Arby’s has the meats — and is now selling them by the pound (2024)
Arby's is known for having the meats — and now you can have them, too, without all the bread and trimmings. The chain restaurant has started selling roasted turkey, ham and corned beef by the pound and half-pound in to-go packages in several of its Atlanta-area locations. Which means, for a limited time, you can get all that glorious sliced meat without having to order a sandwich.
"With COVID-19 and social distance guidelines, many brands/companies have been challenged to think differently in how they provide best-in-class service to their guests," a representative from Arby's told TODAY Food in an email. "Arby’s Meat-by-the-Pound test offering was born out of the desire to provide guests high-quality deli meat through the convenience of a drive-thru."
As many people continue to make more meals at home or pick up food to go during the pandemic, restaurants have had to pivot to more DIY-style offerings. Panera and Subway are selling groceries in their restaurants; Shake Shack and other famous restaurants around the country are offering meal kits to assemble at home; and Chick-fil-A's Chicken Parmesan Meal Kit was popular with Atlanta area customers seeking comfort food.
Arby's said that customers have long been asking to purchase their meat without the bread, and that they are happy to finally please their protein-loving public.
"The test has been quietly taking place in select Atlanta locations, and is scheduled to end at the end of September," said the company.
Arby’s is offering a 1/2 pound of Roast Turkey, Pit Smoked Ham and New York Style Corned Beef for $4.99 and 1 pound for $8.99.
"This idea was born from Arby’s desire to innovate during a difficult time to best serve our customers," said Patrick Schwing, CMO of Arby’s in a statement sent to TODAY. "Through this offering, we are able to provide a product that not only have our guest repeatedly asked for, but we can do it in an easy, socially-distant drive thru-setting. We are excited to see a positive response thus far and look forward to using this test to determine if and when the program can be scaled to additional markets."
We'll take Arby's meats any way you can slice them — as long as they're not shaped into this meat carrot from last summer! The "marrot" was the chain's answer to other fast-food restaurants making meat products out of plants — something they have promised never to do.
Ronnie Koenig is a writer for TODAY.com, covering the food and pop culture beats.She also writes about health and wellness, parenting and relationships for NBC Better and TMRW x TODAY, serves as a senior editor for New Jersey Family, and contributes to The New York Times and Real Simple.She is a graduate of Barnard College and a mom of twins.
The fast-food chain has been testing its Deli Meat-by-the-Pound initiative in select Atlanta locations, a spokesperson for Arby's confirmed to FOX Business. The initiative offers three types of Arby's deli meat, sold by the pound -- for $8.99 -- or a half-pound -- sold for $4.99.
In 2014, Arby's changed its slogan from "Slicing up Freshness" to "We Have the Meats" as one of its strategies to target millennials, per Ad Age. Chief marketing officer Rob Lynch explained that executives "didn't want Arby's to grow old with" its customer base, which he said was the second-oldest in the industry.
But while the Arby's name is based on initials, it isn't an abbreviation for roast beef — despite how commonly accepted the theory has become. Arby's responded to the tweet: "Most people think that, but our name is actually based on the initials of our founders, the Raffel Brothers."
For years, Arby's has proudly touted its carnivore-centric slogan, "We have the meats," but that doesn't mean they won't occasionally kick a meat to the curb if they feel it's time to part ways.
But judging from a statement by an official Arby's spokesperson, the feedback on social media isn't reflective of the company's market testing, which indicated customer demand had shifted in a new direction that warranted the menu changes (via The Takeout).
The brothers took a chance and on Thursday, July 23, 1964, when they opened their first quick service roast beef sandwich shop in Boardman, Ohio. They were going to call it “Big Tex,” but that name was already in market use, so they called the shop “Arby's” based on the initials of “R” and “B” of Raffel Brothers.
Inspire Brands LLC is an American fast-food restaurant franchise company. Owned by Roark Capital Group, it owns the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John's, Mister Donut, Dunkin' Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins chains, which have a combined 31,700 locations and US$30 billion in system sales.
The "Arby's we grew up on" was a Steamship Round. That is the entire "round primal" shown in diagram. However, several years ago they went to a processed version in order to make production more uniform, I believe it is likely still 'mostly' round that has been pressed and shaped.
Arby's roast beef is still pink, it isn't fully cooked. Just like when you cook steak, their roast is cooked more to medium rare. So when you are buying your roast beef you have the option to buy Rare Roast Beef from the deli. It is perfectly safe to eat and is cooked.
Meat contains iron, fat, and many other compounds. When light hits a slice of meat, it splits into colors like a rainbow. There are also various pigments in meat compounds which can give it an iridescent or greenish cast when exposed to heat and processing. Iridescent beef isn't spoiled necessarily.
The purpose of the absurdly long ad was to draw attention to the fact that Arby's really does smoke its meat. Arby's brand president notes, "If there was ever a doubt that we actually pit smoke our brisket for 13 hours over real hickory wood, this ad makes it pretty mouthwateringly clear that we do."
If meat is the central part of your dish, you will most likely want 1/2 of a pound per person. When cooking for 8 people, you'll want 4 pounds of meat. On a typical week night when you're cooking for just 2, 1 pound of boneless meat should be sufficient.
Use these make ahead mashed potatoes if you want to prep ahead of time. Or else you can try these easy boiled mashed potatoes, or store-bought/pre-made potatoes. How many sandwiches does a pound of roast beef make? Each pound of roast beef will make about 2 sandwiches.
We put a half pound of America's favorite roast beef on this Half Pound Beef 'n Cheddar. That doesn't include the weight of the other stuff, though, but we're certain the onion bun, cheddar cheese sauce, and red ranch make it even heavier.
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