Sometimes, dear readers, the path to restaurant news is really a long and winding road. Which is fine, because as any seasoned traveler knows, it’s those twists and turns along the way that really teach you something. This week, it was the former Krispy Kreme spot on Route 29N that inspired our meandering. The building has been under construction lately, and Someone Who Knows Things dropped us a hint that it would soon be home to a franchise called Ragin’ Cajun.
Ragin’ Cajun, huh? Let’s see what the Interweb has to say about this, we thought. Up popped a local chain by that name in Houston, Texas, which serves up stuff like po’boys, crawfish pie and something called “Boudin balls.” In two shakes of a shrimp’s tail we had a Ragin’ franchisin’ manager, one Luke Mandola, Jr., on the horn, and were peppering him with questions about whether Ragin’ Cajun was in fact planning to open a location in Charlottesville.
“No,” Mr. Mandola said, before adding indignantly, “They can’t use that name!” Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, buddy! More importantly, if not heaping plates full of Boudin balls, what was really going into that building?
Off we went to track down Eric Goetz, who owns the building (and therefore, we figured, might actually have a clue). We delicately posed the question: Are we getting a Ragin’ Cajun restaurant, either from Houston or anywhere else? Goetz laughed before spilling the beans: The new place will be called Raising Cane’s, not Ragin’ Cajun. Ohhhh.
Finally! Now we were, as they say, on the right track. Our mistake was understandable: Not only do the two names sound similar, but Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana—Cajun country for sure. But Cane’s doesn’t serve gumbo; they serve, well, chicken fingers. Chicken finger combos; chicken fingers in tailgate boxes; chicken fingers on kaiser rolls. Cane’s cooks up this wide-ranging menu at 42 locations in eight states, and this will be their first branch in the Old Dominion. Mais, jamais d’la vie!
O.K., we’re talking fast food here, folks —but the guy in charge of our local Cane’s-to-be, Brian Shenefelt, says you can Raise your expectations. “Every order we send out is perfect,” he says. Wow. If only it were possible for Restaurantarama to do our job so flawlessly.
So what’d we learn from this little trip? Well, first of all, don’t mess with Texas. Secondly, Someone Who Knows Things sometimes Hears Stuff Wrong. And lastly, dear readers, we learned that Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers will open its doors on September 5. So get your fingers ready.
Jabber onward
The spellcheck-tormenting Corner nightspot Jaberwoke (we won’t bother with all the kee-razy accent marks on that name: Just say “Jabberwocky”), has changed hands. Brothers Andy and Patrick McClure bought it in late June from Jim Galloway, and are now planning some changes: a second bar, for one, directly across from the existing one, as well as a bigger menu.
Like any good restaurateur, Andy McClure promises fantastic quality of food and service; now that he’s put in five years as the owner of the Virginian and opened West Main—A Virginian Restaurant where Awful Arthur’s once was, he does have some experience to back that claim. But let’s cut to the chase. What interests us most is a menu addition called CRUSTIES.
That’s right: crusties. “Imagine a rectangular piece of pizza dough,” McClure explains, “covered with pizza sauce and cheese. It’s rolled up like a cinnamon bun, sliced, and baked.” The cheese makes a crust, and voilà. It’s “a little slice of heaven,” McClure proclaims. Pretty cheesy. Look for the new and improved Jaberwoke, perhaps attracting new and improved student drinkers, just in time for the first day of school.