Popular chicken chain’s debut in SoCal college town draws long lines

It was a party in the parking lot.

A large crowd gathered in the wee hours of Monday morning for the grand opening of a Raising Cane’s in the college town of Goleta. The store marks the chain’s first location in Santa Barbara County.

Hordes of young people camped out in the new restaurant’s parking lot, eager to claim their spot in line — and hopefully win free chicken.

The grand opening event kicked off at 8 a.m. on October 12 with music, free merchandise, and a raffle for 20 lucky winners to receive free Raising Cane’s for a whole year, Noozhawk reported.

Dos Pueblos High School student Rex Belvins and a group of friends arrived at 9 p.m. the night before to camp out, an entire 11 hours before the event began.

His promptness paid off — he was the first in line and the first to win free Raising Cane’s for a year.

“I’m just so excited. It’s been great already; I get to hang out with my best friend outside of Raising Cane’s,” Blevins told Noozhawk. “First in line, and I win, this is just amazing.”

UC Santa Barbara student Jordan Nicodemus, who arrived at 7 a.m. that morning, also won the raffle.

“This opening is the best day of our lives, and we did not think we were gonna win this,” Nicodemus said. 

The raffle winner says she’s excited to not have to drive all the way up to Santa Maria for Raising Cane’s anymore. She plans to eat at the restaurant at least once a week.

The location is a welcome addition to the college town’s food options.

“I’m not the biggest fan of Cane’s, but when I heard that there was free Cane’s for a year, that’s when I was like, ‘I need to be there,’” UCSB student Brett Becker told Noozhawk. “Because we’re all college students and don’t really want to be spending too much on food. So free Cane’s for a year was something you can’t pass up.”

But not everyone was celebrating.