Owner of Wichita-bound restaurant says he does chicken fingers better than Cane’s
.JPG "The Coop Chicken Fingers will open in the former Schlotzsky’s building on South Rock Road this summer.")
Wichita will soon get a new chicken finger restaurant whose owners plan to offer a lower-priced alternative to Raising Cane’s — the popular chain that entered the Wichita market last summer.
Eliot McDonald and his business partner Henry Panameno are the owners of The Coop Chicken Fingers, and they opened their first store adjacent to the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa, just before Thanksgiving.
Their next two restaurants, though, will open in Kansas: The first is taking over the former Taco John’s building at 420 E. 30th Ave. in Hutchinson and should open in early May, McDonald said. Then, the owners will turn their attention to Wichita: They’ve signed a lease to take over the former Schlotzsky’s building at 1140 S. Rock Road, which has been vacant since July 2022.
They hope to open the first Wichita restaurant in July. Both McDonald and Panameno are planning to move from Ames to Wichita.
McDonald said that when the partners decided they wanted to expand their concept, they discovered the Wichita area, where Raising Cane’s has been incredibly popular since opening at 350 S. Ridge Road in June. Raising Cane’s is also planning to open a restaurant at Douglas and Rock in 2027.
The menu at The Coop Chicken fingers is nearly identical to the one at Raising Cane’s: It offers chicken finger combo meals with fries and Texas toast.
“Obviously, they’re the big dog in the chicken finger business,” McDonald said. “They opened the one in Wichita, and it’s doing ridiculous numbers. They’ve been very well received. They’re a great brand. They market very well. And I’ll tell you, people try our product, and they think we’re better than Cane’s.”
McDonald said that he worked in chicken finger restaurants for seven years, including Raising Cane’s, Slim Chickens, and most recently Layne’s Chicken Fingers, a Texas-based chain, where he worked as director of operations. He was looking to become a Layne’s franchisee, but it didn’t work out.
“We decided to open our own concept,” he said.
The Coop’s chicken fingers, he said, are made with premium products, and it also offers a spicy chicken finger whose heat is mixed into the breading, not coated on after it’s cooked. The Coop also offers more dipping sauce flavors than Raising Canes’, he said.
The Coop also is able to charge less than its competitors, he said.
“They’ve got a lot of overhead on their side that I don’t have,” McDonald said. “They go into a property, they’re probably spending $250,000 a year on a lease. It’s a huge difference. And since we’re not a franchise — you look at Golden Chick and other brands like that — they can’t compete on price either because they’re paying 7, 8 or 9% on royalties while we’re playing zero. It gives us a lot of wiggle room, which is a good thing for the customer.”
A three-finger meal with fries, Texas toast, sauce and a drink at The Coop in Wichita will likely cost $9.19, McDonald said. At Cane’s, the same meal is $10.39, and at Golden Chick, a three-tender meal with a side, a roll and a 30-ounce drink is $9.97.
McDonald said that he and his partner don’t plan to franchise The Coop Chicken Fingers. Instead, they’ll expand it themselves. By the end of this year, they hope to have four restaurants total, including another one in Wichita. They’d like to eventually have three restaurants in the Wichita market, and they’re also thinking about expanding into Oklahoma. By the end of 2027, they hope to have eight to 10 locations.
The Coop also serves milkshakes, chicken sandwiches and grilled cheese sandwiches. The new restaurants will all have drive-throughs, he said.
McDonald is looking for a “community-driven” general manager for the Wichita restaurant. Anyone interested can email him at eliot@thecooopcf.com
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 2:46 PM.
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