Back in 1996, when Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves was deep in the throes of launching his first restaurant at the corner of Highland Road and East State Street in Baton Rouge, he rented the small second-floor apartment next door.

He moved his bed into the living room so he could keep a clear view of the restaurant and drive-thru. He worked most of the time, but when he was in his apartment and things got busy, he would head down the stairs, out the front door and cross the parking lot to help.

The apartment served a dual purpose — it was also the restaurant’s support office, with bulky computers filling the kitchen and former bedroom.

For Graves, that apartment is ground zero for the early years of what has since become his restaurant empire. In 2016, when the building came on the m

See Full Page