Post Malone rules the roost as hundreds swarm his Raising Cane’s opening in Utah

Hundreds swarmed Utah’s latest Raising Cane’s restaurant in Midvale on Thursday, and it wasn’t only for the rooster.

They have been there to see Grammy-nominated rapper Post Malone (actual title Austin Richard Post) a resident of Midvale who helped design the restaurant after personally reaching out to the chain’s CEO and founder Todd Graves.

Both Malone and Graves have been readily available early Thursday morning for its opening amid frigid temperatures, in accordance with the Salt Lake Tribune.

“I appreciate everybody waiting around in the cold and the snow,” Malone advised followers, in accordance with the Tribune.

Outside the restaurant, the “Circles” performer signed physique components, posted for selfies and gave excessive fives, the Tribune reported. He returned to work together extra with followers after a tour of the new enterprise.

Graves advised the Tribune that the restaurant’s location at 850 E. Fort Union Blvd. was largely chosen due to its proximity to Post’s Cottonwood Heights, Utah, mansion, the place the rapper has lived since 2019.

“‘Can you put a Raising Cane’s close to my house in Utah?’” Graves recalled from a dialog with Post, talking with a bullhorn to the crowd. “I said, ‘Hell, yeah.’”

The Midvale restaurant “has been renovated from the inside out to reflect Post’s bold style and enthusiastic personality,” according to a company statement. Its walls are pink, unlike the other shops that tout a more neutral look.

The restaurant’s outer walls feature prints inspired by the rapper’s signature tattoos, including a close-up of Post’s tatooed face. As if the paint job wasn’t “Posty” enough, several of the rapper’s outfits — including two from the 2019 Grammy Awards — are displayed inside the restaurant. His personal guitars will also be framed.

Customers can order Post’s go-to meal: four chicken tenders with fries, sauce, two slices of Texas toast and unsweetened tea mixed with lemonade.

Midvale Mayor Marcus Stevenson said he hoped the new addition to the community would “bring in new people who maybe wouldn’t otherwise think of Midvale.”

Story continues

“Unique is the optimum word for what this is,” Stevenson advised the Tribune.

Graves, who opened the first Raising Cane’s in his native Baton Rouge, La., in 1996, described Malone as a pal, with their relationship constructed on mutual admiration.

“I was a fan of his music, and he was a fan of my chicken fingers,” Graves advised the Tribune. “We talked about life, we shotgunned some beers, and a friendship was born.”

There are greater than 600 Cane’s areas throughout the United States, together with 78 in California and 4 in Utah, in accordance with the ScrapeHero database. Texas leads all states with 191 eating places.

Malone, who was born in New York, has referenced the Beehive state in a number of of his songs. In 2019, he advised Variety that he thought of Utah an “oasis” away from Hollywood.

This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Times.