Arby's - The Topic

[Anna N]

On 10/23/2018 at 6:40 AM, demiglace said:

Was it always a deli meat beef or did they at one time have real roast beef? 

One of the biggest disappointments in fast food in my life. I really believed I was going to get a roast beef sandwich. Never never returned. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

15 hours ago, Anna N said:

One of the biggest disappointments in fast food in my life. I really believed I was going to get a roast beef sandwich. Never never returned. 

Could not agree more!    Husband somehow enjoyed their grey mystery meat.    I would go along with him and have a baked potato or ersatz chili, depending on the offerings.   

This fish sandwich was a huge surprise, and a big step up from McDo...damning by faint praise.

[rotuts]

in CA , when Arby's was new-ish

 

a long time ago

 

I got a "RB" sandwich there.

 

its taste and texture were very odd

 

didn't taste like beef at all.

 

I was hungry and ate it , and didn't die

 

that's all I can say.    almost like the ' meat ' was semi-pre-digested 

 

and reassembled.

[gfweb]

Their Reuben is OK. Clearly better than their beef to me.

[kayb]

They make a reasonable chicken salad as one of their Market Fare sandwiches. I think it's seasonal.

 

There was, when I was in college a century or so ago, a place near Memphis State called The Ranch House, that offered roast beef sandwiches as well as some of the first step-above-fast-food burgers, and a fine salad bar. I ate there often, particularly as they had cheap beer-by-the-pitcher and my roommate worked there and got me a discount. It later evolved into the first of what became a regional chain,  Danvers, still serving roast beef. sandwiches, pretty good burgers, and keeping the excellent salad bar.

 

Last time I tried a roast beef sandwich from there, it was just like Arby's. I sighed, and crossed it off my list.

 

I have not yet recovered from last year's trauma of sampling Arby's duck breast sandwich.

 

[rotuts]

Didn't even know they had DB sandwich.

[kayb]

Don't think they do any more. It was an experimental offering around Thanksgiving/Christmas a couple of years ago.

 

[SLB]

"The meat from Arby’s is real, but it’s processed to the point that it becomes something distinct. It comes inside a plastic pouch, which is superheated in water until the meat is cooked through, and then sliced after being removed from the packaging."

 

MmmHmm.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/magazine/no-one-loves-arbys-like-i-do.html

[rotuts]

@SLB  

 

well written and interesting article 

 

thanks

 

P.S. :  if viewing the article , scroll down to the NYT article on the  marrot .

[SLB]

I loved it.  And the comments were GOLD.

[rotuts]

reaqd some of the comments .  very interesting

 

I have not been to Arby's for a long long time.

 

I had it a few times in CA , and the meat was ' whole cow ' then

 

but had a peculiar texture to it.

 

doing a lot of SV  now myself , it represents ' Over' SV , ie mealy meat.

 

the sauce(s) probably saved the business.

 

so , is Arby's meat now ' SV Meatloaf ' rather than ' whole meat cow /?

 

those engineered sauce's at many FF joints are deliberately addictive for sure 

[Kim Shook]

As I've probably mentioned before, once every few months I inexplicably crave a Beef & Cheddar.  I have no idea why, but somehow that combination of salty meat, onion bun, orange cheez goo, BBQ sauce, and horseradish sauce satisfies something in me.  I grew up in Northern VA and we had Roy Rogers.  Real roast beef, great fried chicken, and good burgers.  There was one lonely Arby's that no one went to.  

 

I have to say, though, that their deli-type sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, and chicken salad used to be very good - I haven't had them in years.  

[Toliver]

"Arby's Is Discontinuing This Beloved Side Dish"

Quote

The writing may have been on the wall when Arby's introduced crinkle-cut fries in March. And while we speculated this might mean the end of the chain's signature curly fries, it's actually a different potato side dish that's getting the boot: the Potato Cakes.

I love the potato cakes, little triangles of potato-ey goodness. They're like a Tater Tot, except there's more to it, of course.

I even used to buy the triangle potato cakes in the frozen foods section of my local grocery stores but Ore-Ida stopped making them.  

Alas...

 

[MokaPot]

44 minutes ago, Toliver said:

"Arby's Is Discontinuing This Beloved Side Dish"

I love the potato cakes, little triangles of potato-ey goodness. They're like a Tater Tot, except there's more to it, of course.

I even used to buy the triangle potato cakes in the frozen foods section of my local grocery stores but Ore-Ida stopped making them.  

Alas...

 

 

We still have McDonald's hash browns.

 

[Kim Shook]

I was actually thrilled to read about Arby's starting to carry crinkle cuts.  I don't care for either the curly fries or the potato cakes, so I usually ended up with a baked potato.  Which, though probably better for me, was not really what I wanted.  But our local Arby's seems not to have gotten the menu.  When we asked for them on a recent visit the result was a more-than-usual slack-jawed stare.  You'd have thought I asked for foie gras.  🙄

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, MokaPot said:

 

We still have McDonald's hash browns.

 

Thanks but the potato cakes/triangles (seen in the article) are a lot thicker than McD's hash browns.

At home when I would fry them up in a pan I'd get a nice crusty exterior with a soft interior. Like a tater tot but more of it.

[Toliver]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I was actually thrilled to read about Arby's starting to carry crinkle cuts.  I don't care for either the curly fries or the potato cakes, so I usually ended up with a baked potato.  Which, though probably better for me, was not really what I wanted.  But our local Arby's seems not to have gotten the menu.  When we asked for them on a recent visit the result was a more-than-usual slack-jawed stare.  You'd have thought I asked for foie gras.  🙄

Do you have any Del Tacos near you? Their French fries are crinkle cut.

As for your local Arby's not having the crinkle cut fries, I would recommend locating their corporate office online and being the proverbial squeaky wheel to let them know your local Arby's seems to be behind the times when it comes to offering the crinkle cut fries. Rat them out, i say! 

[Kim Shook]

3 hours ago, Toliver said:

Do you have any Del Tacos near you? Their French fries are crinkle cut.

As for your local Arby's not having the crinkle cut fries, I would recommend locating their corporate office online and being the proverbial squeaky wheel to let them know your local Arby's seems to be behind the times when it comes to offering the crinkle cut fries. Rat them out, i say! 

No Del Tacos anywhere near here.  I wish there was.  I seem to remember going to one when we lived in Reseda in 1970.  

[gfweb]

On 12/16/2020 at 9:31 AM, SLB said:

"The meat from Arby’s is real, but it’s processed to the point that it becomes something distinct. It comes inside a plastic pouch, which is superheated in water until the meat is cooked through, and then sliced after being removed from the packaging."

 

MmmHmm.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/magazine/no-one-loves-arbys-like-i-do.html

Superheated.

WTF does that mean?