The new chicken wars are here, and they’re bigger than Popeyes vs. Chick-fil-A

When Raising Cane’s recently opened its first-ever location in Meridian, Idaho, it wasn’t a particularly remarkable event for the restaurant chain. The fast-growing chicken purveyor also opened six other restaurants in five other states on the exact same day in November. It aims to open close to 100 new stores this year.

But some Idahoans were willing to stand outside in chilly fall weather for more than 48 hours to be the first in the state to get a taste of Raising Cane’s, whose exceptionally narrow menu features chicken fingers, french fries, a secret proprietary dipping sauce, and simple sides like garlic toast and coleslaw.

“We had customers camping out since Sunday morning,” AJ Kumaran, co-chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Raising Cane’s, tells Fast Company of the new Idaho restaurant that opened on a Tuesday. “People are excited about our entry into that market.”

A boom in a cooling restaurant economy

At a time when restaurant chains including Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen are confronting a sales cooldown as Gen Z and millennial diners are pressured by inflation, high housing costs, flat income growth, and other broader macroeconomic challenges, chicken-focused restaurant chains like Raising Cane’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken have been consistently expanding across the U.S. and are posting sturdier sales and traffic growth.

The fastest-growing chain in America last year by unit count was Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken & Wings, according to data provider Datassential, which also reported the domestic unit total for all chicken restaurant concepts increased by 4.7% in 2024 from the prior year, far exceeding the industry’s increase of 1.5%. Systemwide sales for chicken restaurants now exceed $52 billion annually.

Total restaurant traffic for all quick-service restaurant concepts dropped 1% for the year-ending September 2025 from the comparable prior-year period, while that same metric increased 3% for the chicken concepts, David Portalatin, senior vice president and a food and foodservice industry advisor for Circana, told Fast Company. The market researcher says that traffic for the QSR restaurant industry, which was battered by shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, is still down 8% from 2019, but has increased 15% for QSR chicken.

The chains defying fast-food slowdown trends

“We’re obsessed with fried chicken,” says Portalatin. He believes that more innovative twists on chicken prep and unique sauces have put a more modern twist on classic, Americana staples. Chicken, Portalatin adds, “is among the very few bright spots in growth areas within the restaurant landscape.”

Since Raising Cane’s opened its first location in Louisiana in 1996, the chain has only sold chicken fingers and cooks every dish fresh to order, which Kumaran says results in efficient restaurants that are focused on making just a few menu items. There are no heat lamps or microwave ovens in the chain’s kitchens—and no limited-time menu offers or discounts.

“We don’t take shortcuts and we don’t play any gimmicks,” says Kumaran. “You will not see us in discount mode or saying, ‘Here’s the flavor of the month.’”

Over the past decade, Raising Cane’s has grown from a $350 million business to $5.1 billion in system sales in 2024. The company says it is marching toward $10 billion in annual sales from more than 1,600 locations, which would be an increase of around 600 restaurants from what’s in operation today. Earlier this year, Raising Cane’s leapfrogged KFC to become the third most-popular chicken chain in the U.S. after Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. The chain even has a nickname for its most devoted fans, the “Caniacs.”

That popularity has led to some increased competition from other chains outside of the chicken specialists that have added the protein to their menus. “There are a lot of people jumping in,” says Kumaran. “Whether it’s taco players or fajita players or burger players, everybody’s got a chicken dinner option right now.”

The new competition crowding the chicken category

Chicken’s soaring growth has been attributed to some yearslong trends like Chick-fil-A’s aggressive expansion beyond that chain’s initial regional focus in the south, the “sandwich chicken wars” that kicked off in 2019 when Popeyes debuted a new menu item that led to a social media and in-store frenzy, and the more recent perception that all protein—even fried chicken—is better than other quick-service food options.

“Whether that’s true or not, I’m not, I’m not being the judge of that,” says Portalatin. “I’m not a dietitian or nutritionist, but the consumer will often perceive the chicken option as the better-for-you option.”

How the ‘protein halo’ reshaped fast-food preferences

Chicken’s protein halo is particularly relevant to consumers who are taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, and that connection led Dave’s Hot Chicken earlier this year to debut a promotional meal called the “Davezempic,” featuring mini sliders. “It gives influencers and customers a way to engage with the brand in a funny and quirky way,” says Srishti Handa, vice president of marketing at Dave’s.

Founded in 2017, Dave’s Hot Chicken recently sold a majority stake for a reported $1 billion to private equity firm Roark Capital and ended 2024 with 260 locations. The chain expects to have 400 locations in operation by the end of this year and has signaled it expects to open more than 125 restaurants every year for the foreseeable future.

When asked about a north star target, Dave’s President and COO Jim Bitticks told Fast Company the chain could “easily support” 1,000 domestic locations. “Talk to me in 15 years and that number could be 2,000 or 3,000 restaurants,” adds Bitticks.

The chain serves its Nashville-style chicken tenders and sliders at seven different spice levels ranging from “no spice” to “the reaper,” the latter requiring a signed waiver promising that yes, it’s that hot. “I don’t recommend it, but you know, you’ve got to try everything once,” says Bitticks. “It definitely blows your head off.”

Bitticks says that Instagram and other social channels have been a big driver of traffic when Dave’s establishes restaurants in new markets, especially attracting Gen Z to the concept. “I’m not from that generation, I don’t get the idea of following a brand that I’ve never tried before,” he added. “I don’t understand it, but it is a huge piece of Dave’s story.”

Slim Chickens bets on variety, content, and sauce innovation

Slim Chickens, an Arkansas-based chain with 300 locations across 34 states, has a more expansive menu than its peer upstarts with tenders, wings, salads, wraps, and even chicken and waffles. The chain says that it is alluring Gen Z consumers and even Generation Alpha, children born after 2010 who are asking their parents to take them to a Slim.

“Variety is a competitive advantage for us,” Patrick Noone, chief marketing officer of Slim Chickens, said in an interview.

To stand out in a crowded category, Slim has created an in-house recording studio so that the chain can pump out a steady drumbeat of content across social channels. Noone says that these creative assets have a short shelf life online, losing their relevance after just 10 days. Slim is also in the process of developing and debuting a new mobile app in the first quarter of 2026. The chain is also continuing to think through the physical restaurant space to make it easier for customers who place a mobile order and want to pick up their food in the store.

But Noone says one top priority will always be innovation for Slim’s range of sauces, which today includes 14 different flavors like Korean BBQ, sweet red chili, and cayenne ranch.

“We spend as much time innovating around sauces as we do on tenders and the center of the plate,” says Noone. “Chicken is just the perfect canvas.”

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