As a fast-food restaurant, Arby’s prides itself in serving the tastiest roast beef
sandwiches in America. But unbeknownst to most people, Arby’s has a number of interesting
facts that include its food and history. Time to find out more with 10 Arby’s facts that
will make you go eat it daily.
Arby’s ‘Meat Mountain’ sandwich created quite a stir
With a tagline that boldly states ‘We have the meats’, Arby’s is one fast-food restaurant
that does not shy away from its meat-heavy menu. Ever since it opened its doors in 1964,
Arby’s decided to set their restaurant apart by focusing on deliciously loaded meaty sandwiches
instead of burgers, hot dogs and the like. Their roast beef sandwiches continue to be
hot-sellers to this day. In an attempt to make customers aware about all the meat offerings
that they could add to their customized sandwiches, Arby’s created posters of all the meat offerings
– roast beef, brisket, corned beef, bacon, Angus steak, ham, roast turkey, and chicken
tenders – and they were put up everywhere at Arby’s restaurants. All the meats were
widely advertised and sure enough, customers started flocking to Arby’s for a bite of
all the delicious meats. But what Arby’s did not anticipate was how customers would
interpret the ads. According to Arby’s staff, customers started demanding ‘the sandwich
with all the meat on it’ i.e. they wanted all the meats in one sandwich! Unofficially,
the sandwich began to be known as ‘Meat Mountain’. Though not an official menu item,
you can request this loaded meat sandwich at any Arby’s restaurant and if you ask
nicely, the staff might just make one for you!
Arby’s has sold tons of food over the years
Arby’s is a popular name in the American quick-service fast-food scene. Though it is
in the same league as McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, etc., Arby’s has distinguished
itself by placing its focus on serving sandwiches rather than burgers. This unique selling proposition
has resulted in a gain in market share and rapid expansion across America. In fact, Arby’s
now has many locations across the globe. Through their franchising model, Arby’s now operates
more than 3,300 restaurants worldwide. Though it had a limited number of items on its menu
in the beginning, it has added a variety of delicious items to its menu over the years.
But its signature roast beef sandwich and its variants continue to be the most popular
items on Arby’s menu to date. Over its more than 50 years of existence, Arby’s has sold
a shocking 5 billion classic roast beef sandwiches! By 2014, about 1.37 million pounds of sauerkraut
and approximately 3.34 million pounds of corned beef were sold at Arby’s restaurants across
the world.
Pioneers in public health
Health-conscious and fast-food are two terms that you would generally not use in the same
sentence. But Arby’s will make you do just that! They were the pioneers among fast-food
restaurants in being conscious of public health. In their efforts to take care of their customers’
health, in 1994, Arby’s became the first fast-food restaurant to ban smoking in all
of its outlets. And other fast-food restaurants soon followed suit. Prior to that, customers
at fast-food restaurants were casually subjected to second-hand smoke while enjoying their
food. Thanks to Arby’s, all that has changed for good. Arby’s was also the pioneer in
introducing health-conscious items on their menu. While most fast-food is loaded with
cholesterol, sugar and sodium, in 1991, Arby’s decided to try out a new ‘lite’ menu that
had a range of lighter fare like salads and sandwiches that were 300 calories and under.
In another move towards using healthier ingredients, it was reported that in 2006, Arby’s stopped
the use of additives in their chicken items and limited the use of trans-fats in their
cooking. Thus, Arby’s may not be the most nutritious place to dine at but it is certainly
one of the healthier fast-food restaurants.
The secret behind the name Arby’s
At first, the name Arby’s sounds strange and if you think that the restaurant is named
after someone actually named ‘Arby’, you would be quite mistaken. Think about it – do
you know anybody named ‘Arby’? Contrary to popular belief, the fast-food restaurant
chain is not named after a person called Arby nor is it named after an abbreviation of their
famous ‘Roast Beef’ sandwich. It is, in fact, simply an abbreviation of the name of
the founders of Arby’s – the Raffel Brothers, with the letters R and B converted to a cool-sounding
‘Arby’s’. Interestingly, the Raffel Brothers, Forrest and Leroy, wanted to call
their fast-food restaurant ‘Big Tex’, but the name was already taken by another
business. So, the brothers racked their brains and came up with a play on the letters ‘R’
and ‘B’. The first Arby’s outlet opened in July 1964 in Boardman, Ohio.
Arby’s holds the record for the world’s longest commercial
Since its founding in 1964, the brand has been dedicated to providing the best sandwiches
to customers and in October 2013, Arby’s introduced the Smokehouse Brisket sandwich
as a means to reinforce their dedication to beef sandwiches. The beef brisket was said
to have been smoked for 13 hours before being served to the customers in the form of Smokehouse
Brisket sandwiches. The sandwich was introduced for a limited time in 2013, and after enjoying
much popularity with customers, it was brought back in 2014. To drive home the point that
the brisket had indeed been smoked for 13 hours, in 2014, Arby’s ran a 13-hour commercial
that actually showed the entire brisket smoking process! Now, one would think that convincing
any television channel to showcase a 13-hour commercial would be tough, considering that
the average viewer cannot even be convinced to watch the standard 30-second commercial!
But Arby’s managed to find a taker for its 13-hour commercial in the form of the Duluth,
Minnesota station ‘My9 KBJR-TV’ that aired it on a Saturday. The entire brisket smoking
process was taped by Arby’s in advance and then the commercial was broadcast on the Minnesota
channel. It is said that many viewers tuned in to watch the commercial, the average time
being 39 minutes. And in the process, Arby’s managed to create a Guinness World Record,
that of the longest commercial on TV!
Arby’s made the world’s longest curly fry
No fast-food menu is complete without fries on it. And Arby’s is no exception to this
rule. But would you believe that the original menu at Arby’s did not have any french fries
on it?! We’ll wait while you let that sink in. In the 1970s, when Arby’s had embarked
on a rigorous expansion drive, it also decided to take a long hard look at its menu and came
to the conclusion that a revamp was in order. Several new items were added to the restaurant
menu during this period, including their signature Horsey Sauce, Jamocha Shakes, and french fries.
And Arby’s famous Curly-Q Fries were introduced only in 1988. Customers loved the new additions,
especially the curly fries. These soon became an Arby’s staple. Arby’s even holds the
record for the world’s longest curly fry. In February 2013, an Arby’s outlet at Waynesville,
North Carolina, served a 38-inch long curly fry to a customer, Kim Medford. Ms. Medford
was blissfully unaware of this and only discovered the unusually long fry when she sat down to
eat her meal. When measured, the curly fry was easily more than 3 feet long. Thanks to
the customer, Arby’s now holds the record for the world’s longest curly fry.
Arby’s original menu was limited
Since its opening 55 years ago, Arby’s has managed to firmly establish itself in the
fast-food category. But did you know that when Arby’s started out, their menu had
an extremely limited number of items? Reportedly, the Raffel Brothers, who are the founders
of Arby’s, chanced upon the idea of starting up a fast-food restaurant when they were spending
an evening at a beach resort in Massachusetts. At that time, they had recently left their
jobs supplying equipment to restaurants and were eager to cash in on the fast-food trend.
But they were not sure about the food that they would like to serve at their fast-food
joint. While at the resort, they saw lots of people lined up in the rain outside an
establishment serving roast beef. And it struck them that there was a gap in the fast-food
scene of that time that they could exploit by opening a restaurant serving roast beef
sandwiches. And that is how Arby's was born. But Arby’s initial menu had a surprisingly limited
number of items: roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and soft drinks. And the restaurant
was fancy too, with a plush décor as opposed to a typical fast-food restaurant interior.
The items on the menu were also priced quite a bit higher than other fast-food outlets
of the time. Where a hamburger at McDonald’s cost around 15 cents, Arby’s roast beef
sandwiches were priced at about 69 cents – four times more than McDonald’s burgers! By doing
so, the Raffel Brothers hoped to attract a posh crowd and make Arby’s look like an
upscale restaurant.
Arby’s can be found in 48 states and 6 countries
One of America’s well-loved fast-food restaurants, Arby’s is present in almost every state
in the U.S. Starting out in Ohio, Arby’s has slowly expanded to 48 states in the U.S.,
Rhode Island and Vermont being the only two exceptions. So, if you’re headed to these
two places, make sure you have your fill of Arby’s food elsewhere before entering these
two states! Another interesting fact is that the most number of Arby’s locations can
be found in Ohio, around 268. And America’s busiest Arby’s is located in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Much
like its fast-food counterparts, Arby’s too has many international outlets. Arby’s
can be found in six other countries namely, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar,
Kuwait and Egypt. Arby’s has more than 100 locations in various provinces in Canada.
Taking their operations beyond North America, Arby’s has taken off very well in the Middle
East. There are two Arby’s outlets in Qatar and multiple outlets under the joint Wendy’s/Arby’s
banner in the United Arab Emirates. In 2017, they made a comeback in Kuwait after almost
two decades. In 2018, Arby’s was back in Egypt with the opening of three outlets through
a franchise partner.
The world’s largest and smallest advertisement
As we’ve already seen, Arby’s is no stranger to world records. Adding another feather to
their cap is a set of twin records, covering opposite ends of the advertising spectrum,
records for the smallest and largest advertisements in the world. Arby’s has set the Guinness
World Record for both these categories by means of its ingenious advertisements in 2018. After
ending their long-standing association with Pepsi, Arby’s wanted to announce their partnership
with Coca-Cola in a spectacular manner. They set about doing so by means of breaking two
Guinness World Records. In conjunction with Georgia Tech, Arby’s created the world’s
smallest advertisement, on a sesame seed that can be found on a sandwich bun, that was etched
with the words ‘A big announcement is coming. This isn’t it.’ The minuscule advertisement
measured 38.3 microns by 19.2 microns and was later displayed at a Manhattan outlet
of Arby’s. A week later, Arby’s revealed another advertisement, a giant poster spanning
five acres in the town of Monowi, Nebraska, popularly known as the ‘smallest town in
America’ since it is home to only one resident. The world’s largest advertisement read ‘Arby’s
Now Has Coke’ and was even pictured with Monowi’s lone resident standing on the poster.
Arby’s was once partly owned by Wendy’s
Arby’s has a complicated ownership history. According to some reports, Arby’s was sold
by the Raffel Brothers to a corporation called Triarc. Triarc also went on to purchase Wendy’s
fast-food restaurants. Thus, both restaurants now came under the Triarc umbrella. In 2008,
Triarc decided to rename itself to ‘Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc.’ Suffering heavy losses, in
January 2011, the company announced that it was looking into selling off Arby’s side
of the business to concentrate on developing Wendy’s side of the business. In June 2011,
they sold an 81.5% stake in Arby’s to ‘Roark Capital Group’. But the parent company,
‘Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc.’ had by then changed their name to ‘Wendy’s’,
making Wendy’s part owners of Arby’s! More recently though, in 2018, Wendy’s sold its
minority stake in Arby’s to another corporation. It is also interesting to know that in many
locations, particularly in the Middle East, Arby’s is jointly operated as Wendy’s/Arby’s.
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