Raising Cane’s Opens Brand New Downtown Nashville Flagship Restaurant: See The Photos

Nashville residents and tourists — and Caniacs — just got a brand new reason to hit Broadway. This past week, Raising Cane’s opened a brand new flagship chicken finger restaurant in the heart of the city, where it’s flanked by country music artist bars like Blake Shelton’s Ole Red and Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge.

On June 26, Raising Cane’s held an exciting ribbon-cutting ceremony with the company’s CEO, Todd Graves, who spoke to the public and press, as well as the restaurant’s crew. PopCulture.com was on hand for all the festivities and had a chance to snap some pictures, while also getting some insight into the new location from Graves himself. Scroll down to check and the photos and read more!

Chasing Dreams

Addressing the press at the big grand opening, Graves offered some insight into why it was important to him to open a Raising Cane’s in downtown Nashville.

“It just reminds me of people going for their dreams,” he said. “These country music aspiring artists, men and women, when they’re young, they’re like, ‘I want to make it. I have this dream and I can write music, I can sing music.’”

“They come here on a dream and they play these little bars up and down the road, you know, to get a fan base and to build their dreams,” he continued, “I just think it’s amazing, man.”

“Fabric of the Community”

PopCulture asked Graves about embedding Raising Cane’s in the heart of Nashville, and what this will mean for the community, to which he replied, “Everywhere we go, I like to be the fabric of the community. I like to give back the community.”

“When we came in, we wanted to… and I hope the people of Nashville see, we did a really nice building, really nice facade. We did everything to where you would say it’s first class. You’re also gonna see us, we’ll keep every bit of trash outside of our restaurant clean.

“We’re gonna have a nice, friendly place for people to come in. It’s gonna be great service and it’s gonna be great food.”

Downtown Oasis

Graves says the new Downtown Nashville Raising Cane’s — located on the corner of 3rd Ave and Broadway — will also be an oasis for local residents or anyone visiting the city to catch live music events.

“Here’s the great thing,” Graves said, “for tourists and people enjoying Broadway, anybody on Broadway, we have a reasonably priced meal that people can come while they’re going to see each of these great bands and everything they’re doing.”

“They come off the road real quick at a reasonably priced good hot meal. That’s quick and enjoy and go right back to music. That’s kind of our place here to do that. You’ll see more and more about what, what we’re doing in our community.”

Inspiration

Graves explained that he’s “always wanted to” open a Raising Cane’s in Downtown Nashville, but his close friendships with country singers like Parker McCollum and Hardy “sped it up.”

“Hardy inspires me, you know,” Graves said, “and I know Hardy’s working hard and he’s tired… and he knows I’m doing the same thing. It’s kind of one of those things where you have that mutual respect.” 

Graves compared the work ethic to the same found in athletes and school teachers, saying, “I think we should all be around people that motivate us and inspire us the opposite way.”

Location / Theme

The new Nashville Raising Cane’s is located on the corner of Broadway and Third Ave. N. at 212 Broadway in the historic Baxter Building. Originally built in 1891 – nearly 60 years before Nashville gained its country music notoriety – the four-story Baxter Building housed some of the city’s most bustling businesses.

In celebration of the city’s rich history, the restaurant boasts a feature wall with a colorful horse-
riding cowboy made with an impressive 1.2 million rhinestones; a Johnny and June Cash tribute booth for the perfect Nashville photo moment; a signed sequin top from Loretta Lynn and one of her prized guitars; and exclusive Nashville Cane’s merch.

Cane III

When walking through the doors, customers will be greeted by a 5-foot-6 tall statue of Cane III – Raising Cane’s yellow Labrador mascot and namesake – wearing her best flashy red Nudie-style suit.

Customers will also notice a hanging art installation from internationally-renowned perceptual artist Michael Murphy, who used 75 individual steel pieces of various designs to create a three-dimensional number “one” and “heart,” in honor of Cane’s ONE LOVE. 

Hours of Operation

Over 250 disco balls hang throughout the Restaurant as a nod to Raising Cane’s first restaurant, where owner and founder Todd Graves hung a disco ball to cover a skylight, becoming a design element in every restaurant since.

The Nashville Flagship Restaurant is open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Saturday for lunch, dinner, and to satisfy those late-night Chicken Finger cravings. In addition to dine-in and carry-out options, Customers will have a whole new way to get “sauced” on Broadway when they order Chicken Fingers and Cane’s Sauce, served alongside buttery Cane’s toast, crispy crinkle-cut fries, crunch coleslaw, and choice of freshly squeezed lemonade or other beverage online or via the Cane’s mobile app for order ahead and quick and easy pick-up.