Arby’s is a restaurant that is ubiquitous for having “the meats,” according to its motto. But, with the amount of Arby’s hate online and many comments from students about Arby’s dubious quality, I began to ask myself, do they actually have the meats? In this article, we are going to break that down by going over the company’s history, what Washington students and staff think of Arby’s, and finally, I myself went to Arby’s to decide once and for all… does Arby’s really have the meats?
So, let’s go back to the start. Arby’s was founded in 1964 by the Raffel brothers with their first location in Boardman, Ohio. Currently, the company is a subsidiary of Inspire Brands and has over 3,600 locations globally according to their official website.
When looking at their website (which is actually pretty nice), you start to understand why their coveted tagline is “We Have The Meats.” I went through the menu and counted all of the meat options they had, which consists of: roast beef, smokehouse brisket, burgers, bacon, chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, ham, roast turkey, corned beef, lamb, salami, pepperoni, and their new limited time steak bites— which is 14, just in case you weren’t counting. Some of these meats are also available as sliders in different combinations—such as the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich having a chicken patty and ham on it—and with different sauces.
Arby’s also refuses to give in to the trend of plant based meat products and refuses to work with Impossible Foods, a company that makes synthetic, plant-based meat products, to bring such things to its menu. Arby’s even went as far as releasing a video in 2019 of a creation called the “marrot,” which is turkey meat made to look like a carrot. While it was never released to the public, one has to admit that it’s pretty funny that they went out of their way to make meat-based plants to show their dedication to their company slogan.
Just like Arby’s long history of selling roast beef sandwiches, they also have a long history of getting absolutely clowned on by the internet; it’s almost like an inherent disdain for the chain is embedded into some people’s DNA.
The earliest example The Surveyor was able to find on the internet of Arby’s hate is—surprisingly—a GameFAQs message board from twelve years ago where people made fun of their small value menu sandwiches and one user, ShinAkuma777, remarked that they liked their curly fries and “chicken corden bleu sammich” but hadn’t went back after he’d gotten sick from the food.
Not only did I scour the internet for opinions of Arby’s, I also talked to students and teachers here at Wash to see how they felt. While there are divisive opinions on whether or not Arby’s food is “good” or “bad,” everyone I interviewed agreed that Arby’s public perception isn’t the best.
While their ads are prevalent and their iconic slogan “We have the meats” is ingrained in all of our brains, many still see Arby’s as a joke. The Surveyor advisor, Tiphany Phan, mentioned “It’s low-key a meme at this point” which isn’t that far from the truth.
Arby’s feels like it’s trying to be the cool parent of the fast food chains. Just like a cool parent lets you have ice cream before bed and doesn’t make you brush your teeth afterwards, Arby’s lets you have Jamocha Shake Concerts and meat sweat prevention deodorant; both attempt to make themselves memorable, but in the end, a more consistent option like brushing your teeth or simply getting McDonald’s will be better in the long run.
Another common trend that I noticed is the frequent mention of older generations and the elderly going to Arby’s. As Adalay Fry (‘28) lovingly put it, “Millennials love Arby’s” and as Gloria Lapointe (‘27) not so lovingly put it, “The only people that go there seriously are creepy old people.”
On a more serious note, I began to notice a correlation between how recently someone had consumed Arby’s and their perception of the company; the more recently someone had eaten at an Arby’s, the more likely they were to have a positive perception of the company, while those who hadn’t eaten it for years—and in some cases since childhood—were more likely to have a negative perception of the company. In fact, Washington Language Arts Teacher, Maddie Dombrowski, hasn’t eaten there since she was a child, and still thinks to this day that it is surely a cover-up for something, “How do they all stay open? There’s nobody ever there.”
But eventually, push came to shove and it was finally time for me to go to Arby’s. I didn’t go alone though. To get a full and proper Arby’s experience, I brought along my friends and fellow Wash students Elijah Davis (‘28), Zaren H. Julion (‘28), Adalay Fry (‘28), and Sebastian Young (‘27).
This group had a wide variety of views on the Arby’s brand. Fry likes Arby’s, Davis neither loves nor despises Arby’s, Julion didn’t have a positive perception of the brand prior to our visit, and Young, despite coming with us, refused to eat anything from the Arby’s except curly fries.
Overall it was an interesting experience. I signed up for Arby’s app prior to going so I could scope out their offerings, and they weren’t bad. There were two offers on the app; the first was for 25% off of any order and the second was a weekly offer for 20% off your order.
Arby’s is also one of the few places that still sends out coupons to you through the mail which you can use multiple of in one order. This is a reason that older crowds go to Arby’s because these coupons make it a more affordable option. After ordering, getting our food, and sitting down, we finally got to eat the food and… it’s okay.
While everyone except Fry was surprised by the food it still didn’t blow us away. The roast beef was fine, the fries were warm, the shakes were cold, but overall it was just average. Nothing to complain about but there is also nothing I would sing its praises for. As Zach Ficken, Washington Social Studies teacher, put it best, “It’s perfectly fine.”
So Arby’s, is it good or bad? Does it deserve the hate? To put it plainly, Arby’s has the meats; and they’re okay.
