Raising Cane's Opens November 2. What Else Has Changed at Brick Plaza This Year?

Raising Cane's opens at 1036 Cedar Bridge Avenue in Brick on Monday, November 2. It's the chain's first Jersey Shore restaurant, and the doors open at 10 a.m. The opening also shows how Brick Plaza is changing this year. Two store openings by the Route 70 entrance are already done. The Cedar Bridge Avenue side is where the work is still going on, and Cane's is the first new restaurant there with a confirmed date.

Federal Realty, which owns the plaza, announced its 2026 lineup in April. It included two clothing stores, a Korean barbecue restaurant, a coffee shop, a seafood restaurant, and the chicken finger chain. Shorebeat's April report said all of them were coming "in the coming months." Six months later, some of them have opened and some haven't, and the split mostly follows which side of the plaza they're on.

The Route 70 Side Is Finished

The stores closest to Route 70 opened first. J.Crew Factory is open next to Chipotle, close to the plaza's Route 70 entrance, and Gap Factory is open next to Barnes & Noble. Gap Factory's store locator gives the address as 56 Chambersbridge Road.

Both are discount versions of their parent brands. Shorebeat noted that J.Crew Factory runs 328 stores nationwide and that Gap Factory sells its own "casual-chic" line instead of leftover stock from Gap. Dae Gee Korean BBQ was already open by April. It's a Colorado-founded chain, and Brick Plaza is its first New Jersey location.

Here's where everything on the April list stands in mid-October:

Cedar Bridge Avenue Is Where the Plaza Is Changing

The Cedar Bridge side is where the plaza is changing most, because both new restaurants are going into spaces that already had a history. Raising Cane's replaces the Quaker Steak & Lube, which closed around the time of the pandemic. Cuzin's Seafood & Clam Bar is moving into the space Tre and Rosalita's used to occupy. Shorebeat reported in April that a liquor license transfer for the new restaurant had recently been approved.

The Cane's building is smaller than the one it replaced. When Brick's planning board approved the project in June 2025, Shorebeat's headline said the new restaurant would be half the size of the building being torn down. The board voted unanimously. It allowed signs on every side of the building and in the drive-thru lanes, where one sign is normally the limit, and it approved a locally themed mural on the outside. Because the restaurant is an outparcel surrounded by parking lot, the board also allowed the loading area to sit next to the parking area.

The local theme carries inside. According to NJ.com, the interior decor tells founder Todd Graves' story and includes tributes to Brick's local history. The restaurant also has a double-lane drive-thru.

How November 2 Will Run

Opening day is a Monday, and the plan starts early. Here's the schedule as NJ.com reported it:

1. 7 a.m. A DJ starts, and the music runs until 7 p.m.
2. 8 a.m. Entries open for the "Lucky 20" drawing. Twenty customers age 13 and older will win free Cane's for a year. The company asks people to arrive by 8 a.m. for the festivities.
3. 9:05 a.m. Ribbon cutting with representatives of the Brick Chamber of Commerce.
4. About 9:30 a.m. The Lucky 20 drawing.
5. 10 a.m. Doors open. The first 100 combo orders come with a branded trucker hat and a card for a free box combo.

The restaurant will also present two $1,000 checks that day, one to the Jersey Shore Animal Shelter and one to Choose Love, Celebrate Life. Kevin Comeaux, the chain's area leader of restaurants, told NJ.com the opening "is about more than serving great food" and is about "building lasting relationships with our new neighbors for years to come."

Because the DJ plays until 7 p.m. on a weekday, the opening-day crowd will overlap with the morning and evening commute on Cedar Bridge Avenue. If you usually go through the plaza on a Monday, expect it to be busier than normal that morning.

Hours That Run Past Midnight

The regular hours will probably matter more than opening day. The Brick location will be open from 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. That means food at the plaza two to three hours after most of its stores close. The menu is small: hand-battered chicken fingers, Cane's sauce made fresh daily, grilled toast, coleslaw, and fresh tea and lemonade.

The restaurant is also hiring for 80 positions, including cashiers, customer service associates, and fry cooks. Walk-in interviews run through Friday, October 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and applications are open at jobs.raisingcanes.com. For a family with a high schooler or college student home nearby, that's a new late-hours employer within a short drive.

Two Restaurants Still Without Dates

The other two restaurants on the April list haven't set dates yet. Cuzin's own Brick page still says "Coming Soon to Brick, NJ," lists 1048 Cedarbridge Avenue, and says hours will be announced later. It also shows photos labeled as construction at the Brick site. The restaurant was founded in 2016, and Brick will be its third location after Marlboro and New Brunswick. The plaza describes it with "dramatic seafood towers" and "just-shucked oysters" and lists it only as coming in 2026. With about two and a half months left in the year, that timeline is getting short.

Gregorys Coffee is listed as "opening next to Cava," with no date. It's a New York-based coffee shop and retailer founded in 2006, and Shorebeat reported in April that it ran 54 locations nationally. When it opens, the plaza will have an early-morning anchor to go with Cane's late nights.

Jeffrey Fischer, Federal Realty's vice president of leasing, explained the restaurant choices to Shorebeat this way:

"We're also introducing exciting food and dining concepts that will strengthen the plaza's position as a family-friendly destination, such as Raising Cane's, Cuzin's Seafood, Dae Gee Korean BBQ."

Another Restaurant Closed on Van Zile Road

Brick's dining scene has also lost a restaurant this fall. Bonefish Grill at 179 Van Zile Road closed permanently after about 20 years, according to Patch, which reported the closure on October 13. WRAT reported on October 15 that no reason had been given, and no replacement for the space has been announced.

So in the same month, a seafood restaurant on Van Zile Road closed and a seafood clam bar is still finishing construction on Cedar Bridge Avenue. Two of the plaza's three pending restaurants, Raising Cane's at 1036 and Cuzin's at 1048, have Cedar Bridge Avenue addresses.

If you'd like to talk through how new openings like these are changing the area around your street in Brick, Karin Farley follows these changes all year and is happy to answer your questions. Let's Connect.