Raising Cane's kills plans for 3 Long Island restaurants but adds Bay Shore as future eatery
Crowds flock to the grand opening of Raising Cane's in Times Square on June 27. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo/Richard Levine
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers has canceled plans for three eateries that would have been among its first four restaurants on Long Island in 2025 — and the chain is delaying its local entrance to 2026.
Newsday reported last year that Raising Cane's would open restaurants in Carle Place, Commack, East Meadow and Hauppauge. But now all but the Carle Place location are “dead deals,” said Hannah Henderson, spokeswoman for the Louisiana-based, fast-casual chain.
Also, Raising Cane’s added a Bay Shore site to its list of planned restaurants, said Henderson, who declined to provide an address for that location.
The Carle Place and Bay Shore restaurants are expected to open in 2026, said Henderson, adding that leases had not been signed.
She did not provide a specific reason for the change in plans.
“Our investment in the Northeast is substantial, so we want to make sure that we’re getting it right. And we’re excited about our expansion in the Northeast, particularly in New York,” she said.
Raising Cane’s has 27 open restaurants or approved deals in the metropolitan area, she said.
The owners of the three Long Island properties where restaurants were canceled have been notified of Raising Cane’s decision, and conversations with those landlords about future restaurant openings could be continued, Henderson said.
“It’s all about being smart about how we enter the market while mitigating risk,” she said.
Founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1996, Raising Cane’s is a fast-growing chain with a streamlined menu — chicken fingers and chicken finger sandwiches, plus a few sides.
The chain, which has more than 780 restaurants in the United States, the Middle East and Guam, entered New York State in June with its global flagship restaurant in Times Square. With five restaurants in New York City now, it plans to open an eatery in Penn Station in midtown Manhattan in June and one in Flushing, Queens, in July.
The chain would disclose only the cross streets, not the addresses, for the four Long Island restaurants it initially had planned to open in 2025.
But using building-related applications the landlords submitted to towns, Newsday reported the addresses of some of the restaurants:
East Meadow: An application submitted to the Town of Hempstead Building Department in November proposed the construction of a 4,779-square-foot building for Raising Cane’s and a subdivision of property at 2545-2555 Hempstead Tpke., where a 50,000-square-foot office building, UA Office Plaza, is located.
The property owner, UNS Management Associates Ltd. in Huntington, proposed subdividing the 5.32-acre site into three separate parcels, including 0.95 acre for Raising Cane’s.
UNS Management's president, Dave Shah, said on Monday that he had not been informed that Raising Cane’s had canceled its plans for the East Meadow restaurant, but a lease had been signed.
The town has not been notified of the canceled plans, Hempstead spokesman Brian Devine said Monday.
“To this date, Raising Cane’s has not submitted a withdrawal letter, and until the town receives that, the application will remain open, until we hear otherwise from the applicant,” he said.
Hauppauge: The property owner, J. Nazzaro Partnership LP in Bay Shore, submitted plans to the town of Smithtown in May 2023 to build a 3,062-square-foot Raising Cane’s and a 2,260-square-foot Taco Bell, both of which with drive-thru lanes, and two other restaurants on part of a vacant site in the 500 block of Route 111.
J. Nazzaro Partnership has “notified the town that the Raising Cane’s project was no longer being pursued,” Jeffrey Kannengieser, planner for the town, said Monday.
J. Nazzaro Partnership did not respond to Newsday’s request for comment.
Commack: The restaurant would have been near the cross streets of Commack Road and Vanderbilt Parkway, Henderson said.
No plans for the Commack eatery were ever submitted to the Town of Smithtown, said Peter Hans, director in the town planning department.
The Raising Cane’s planned for Carle Place would be part of a proposed redevelopment project on an approximately 5½-acre site that Woodbury-based Scotto Brothers Inc. owns through affiliate companies.
On March 5, Scotto Brothers submitted a redevelopment plan to the town of North Hempstead that includes building a 2,804-square-foot drive-thru Raising Cane’s restaurant on part of the former Chateau Briand Caterers site at 440 Old Country Rd.
The 21,300-square-foot Chateau Briand, an event space that hosted weddings and other special events, was demolished earlier this year.
The redevelopment project calls for constructing a two-story, 35,558-square-foot retail building that would be attached to an existing DSW shoe store at 357 Old Country Rd. The new retail construction would have space for six tenants.
The plans include construction of a 3,015-square-foot bank with a drive-thru. The name of the bank was not included in the town documents.
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers has canceled plans for three eateries that would have been among its first four restaurants on Long Island in 2025 — and the chain is delaying its local entrance to 2026.
Newsday reported last year that Raising Cane's would open restaurants in Carle Place, Commack, East Meadow and Hauppauge. But now all but the Carle Place location are “dead deals,” said Hannah Henderson, spokeswoman for the Louisiana-based, fast-casual chain.
Also, Raising Cane’s added a Bay Shore site to its list of planned restaurants, said Henderson, who declined to provide an address for that location.
The Carle Place and Bay Shore restaurants are expected to open in 2026, said Henderson, adding that leases had not been signed.
WHAT TO KNOW
The Raising Cane’s planned for Carle Place would be part of a proposed redevelopment project on an approximately 5½-acre site.
With five restaurants in New York City now, Raising Cane's plans to open an eatery in Penn Station in midtown Manhattan in June and one in Flushing, Queens, in July.
Raising Cane’s has 27 open restaurants or approved deals in the metropolitan area.
She did not provide a specific reason for the change in plans.
“Our investment in the Northeast is substantial, so we want to make sure that we’re getting it right. And we’re excited about our expansion in the Northeast, particularly in New York,” she said.
Raising Cane’s has 27 open restaurants or approved deals in the metropolitan area, she said.
The owners of the three Long Island properties where restaurants were canceled have been notified of Raising Cane’s decision, and conversations with those landlords about future restaurant openings could be continued, Henderson said.
“It’s all about being smart about how we enter the market while mitigating risk,” she said.
Fast growth
Founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1996, Raising Cane’s is a fast-growing chain with a streamlined menu — chicken fingers and chicken finger sandwiches, plus a few sides.
The chain, which has more than 780 restaurants in the United States, the Middle East and Guam, entered New York State in June with its global flagship restaurant in Times Square. With five restaurants in New York City now, it plans to open an eatery in Penn Station in midtown Manhattan in June and one in Flushing, Queens, in July.
The chain would disclose only the cross streets, not the addresses, for the four Long Island restaurants it initially had planned to open in 2025.
But using building-related applications the landlords submitted to towns, Newsday reported the addresses of some of the restaurants:
East Meadow: An application submitted to the Town of Hempstead Building Department in November proposed the construction of a 4,779-square-foot building for Raising Cane’s and a subdivision of property at 2545-2555 Hempstead Tpke., where a 50,000-square-foot office building, UA Office Plaza, is located.
The property owner, UNS Management Associates Ltd. in Huntington, proposed subdividing the 5.32-acre site into three separate parcels, including 0.95 acre for Raising Cane’s.
UNS Management's president, Dave Shah, said on Monday that he had not been informed that Raising Cane’s had canceled its plans for the East Meadow restaurant, but a lease had been signed.
The town has not been notified of the canceled plans, Hempstead spokesman Brian Devine said Monday.
“To this date, Raising Cane’s has not submitted a withdrawal letter, and until the town receives that, the application will remain open, until we hear otherwise from the applicant,” he said.
Hauppauge: The property owner, J. Nazzaro Partnership LP in Bay Shore, submitted plans to the town of Smithtown in May 2023 to build a 3,062-square-foot Raising Cane’s and a 2,260-square-foot Taco Bell, both of which with drive-thru lanes, and two other restaurants on part of a vacant site in the 500 block of Route 111.
J. Nazzaro Partnership has “notified the town that the Raising Cane’s project was no longer being pursued,” Jeffrey Kannengieser, planner for the town, said Monday.
J. Nazzaro Partnership did not respond to Newsday’s request for comment.
Commack: The restaurant would have been near the cross streets of Commack Road and Vanderbilt Parkway, Henderson said.
No plans for the Commack eatery were ever submitted to the Town of Smithtown, said Peter Hans, director in the town planning department.
Moving forward
The Raising Cane’s planned for Carle Place would be part of a proposed redevelopment project on an approximately 5½-acre site that Woodbury-based Scotto Brothers Inc. owns through affiliate companies.
On March 5, Scotto Brothers submitted a redevelopment plan to the town of North Hempstead that includes building a 2,804-square-foot drive-thru Raising Cane’s restaurant on part of the former Chateau Briand Caterers site at 440 Old Country Rd.
The 21,300-square-foot Chateau Briand, an event space that hosted weddings and other special events, was demolished earlier this year.
The redevelopment project calls for constructing a two-story, 35,558-square-foot retail building that would be attached to an existing DSW shoe store at 357 Old Country Rd. The new retail construction would have space for six tenants.
The plans include construction of a 3,015-square-foot bank with a drive-thru. The name of the bank was not included in the town documents.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
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