5/9/05 | Arby’s - Where’s The Beef?
[ Currently Eating: Toast ]
I have a lot of fond memories of eating at Arby’s when I was a kid. But at the time I didn’t make a huge distinction between eating a Arby’s vs. eating at McDonald’s because I ate in fast food restaurants a lot less back then. So perhaps I didn’t appreciate the size of the roast beef sandwiches back then. Because they have certainly shrunk.
Not that other fast food places haven’t decreased the sizes of their hamburgers to match inflation while still keeping prices eye-catchingly low. I still have this conversation with friends, whether the sizes of hamburgers HAVE shrunk or are they near the same size but it was just because we were kids back then that they looked so big?
I’m pretty sure they have shrunk. Both in size and the amount of roast beef in them.
This shrinkage notwithstanding, I still hit up Arby’s once in awhile. When I went on a road trip to Colorado, we stopped at maybe 10 Arby’s restaurants along the way just because the food is predictibly decent and we’re not huge fans of McD’s hamburgers.
So how did Arby’s start up? Some history: It was established in Ohio in 1964 by brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffel, who go the idea for a roast beef sandwich franchise after eating at a Boston sandwich restaurant. As to the origins of the name “Arby’s” according to the Arby’s site, Forrest said:
“We came up with Arby’s, which stands for R.B., the initials of Raffel Brothers, although I guess customers might think the initials stand for roast beef.”
As for their current menu, the best thing for Cheap Eaters is probably to stick with the tried and true Roast Beef Sandwiches as it is difficult to mess them up. Over the years they’ve added other things which I always skip like Chicken Sandwiches, Wraps, Salads, Breakfast, and sides (like Mozzarella Sticks, Jalapeno Bites, and Onion Petals).
The one exception is their Market Fresh® Sandwiches which we found to be surprisingly good on our abovementioned trip. These aren’t cheap and Subway or Togos will probably suffice instead, but still they were surprisingly good. Selections include: Roast Turkey, Ranch ‘n Bacon, Ultimate BLT Sandwich, Roast Beef & Swiss, Roast Ham & Swiss, Roast Turkey & Swiss, and Chicken Salad Sandwich.
Sorry, a second exception: The curly fries. I occasionally fall for the side dish trap there because Arby’s curly fries are pretty good.
Arby’s sends coupons in the mail pretty frequently, and I would have shown a pic of them here if I didn’t throw out my junk mail just yesterday. If you can get a coupon, or hit the usual special deal which is 4 Regular Roast Beef or 3 Regular Beef ‘n Cheedar for $5 then you’re pretty much done.
One of my favorite things to do is to go through the drive thru and get 4 Regular Roast Beefs and then come home and put mayo, lettuce and tomato in them. That’s a halfway decent roast beef sandwich…
Cheap Eats Score: 6/10
May 10th, 2005 at 9:52 am
I haven’t been to an Arby’s in ages, but I worked at one in the summer of 1980, and it was an eye-opener. I’m pretty sure that Arby’s uses real roast beef now. But back then, it was beef shmooshed up with fat, salt, and something that was known as “food-grade phosphate.” Cooked, it looked fairly roast beefy. Uncooked, it looked decidedly unfoodlike.
We were given a script to follow when customers asked if we served “real roast beef”–I can’t remember the language exactly, but it sidestepped the question while sounding vaugely like the answer was “yes.”
Ugh.
May 10th, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Jim - Yeah, in some sense it’s better nowadays because there’s probably more control over what goes in the food, what with easily spread bad publicity (fingers in food, etc.) But it’s still like, “What’s in Hot Dogs”… most people don’t ask. They just close your eyes, bite, and enjoy the baseball game…
But that is hilarious what you said about being given a script about whether the roast beef was real!
I still think the size of hamburgers at fast food places have shrunk over the years to keep up with inflation, and not that it was because I was a kid so my appetite was smaller…
I also think I have been lucky so far not to work in a fast food joint. All I got to do in high school was work at a dentist’s office cleaning and sterilizing bloody patient trays and throwing out diseased teeth. =)
May 11th, 2005 at 12:07 am
I remember eating Arby’s a lot growing up, because it was at the shopping mall my family went to. I don’t remember the sandwiches very well, but I do remember that Arby’s sauce. Mmmm…I think I’m going to an Arby’s this weekend.
May 11th, 2005 at 12:30 am
Marvo! Thanks for stopping in. =) Man, awhile ago I did 3 Arby’s beef ‘n cheddars for $5. Dang, I couldn’t eat all of it! I think it’s the nacho cheese sauce. I ain’t no kid anymore I guess.
p.s. Today I went and bought “Albertson’s” breaded fish filets, box ‘o 12 of them for 2.99… maybe a nice change from Banquet reviews.
August 24th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
yeah i work at arbys and the other kids dared me to stick my head under the nacho cheese sauce stuff because i’ve been saying how i would and so i did. it kicked ass!!!
October 1st, 2006 at 9:52 am
30 years ago I would eat at Arby’s, when they cut it off in front of your eyes. It was medium rare and wonderful.
Now, they have just ruined it and they are terrible.
I would like to find the original recipe so I could make them the old way.
Dave
March 28th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
I’ve read that the market fresh sandwhiches are actually one of the most fattening sandwhiches there…