One of my favorite foods besides pizza is chicken tenders.  When one of my friends from Louisiana found out, they suggested that I should try out Raising Cane's restaurant.  I never heard of Raising Cane's before so I decided to do some research.

https://www.raisingcanes.com/our-story

In a nutshell, Raising Cane's owner/founder couldn't get approved for a loan for his simplistic idea of a restaurant that serves a menu with only chicken tenders.  He busted his butt working at some jobs that he didn't really enjoy until he raised the funds and boom, he opened his first store and named it after his dog "Raising Cane".  

Fast forward 3 weeks later...

They are doing a Raising Cane's Grand Opening in my parent's home town of Temple, TX!  Then I found out that the first 20 paying customer will win 1 Year of FREE Chicken Tender Box Combo Meal!   Basic rules are:  You must be at least 13 years old and be the first 20 people who enter the store and make a purchase.  Easy Enough.

I found out the Grand Opening is 10AM Tuesday morning.  I thought to myself, this is great!  Most people work Monday through Friday 8am-5pm.  I knew I had the edge and it was time to prepare.  I discussed with my girlfriend the game plan it went something like this:

Step 1:  Pack essentials such as:  food, snacks, drinks, ice chest, personal hygiene items, extra clothes, jacket, pillows, blanket, tent, air up mattress, board games, super nintendo, tv, books, laptop, phone charger, etc.

Step 2:  Bring note pad to make an unofficial list of individual in line so we can have order til Raising Cane Rep speaks to us

Step 3:  Have fun and Win!

I arrived on site with my girlfriend and Slinky (my 16 year old weiner dog) at 8AM.  No cars there except mine.  I parked and went to the front door and was greeted by Raising Cane's district manager.  He asked if I was there for the contest and I responded, "Yes, Sir!".  He said, "Great, you are number 1" just have to stay here until tomorrow morning. 

I set up my home base on their property which consisted of an EZ UP Tent, Fold up Table, Chairs.  By 1PM, we had our first 20 people!  Everyone filled out the unofficial list of the first 20 and we agreed that nobody should leave til the next morning unless they were willing to forfeit their spot in line.

By 5PM, we had dozens of people stop by asking if they were too late and of course they were.  Some of them stayed hoping that someone out of the first 20 would leave.  One particular guy, was very rude and tried to bully people out of their spot but shortly after, police and security were on property to keep the peace.

Raising Cane's RM was really nice and fed us lunch and dinner!   I managed to play 1 full game of Monopoly, Risk, and Phase 10 before I started getting sleepy.  I removed the 2 back seats out of my 2016 Toyota Sienna, aired up the air mattress, laid out sheets, blankets and pillows.  This felt very similar to building a fort but inside my van.  It was pretty awesome.  Surprisingly, I slept great.  

Woke up around 7AM and the Raising Cane's crew were already inside the building getting ready for the Grand Opening.   

Before I knew it, I was inside the store and was presented a gift basket for being the first customer.  I also received a T-shirt and the 1 year free Raising Cane's Card.

How does the FREE card works?  They load 1 FREE COMBO meal on the card every Monday morning at 8am.  If you do not use it by Sunday then you lose the meal.  I heard some of the people who won complained that they couldn't stack it but I just ignored them.  I was grateful I am receiving a years worth of combo meals and I had fun winning it.