WALKER, Mich. — Sometimes, when restaurants close, there's not a lot of fanfare. The TGI Friday's on Alpine Avenue has been closed since spring, leaving Walker residents wondering what would fill the empty space.
Now they have their answer: chicken fingers.
Traffic jams on Alpine Avenue in Walker are nothing new, but it won't be long before the vacant TGI Friday's becomes something that might create backups at times — a Raising Cane's with four drive-thru lanes.
The announcement comes just a week after West Michigan got its first taste of the Louisiana-based chain when crowds lined up for the Kentwood grand opening on Nov. 18. Cars stretched onto 28th Street as chicken fans waited hours for their first bite of the signature chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries and Cane's sauce.
While those crowds were still forming in Kentwood, the Walker Planning Commission was quietly approving plans for the city's own Raising Cane's location. On Nov. 19, commissioners gave the green light to plans for 3179 Alpine Ave., directly across from Greenridge Square.
The new restaurant will have a significantly smaller footprint than the nearly 8,000-square-foot TGI Friday's that once occupied the site. But what it lacks in dining room size, it makes up for in drive-thru efficiency.
Raising Cane's plans to install what they call "stacked lanes" — essentially four separate drive-thru lines designed to move customers through faster than traditional single-lane setups. The chain prides itself on an average drive-thru time of just 2 minutes and 28 seconds, according to planning documents.
That focus on speed makes sense when you consider that Raising Cane's gets roughly 75% of its business through drive-thru orders, and their menu is intentionally simple — just four items that keep kitchen operations streamlined.
The company plans to demolish the existing TGI Friday's building and begin construction in July 2026, though work could potentially start as early as late spring, according to planning documents submitted to the city.
This will be Raising Cane's seventh Michigan location overall, and third in the immediate Grand Rapids area. The chain, which started with a single restaurant in Baton Rouge in 1996, has been rapidly expanding across the state since opening their first Michigan location in East Lansing in 2022.
For Walker residents who witnessed the Kentwood opening chaos, the four-lane drive-thru design might be welcome news. It's designed specifically to handle the kind of crowds that have been showing up at new Raising Cane's locations across the Midwest.
(Contact Robb Westaby at rwestaby@fox17online.com with story ideas for the Kenowa Hills, Walker and Northview neighborhoods.)
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