Raising Cane’s – Ala Moana
Rating: Role Player
Tried Raising Cane’s at Ala Moana recently, and while the food itself was decent, the overall digital and pickup experience has a long way to go.
Ordering/App Experience:
The app was slow to load and hit me with a fake “forced sign-in” screen that you can actually bypass. Once in, the cart felt unoptimized for the items I ordered. “Use my location” worked, but then I still had to scroll twice to find my actual restaurant. The menu itself is heavily geared toward chicken fingers (as expected), but extras felt almost hidden.
Checkout was frustrating: you need to create an account just to complete an order, and the email/phone number entry isn’t smooth. No option to join the Caniac Club at checkout. Password requirements were way too strict for a chicken order, and they even required a phone number verification. There’s no order tracking, no text updates, and no clear confirmation that the restaurant was preparing my food. It told me “10–15 minutes” at checkout, but the food was ready in 2 minutes — which was fine, but confusing.
Pickup Experience:
This part felt disorganized. The mobile order pickup sign was flat on the counter, hard to spot unless you knew to look for it. Staff didn’t call out names the way Starbucks does, so I had to proactively ask for my order. They also didn’t provide napkins by default.
Food:
The chicken fingers looked a bit soggy and lacked that crunchy crispness you’d hope for. Taste-wise, they were decent — salty, satisfying, definitely in the “junk food treat” category. The kids enjoyed them. Cane’s ketchup does come in a neat squeeze-or-dip pack. My wife wasn’t impressed; her portion had fatty bits the first time, though the second try was better. Still, she found it greasy overall.
Biggest Miss:
The feedback prompt in the app only covered ordering — nothing about the pickup or food quality, which is half the experience. Right now, there’s a gap between what the app promises and how the in-store process actually works.
Overall:
Flavor is decent and the kids liked it, but the soggy chicken, clunky app, and sloppy pickup process make it hard to recommend beyond curiosity value. If they streamlined the app and made pickup smoother, this could be a much stronger experience.