Where Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers sits today replaced the original 1045 Texas Avenue South building, and I've attached a picture of the last restaurant to operate it, Kerri's Stacked Enchiladas.
Built as a branch of the defunct Sambo's chain (which had over 1000 in 47 states at its peak), the restaurant originally opened March 1974, replacing empty land. But in the early 1980s, Sambo's imploded. With mounting criticism from its name and theme by politically correct groups and problems stemming from a massive expansion, it filed for bankruptcy in 1982 and closed by 1983 (but not before renaming it to "Season's" in late 1982 as many stores did) remaining vacant until Wings 'n Things opened in 1988 (a franchise out of Houston). I don't know much of the details but apparently, something happened and Wings 'n Things (that is, the College Station location) became Wings 'n More, but I'm not sure exactly how the breakup worked because Wings 'n More later franchised stores in Houston (ultimately renamed to BreWingz, except for one location on North Freeway).
In January 2003, this location of Wings 'N More moved out to a modern location at University Drive East and Highway 6, where it remains today, but it wouldn't remain closed for much longer. In 2003, a new local restaurant replaced it, Kerri's Stacked Enchiladas. Despite a strong start, including winning Best New Restaurant in Best of the Brazos 2003 and Best Southwest Texas Cuisine a year later, it folded by 2005. Kerri's made no changes to the outside of the old Wings 'N More, and from what I've heard, not much to the inside, either (except adding some new Aggie memorabilia).
Open from 11am to "late", this is what the Dining Guide of 2004 had to say on the matter. Keep in mind that since I haven't heard great things about Kerri's in retrospect and this was written by the restaurant, chances are high that parts of this paragraph are blatant lies (already I see that they must have forgotten Kokopelli's, and the full paragraph is as follows:
The Brazos Valley's first Southwest restaurant has already been recognized among the very best restaurants in the entire Brazos Valley! Our unique stacked enchiladas are made fresh from scratch daily --topped with the freshest produce in town! At Kerri’s we also boast the best Fajita Stacks in town and offer a diverse menu sure to please everyone, from healthy choices like veggie quesadillas, veggie stacked enchiladas, stack house salads to main stay favorites such as ribeye steaks, chicken fried chicken, southwest lasagna, burgers and much much more. The desserts alone are worth the trip to Kerri’s. We have catered many special area events such as weddings, receptions, concerts, business luncheons and dinners, numerous city council meetings and an array of late night party events. Consider Kerri’s for all of you catering needs -- we will deliver to the location of your choice, or reserve our spacious dining and stage area or huge outdoor patio. Kerri’s has the freshest food in town at the most reasonable price. Go see for yourself why Kerri’s was voted Best New Restaurant in the Brazos Valley! While you’re here relax and enjoy our full service bar and ask your server how to get a
"soon to be famous"
All that disappeared by 2005 when Kerri's closed down. After the restaurant closed, someone made some sort of bizarre Pac-Man graffiti on the roof, with (illegible) names next to Pac-Man and the ghost. I'm not sure what they meant, but with the highly visible graffiti, a nearby dead Mobil (which closed in about 2004), and the closed Texaco down from it, by mid-2005 it contributed to a feeling that the stretch from University to George Bush just started feeling really run-down.
By January of 2006 (according to TexAgs archives, and sounds right in my memory), the building was torn down and a Raising Cane's was put in its place by summer, opening June 2006. You can see a picture of the building here that I took in May 2014.
UPDATE 07-20-2025: Part of this post was rewritten. A Battalion link died and was not able to be replaced, references to Tales of Defunct Restaurants II were removed, Season's reference added, actual Kerri's Stacked Enchilada ad was added with the full logo instead of just talking about it, other links changed, and Raising Cane's no longer puts the store opening. The title was also renamed to "Former Kerri's Stacked Enchiladas" and [Texas Avenue] was added as a post label.
