Raising Cane's: One Love, Won Community

WhenRaising Cane’s Chicken Fingers decided to open up a restaurant in the City of Lakewood five years ago, little did they know that it would, in five years, be the company’s second busiest in the region.

Not only was it built to be a Certified Training Restaurant for Raising Cane’s Corp., but what people might not know about this flagship restaurant, is that it has also served as a beacon of encouragement, family values and hope for young adults from all across the country and from right here in the region.

A fast-food restaurant chain from Louisiana that boasts fresh, never frozen chicken fingers, Texas toast, a secret Cane’s sauce, fresh coleslaw and their famous crinkle-cut fries, Raising Cane’s in Lakewood has trained employees from New York, Miami, Philadelphia and as close as Culver City, Lynwood and Lakewood – looking to excel in the restaurant industry.

Glenn Curo, Cane’s Restaurant Partner who operates the Lakewood location, can’t believe that it’s been five years since the restaurant opened.

“To be able to say that we’re celebrating five years this month, despite going through a world-wide pandemic, and then being named the company’s Second Top Selling location, is incredible,” Curo said. “Covid hit the restaurant industry really hard, we all felt it, but having the drive-thru helped us stay open and we were able to keep people working, when so many people were losing their jobs.”

Curo said that Cane’s was also able to compensate its employees during Covid. In fact, said Curo, Cane’s in

Lakewood was its busiest during Covid – and was one of the few locations across the country that didn’t close its doors. Curo got his start with Cane’s in 2015 when it opened a restaurant in Costa Mesa. He then was promoted to Aliso Viejo, then to Orange, and five years ago, he left the popular Downey location upon being promoted to a Lakewood's Restaurant Partner.

While Curo has trained dozens of Cane’s crew members to eventually run their own locations across the country like him, Curo doesn’t see himself leaving the Lakewood restaurant anytime soon, and calls the Lakewood location his pride and joy. “We aren’t just a restaurant with a drive-thru, we are part of the Lakewood family, and the City is a part of us, too,” said Curo. “Lakewood is a beautiful City with hundreds of families who have made Cane’s a part of their fam- ily, not just as part of their dinner tables, but an honest to goodness family that supports each other.”

Curo is also proud to say that his current team, still includes people who started working with Cane’s five years ago.

“We will be celebrating our 5th year anniversary of being open in the community, but for us, my team and I will be celebrating five years of working together,” he said. “And that’s the best feeling ever.”

Alejandro Marquez Soto, is one of Cane’s shift managers and is looking to be promoted to Operations Manager soon.

“You don’t find a boss who cares about his employees like Glenn; he helps you develop as a team member and sets you on a pathway to success,” Marquez Soto said. “People don’t want to promote up because it might mean leaving to another restaurant. That’s going to be me, too.”

Shaina Freeman-Gonzalez, Area Leader of Marketing for Cane’s, said she often visits the Lakewood location and will find Curo making the Texas Toast in the kitchen, or as Cane’s calls it, in the back of the house.

“Glenn is not above stepping into the kitchen and cooking the Texas Toast,” Freeman-Gonzalez said. “Here at Cane’s, there’s a cascade of leadership opportunities but everybody starts in the kitchen, no matter what your title is."

Freeman-Gonzalez said she loves that about Cane’s. “Everybody has to start in the kitchen This way, none of us lose sight of working as a team.”

As Area Leader of Marketing for Cane’s, Freeman-Gonzalez’s job is to make every Cane’s restaurant a reflection of the community it serves.

“We’re not here just to be a business in the community, we’re here to be a part of the community,” she said.

Curo, who raised his family in the area, was recently appointed to the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

In celebrating their 5th year anniversary, Curo credits working alongside a great team. “It’s humbling, I am blessed to be here,” he said. “But I didn’t do it alone, I had an amazing team behind me. I couldn’t do it without my team. You don’t celebrate five years, and record-breaking numbers, without everybody – and that includes the community, too. We couldn’t have made it this far without the community – from day one, the community had our back.”