Visitors to Union Station on Tuesday morning may have seen a crowd of people near the main level of the train concourse, or heard the beat of Shakira's hit "Hips Don't Lie."
The cause of the vibrant celebration? Fried chicken fingers.
Raising Cane's, the nationally popular fast-food chain that got its start in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has opened its first location in Washington, D.C., and the people are thrilled.
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Though Cane's start in the South means it's not as well known in the DMV as it is in other parts of the country, the fast food chain has something of a cult following.
Before Tuesday, the two closest Cane's locations were one in Sterling, Virginia, near Dulles International Airport; and one in Forestville, Maryland. Neither were particularly accessible from downtown D.C., so fans of Cane's in the District were happy to see the new development.
Smiling patrons formed a line around the corner of the Union Station storefront, celebrating the grand opening on an otherwise damp and dreary day. A ceiling of disco balls glittered above the row of standing tables inside the restaurant.
To top it all off, a statue of Raising Cane -- the yellow lab mascot for the fast food chain by the same name -- stood in the corner. The statue is standard issue at all the restaurant's locations, according to its website, but the colonial tricorn hat this dog wears is specific to D.C.
According to a press release on the Cane's website, the first customer in line when the doors opened at 9 a.m. received a "Cane's swag basket," and the first 200 customers got "a special edition hat."
The menu options at Cane's are simple, but highly popular: There are four box combo options, and a kid's meal. Each comes with some combination of fried chicken fingers, Texas toast, crinkle-cut French fries and sometimes coleslaw.
The secret sauce for the chain is, literally, a secret sauce: The restaurant chain does not specify what goes into the signature dipping sauce that comes with every meal, but does describe it as "tangy with a little bit of spice" on their website.
The new location is part of a plan by D.C. officials to revitalize the once-bustling Union Station. That plan has been in the works since a post-pandemic exodus of businesses left the station struggling.
