The ribbing-cutting ceremony ran behind schedule, creating a concert vibe among the sea of people waiting patiently — and was not totally unexpected. This was a special event for a special restaurant: a Post Malone and Dallas Cowboys-themed Raising Cane's.
The restaurant's founder and CEO Todd Graves took to the stage in a Cowboys jersey, thanking the crowd and letting them know that Post Malone would be out shortly. Moments later, when he emerged, the crowd erupted.
"I'm not one very much for public speaking," said Malone, decked out in Cowboys gear.
"Sing!" said a voice from the crowd.
"I haven't had enough special juice yet," said Malone.
"I couldn't think of a more badass place than the home of God's team and America's football team," he said, adding, "The chicken is very fresh, and everyone is very sweet. I hope you guys have an amazing day, and I love you so very much." Malone waved to the crowd before cutting the ribbon with jumbo scissors.
This isn't the first Post Malone Raising Cane's. Late last year, he designed an all-pink Cane's in Midvale, Utah, where Malone now calls home. "He's crazy about Cane's," Graves later said at a press conference. "He said, 'Can you put a Cane's right by my house?' I said, 'Yeah, we'll do that,' and he loved it."
Graves befriended Malone after a 2019 concert in Miami, in what he thought was just going to be a simple meet-and-greet, but ended up with the restaurant founder shotgunning beers at a post-concert afterparty. They stayed in touch, and Malone, a huge Cane's fan, asked if he could design another restaurant after the Midvale one. Graves asked where Malone wanted to do it. According to Graves, the musician said, "Dallas, of course — the first place I had Cane's, where I grew up, my hometown team. Can we do something with the Cowboys?" The restaurant exec reached out to the Cowboys — Cane's is a long-time sponsor — and got the okay.
It took four weeks to convert a regular Cane’s on Northwest Highway in Dallas into a Postified, Cowboys-covered one. The result is a most unique collab between a music superstar, an NFL team and a restaurant.
Inside, the restaurant is wall-to-wall blue. Malone's stage outfits as well as Cowboys memorabilia decorate the restaurant. "Whatever he wanted to do, we said let's just have fun with it," said Graves. "This is all his vision, down to the bathrooms with the locker room steam."
According to Graves, Malone has gotten more humble as he's gotten more famous and didn't want a giant photo of himself on the wall. (Malone relented, and there is a wall-covering concert pic.).
The expectation is that this Cane's will do exceptionally well: Sales at the Midvale location, for example, doubled due to Post Malone. Graves expects sales at all Cane's in DFW to increase due to what can only be described as The Post Malone Effect.
But are there future Post Malone Cane's in the works?
"I don't know yet," said Graves. "We may be talking south of France, or something fun like that. But let's wait and see. He loves it, and he's got his wines — if you haven't had them, they're brilliant. Maybe a little south of France collab? It could be the only Cane's where you can have a glass of Post Malone wine, I dunno. Maybe that's down the pipe in a little bit, I dunno."
During the press conference, I kept wondering: Where's Post Malone? Did he already leave? At events like this, it's not uncommon for celebrities to be in and out, do what they need to do and vamoose.
But as we left the Cowboys-colored Cane's, there Malone was, outside, signing autograph after autograph, greeting fans, taking photos and making the day amazing, long after many of his contemporaries would have already left.
A unique collab from a unique celebrity.
The Post Malone x Dallas Cowboys Raising Cane's is located at Raising Cane’s, 2255 W Northwest Highway, Dallas, TX 75220
