Normally when there’s word of a potential new Raising Cane’s location, it’s mostly met with jokes about submitting to the popular chicken finger chain’s persistent drive-through lines. But its latest proposed outpost instead has some Angelenos talking about… mid-century architecture?
That’s because Norms La Cienega, a distinctive Googie-style diner that’s been operating since 1957, might transition into a Raising Cane’s within the next few years. Though the building itself will stick around—with a few modifications—the local 24-hour breakfast chain would no longer be manning the griddle inside of it. (Norms will continue to operate its nearly two dozen other SoCal locations.)
It turns out that Raising Cane’s Restaurants LLC actually bought the building back in 2021 for $16 million, as WEHOonline spotted. Norms’ lease is set to end in late 2026, according to the L.A. Times, and so the chicken finger chain would become the space’s new tenant in 2027.
Here’s where things get a little complicated: This specific Norms location was declared a historic L.A. monument in 2015; the chain’s oldest operating location was created by architects (and L.A. coffee shop specialists) Armet & Davis, whose car dealership-like design stands as one of L.A.’s most recognizable Googie structures. The flashy, Space Age-era movement’s key characteristics are all over Norms La Cienega: the cantilever roof, zigzagging windows and that recognizable pennant-shaped sign. (In our experience, though the exterior is still dazzling, the same can’t quite be said about the interior or the food—it’s certainly no Pann’s or Clark Street Diner.)
So given that distinction, while Raising Cane’s doesn’t need permission to operate inside the building, it does need to clear some design changes with the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission. In a rendering shared with the L.A. Times, the building appears largely similar, albeit with “CANE’S” replacing “NORMS” on the sign. Otherwise, “Raising Cane’s plans to keep the legacy of Norms alive and maintain—forever—[its] iconic Googie-style architecture,” according to a published statement from the chain.
Some preservationists aren’t quite as optimistic. The Los Angeles Conservancy, which helped spare the structure from demolition in 2014, noted that “in a resounding response, many Angelenos do not want to see Norms go.” Esotouric’s Secret Los Angeles newsletter called the proposal “worrying” while humorist Charles Phoenix remarked “WTF?”
If you’d like to voice your opinion on the matter, Raising Cane’s will present its design proposal to the Cultural Heritage Commission on December 5. You can attend the 10am meeting at L.A. City Hill either in person (room 1010) or comment over Zoom (meeting ID: 845 1483 4313; passcode: 769007) or via phone (213-338-8477 or 669-900-9128, use meeting ID 845 1483 4313, then press #, and press # again when prompted for the participant ID and use passcode 769007).