When I started this blog section on reviews, I promised myself that I would not review chain restaurants, especially fast-food ones, if I can reasonably avoid it. On reviewing Cane’s #1, I cannot resist temptation. I do so, however, with the understanding that this is the first Raising Cane’s and the one dear to my heart.

On many a hot, Louisiana day during my studies at LSU, I was forced to make a decision. Should I dart fervently from shade tree to shade tree after leaving the air-conditioned safety of Himes Hall or should I make a relatively fast dart across the scorching Parade Grounds, dodging frisbee throwers or sunbathers. I say relatively because I am never really fast. That was part of the problem. Go slow knowing what was up ahead or go fast, chancing a meltdown into a pile of assorted lipids and proteins. Often I chanced it, with the full knowledge that the journey would suck, but I would enjoy the arrival.

Hyperbole, you say. Nay, the sun down here can get really hot. Also, the end of that journey was a steaming box of deliciousness reserved for Mt. Olympus, if the Greek gods had Southern accents and loved Chicken. I am talkin’ about the king of Northgate, Raising Cane’s #1. The brain child of LSU alums, Todd Graves and Craig Silvey. There, they created the beginnings of a national fast food chain that is beginning to sweep the nation.

Ah…Korean food. It brings so many memories to mind. That particular smell and taste of kimchi (김치)*. Living in Beijing, eating samgyeopsal (삼겹살) with my friends. Or eating bosintang (보신탕) in Tianjin with another set of friends. I have never been to Korea, but its culinary delights tantalize me, percolating dreams of dropping it all and fleeing to the “Land of the Morning Calm.”

However, reality always intercedes. So, because I unable to actually spend all day watching Korean dramas and eating kimbap (김밥) in the land of its origin, I rely on Korean restaurants here in the U.S. Baton Rouge has some great…wait, no, Baton Rouge has no Korean restaurants. Chinese, great Thai, and excellent Vietnamese, but no Korean. When I want to get my galbi (갈비) on, I am forced to look elsewhere. Luckily, my brother lives in Biloxi and there is a great little place just outside the gates of Keesler AFB.

R&C Korean Restaurant has excellent food and somewhat slow service. I would classify it as lousy, but I want to be kind. Every time I go, whether for lunch or dinner, there is only one overworked waitress serving customers. I suspect that there is only one cook back there as well. Because I know this, I am always prepared for a wait and bring my Android for entertainment and a smile to let the lady know that I don’t mind.