Raising Cane’s

You’ve just gotten off work late, and there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for a chicken sandwich and fries. You can’t go to Chick-fil-A­ — they closed hours ago. A quick Google search strikes relief into you as you learn that Raising Cane’s is still open, located at 2800 Commerce Drive in Coralville. Iowa City residents are not to fear, however — we’ll soon see our own storefront in the Old Cap Mall.

As you pull up to the drive-thru, you observe an artwork that would move Van Gogh to tears: a giant image plastered on the side of the building of a yellow Labrador named Cane wearing sunglasses. “That’s hilarious!” you think as you burst out laughing. “Dogs don’t wear sunglasses!” This is no ordinary dog, but then again, this is no ordinary chicken restaurant.

Then, the most beautiful combination of words in the English language emerges from your car: “Can I please get a Box Combo with no slaw, extra toast, an Arnold Palmer, and two extra sauces?”

The chicken is hot and fresh. The fries: crispy and salty. The Texas toast? Fluffy and delicious, of course. The beverage washes it all down with a luxurious sweetness. A single tear dances down your cheek as you vow to never torture yourself with the soggy trash they serve at Chick-fil-A.

Then there’s the sauce. The sauce takes the food from the mountains to the heavens. The first time I tasted the sauce with the Texas toast, I actually teared up. If bottles of Cane’s Sauce were sold in stores like Chick-fil-A Sauce is, I’d buy it and use it as shampoo.

In my life, I have been cheated; I have been lied to; I have been betrayed. But at the end of every bad day, within a glowing Styrofoam box sits a meal that medieval nations would’ve fought wars to consume. There is no struggle that cannot be resolved by the sound of a jubilant drive-thru worker reciting a poetic rhyme when asking to take your order.