We visited a location in Austin, Texas, near the University of Texas campus. It's one of the chain's more than 400 nationwide stores.
Source: USA Today
The restaurant features four possible combos to order, all of which involve the infamous chicken fingers.
We went with the basics: The 3 Chicken Finger Combo and The Chicken Sandwich Combo. The total was $12.36.
... but after 15 minutes, we went to the counter to see where our order was. We had to remind them what the name was before waiting a couple more minutes.
There weren't even many customers there at the time. But to be fair, we went the afternoon of New Year's Eve, so holiday staffing may have had something to do with it.
This is what our set-up looked like. Even when you dine in, your food is presented in these Styrofoam to-go-looking containers.
The chain's mysterious sauce was slathered on one side of the bun. We could have ordered lettuce with the sandwich, but opted to keep it nice and simple.
The bread-to-chicken ratio was proportional, but there was also a substantial thickness to both of them.
But it was worth it, especially thanks to the flavorful and spicy Cane's sauce, the recipe to which is "top secret" and made daily in-house.
Source: Raising Cane's
All in all, the Raising Cane's chicken sandwich was good. The thickness of the bun seemed to give each bite too much fluff, but it was balanced with equally thick slices of chicken.
Before diving into the single chicken fingers, we indulged in the crinkle-cut fries. They weren't bad, but weren't exactly memorable either.
What was memorable was the buttery goodness that is the accompanying slice of Texas Toast. It melts in your mouth.
Without the buns to shield them, the pieces were very greasy. The chicken finger combo came with a container of the Cane's sauce. We dipped liberally.
The chicken pieces were fried to golden perfection and held a notably thick breaded exterior. They were delicious except for one problem ...
The sauce was really the standout element of eating at Cane's, though the chicken fingers, sandwich, and french fries were still good.
But how do they compare to Chick-fil-A? All we had to do was cross the street to find out. The two restaurants were located right next to each other.
This particular Chick-fil-A didn't have an indoor seating area like most of the chain's other 2,100 locations do. Customers ordered from a window and sat at shaded tables.
Source: Chick-fil-A
We ordered the same menu items that we did at Raising Cane's — a 3-piece Chick-n-Strips combo, with some of Chick-fil-A's divine lemonade, and a chicken sandwich a la carte. Our total was $11.73.
And unlike at Raising Cane's, our name was called in under three minutes. This is what our order looked like.
It looked considerably smaller than the sandwich at Raising Cane's, but seemed to sport an equal bread-to-chicken ratio as well.
The sandwich doesn't come dressed in sauce, but you can of course take your pick from Chick-fil-A's seven options for your dipping pleasure if you'd like.
From the fries, to the sauce, to the sandwich and the chicken strips, everything about our Chick-fil-A meal was on point.
In fact, overall, the 30-minute time period we spent at Chick-fil-A was great: The ordering process, the short waiting time, the meal, and the customer service.
Chick-fil-A is well known for its pristine customer service. Employees are attentive to customer needs and do it in as cheery a fashion as it gets.
Source: Business Insider
At one point an employee came out and asked each patron, including us, if we were doing alright and if there was anything we needed.
We can't say the same about Raising Cane's. We didn't even spot a smile from any of the employees while we were there. So Chick-fil-A wins in the customer service department.
If you prefer thickness in the bread and chicken of your sandwich, you'll like Raising Cane's. But Chick-fil-A's lighter and more gourmet-style sandwich, with thinner layers of chicken and bun, wins this round.
As for the chicken fingers, both were tasty. But while the ones at Raising Cane's were juicier and more tender, the Chick-fil-A strips weren't as heavy or greasy. They also had less breading than the chicken fingers at Raising Cane's, so Chick-fil-A wins here as well.
There is one arena where Raising Cane's wins ... and that is the sauce arena. Maybe the recipe isn't so secret anymore — there are reports that it contains Worcestershire sauce and ketchup, among other things — but the sauce's flavor is incredible.
Source: Business Insider
The presentation of our food at Chick-fil-A looked a little more appealing though. We also had more options when ordering, since Chick-fil-A's menu is much bigger than that at Raising Cane's.
Overall, when you consider the chicken, sauce, french fries, customer service, wait time, presentation, and menu variety, the chain with the most wins is Chick-fil-A ...
... but Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane's are both making big moves in the US restaurant chain scene, and we certainly understand why.
Source: Business Insider and Business Insider