Popular Raising Cane's chain coming to these 4 Bay Area cities

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Interior of a Raising Cane's restaurant. The popular chain is planning four new Bay Area sites. (Raising Cane's)

BERKELEY, Calif. - A fast food restaurant with a growing cult-like following is expanding its presence in the Bay Area.

Louisiana-based Raising Cane's, popular for its chicken-finger meals, has plans for four new Bay Area sites: two in the South Bay, its first ever San Francisco location, and another new site in the East Bay, according to a Raising Cane’s representative.

What we know:

Coming this fall in October, a new 3,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through is set to open in Morgan Hill at 18575 Skipper Lane at Cochrane Road.

Next spring, Raising Cane’s is scheduled to open its second San Jose site. The restaurant is set to open in April at 440 North Capitol Avenue in the Capitol Square Shopping Mall, the representative said.

It would come a year after the chain opened its first San Jose restaurant at 2398 Evergreen Place.

Then in about a year from now, San Francisco is set to get its first Raising Cane's planned for the Stonestown Galleria. The timetable for that opening is late summer 2026, according to the company.

Plans for Berkeley site

Last week, the closure of a Walgreens pharmacy at 2310 Telegraph Avenue marked the coming next phase of a planned Raising Cane’s in Berkeley.

The new restaurant, which will be the chain’s third East Bay site, is being built at that prime, high-traffic location near Bancroft Way, right off the south entrance of the UC Berkeley campus.

The property was purchased by the fast food chain earlier this year.

On Aug. 19, the Walgreens pharmacy at the site closed down permanently. But it was only the pharmacy portion of the store that closed, Walgreens confirmed to KTVU, saying "The front end of the store will remain open."

Raising Cane's said it will keep the Walgreens storefront as a tenant and then operate out of the remaining newly vacated pharmacy space.

"We’re in the early stages of planning," the Cane’s representative told KTVU.

Walgreens ongoing closures

The closure of the Telegraph Avenue Berkeley pharmacy was part of a larger "store optimization" plan by the struggling drug store chain.

Last year, Walgreens' CEO announced the company would close 1,200 locations as part of that plan.

"Increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs," the company said in a statement to KTVU, adding, "It is never an easy decision to close a store, and we know how important they are to the communities we serve."

A Walgreens spokesperson said customers who used the Telegraph Avenue pharmacy would have their prescriptions automatically transferred to Walgreens' other Berkeley store located at 2801 Adeline Street.

The company said customers can also choose to pick up their prescriptions at another, more convenient Walgreens pharmacy. To help in the transition, the chain is offering free 90-day delivery service.

Bay Area presence expanding

Right now, Raising Cane’s has six locations in the Bay Area: Colma, Fairfield, Hayward, Oakland, San Jose, and Vacaville, with the new planned sites bringing the chain's presence in the region to ten restaurants.

The anticipated date for the new Berkeley site is set for late 2027, the company representative said.

And more locations could be coming.

"We’re always looking for the right sites," the representative said, "and remain excited about our continued growth in the Bay Area."