad!

 We got an order of their regular seasoned fries. Let me tell you something. I rarely even think about fries these days because they are so similar from one restaurant to another. Rarely am I surprised by them. These fries? EXCELLENT. Whatever their seasoning is, it was delicious. I looked online to see what people were saying and it seems like their recipe is still a secret. But not only was the seasoning great but they were hand cut and still had skin in places, plus they were cooked to perfection. Big thumbs on on these fries.

Then there was the option for Parmesan fries, so we tried that too! Same great fries but with a ton of Parmesan cheese all over them. Still delicious but not nearly as good as the ones with just the Wing Stop seasoning on them.

Their menu also boasted a cheese sauce you could buy in different sizes to dip your fries or chicken in. Normally I wouldn't have been enticed by this, but they called it "Aged Cheddar cheese sauce." Aged you say? Cheddar, you say? Well, guess what? It tasted exactly like the horrid nacho cheese sauce you get at the movies with those cardboard-like yellow chips. Not a fan. The top congealed like  a wound scabbing over maybe two minutes after I uncovered it and I never went back. 

If you're going to get chicken at a place you absolutely need to try their rolls. It's an unspoken rule. The last chicken place we reviewed, you know, the one that's Oprah's favorite, had incredible rolls. Off the charts awesome. KFC has those biscuits, which used to be good but now they are the smaller than the damn croutons on my salad. These rolls? Not bad at all! They come out glistening with butter and are quite soft. No complaints here!

In case you're doubting me on the fries, here's the aftermath. When all was said and done we ate every one of those little crumbs out of the regular seasoned fries and left a good amount of the Parmesan ones.

So did we try any chicken at this wing joint or what? Yup, we did. We started out with some Hickory Smoked BBQ boneless wings. Some of you wing purists will be asking why I went boneless. The answer is quite simple: I'm all set with gnawing at gristle and bone like a mad dog. Also if we're coming at it from a monetary standpoint, you're throwing a third of what you're paying for in the trash. You go boneless, you waste NOTHING. See? This is how you save the environment, FGFB Style. 

Their boneless wings are damn good. A generous portion of white meat chicken surrounded in thick, crunchy breading and slathered in sweet and smokey bbq sauce. They had a very sweet base with a nice tangy burn as you ate more of them.

They reminded me a lot of the Honey BBQ Boneless wings from Applebees, but if they were made with all around better ingredients. Better chicken, top notch breading and a much more interesting bbq sauce. I totally give these a thumbs up.

Next up we went with the Garlic Parmesan Chicken tenders!

I have to say, their chicken tenders themselves were excellent. Delicious slabs of white meat chicken breaded with a thinner coating than the boneless wings. The meat was still juicy but not to the point where the breading got soggy. The Garlic Parmesan flavor was good, but again, the issue with the fries is kind of the same here. The cheese ends up sprinkling off. If they had used a garlic oil and shaved pieces of the cheese it might be way better. But all in all, the fingers were great and I'd imagine if they were rolled in any of their signature sauces they would be excellent.

Finally we reach the main event of the evening. The Smoke 9 boneless wings. These had a very unique smell, before I even bit into one. I was intrigued by the notion of putting a dry rub of flavor on fried chicken. Is this a thing that happens? I've put down my fair share of chicken and it's usually only sauces that they are rolled in.

It took them nine tries to get it right, but I'll tell you what, the ninth time is the charm. These things were great! They tasted a lot like the seasoning on the fries but with a massive added smokey flavor! 

Excellent chunks of chicken, thick breading and plenty of flavor dust. The rub made me think of the flavor particles you'd see on Doritos. Which then made me realize this flavor would be awesome on chips. Smoky, slightly sweet, with a definite garlic flavor and maybe even some citrus in there! These had a lot going on!

As I got to the bottom I was met with a puddle of Smoke 9 flavored grease. I'd like to tell you that I let these last two go and tossed them away because I knew how bad this was for me. But, my friends, I'm not going to start lying to you now. I actually dug them deeper into the puddle, trying to cover them with as much of the Smoke 9 flavor as I could, and boy, was it great.

I'm giving the Smoke 9 Wings from Wing Stop a solid B+! Little greasy at the end but all around good chicken and a very unique flavor that I would absolutely go back for.

The Smoke 9 flavor at Wing Stop is only there for a limited time so make sure you go get them soon!
For more info on this and other Wing Stop items, check out their website!

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Review by Rich Brunelle, who currently lives in Seattle, Washington and spends his days walking around his neighborhood counting how many dudes have the Macklemore haircut.