Boston - Raising Cane’s files lawsuit as landlord tries to evict them for chicken smell

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A Boston landlord is attempting to evict a Raising Cane’s restaurant in the city’s Back Bay neighborhood over complaints that the location “smells like chicken fingers,” according to a lawsuit.

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The chicken finger chain claims they're being extorted by their landlord over building and lease issues.

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The filing centers on the Raising Cane’s outpost on Boylston Street, which opened in 2022 inside a roughly 100-year-old building and holds a lease running through 2037.

The chain says new second-floor office tenants in the property raised concerns about what they described as an “offensive odor,” prompting the landlord to threaten termination of the lease.

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Raising Cane’s says it spent more than $200,000 attempting to reduce odor issues inside the building, but claims it was informed in January that its lease would be terminated over what the landlord described as “offensive and or nuisance odors.”

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The lawsuit also alleges the landlord attempted to pressure Raising Cane’s into waiving a lease provision that grants the chain exclusivity as the building’s “exclusive chicken restaurant,” according to CBS Boston.

Raising Cane’s further claims the landlord has been negotiating with Panda Express to take over space next to the Boylston Street location that was previously occupied by Starbucks. CBS Boston noted Panda Express already operates another Boston location inside Boston University’s student union.

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Panda Express, an American Chinese fast food chain, doesn’t focus on chicken dishes in the way that Raising Cane’s does, but the lawsuit stated that Panda Express’ business of the “cooking, serving, and selling of de-boned chicken” goes against the lease with Raising Cane’s.

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