Arby’s

Arby’s Roast Beef arrives sliced in the restaurant that morning and goes onto a toasted sesame seed bun. Forrest Raffel and his brother Leroy priced that sandwich at sixty-nine cents in 1964, when the hamburger stands around them were asking fifteen. Curly Fries, smoked brisket, gyros and corned beef fill out the board behind it.

Arby’s History below covers the equipment business the brothers ran first and the owners who have held the chain since. Inspire Brands runs it today from Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Arby’s History

Forrest Raffel and his brother Leroy sold restaurant equipment in Youngstown, and neither had run a kitchen when they drew up the idea. They wanted a fast-food chain built on something other than a hamburger. Boardman Township, Ohio took the first restaurant in July 1964, selling roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and soft drinks. Raffel Brothers shortens to the two letters a customer hears. The Akron licensee that followed a year later began the franchise system.

Royal Crown Cola bought the chain in 1976 for eighteen million dollars. Victor Posner took it through a hostile bid eight years after that, and the parent company later traded as Triarc. Wendy’s joined the same parent in 2008. Roark Capital Group bought a controlling stake three years later and split the two chains apart again. Inspire Brands became the parent name in 2018, and Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, Jimmy John’s and Dunkin’ followed it in.

Sandy Springs, Georgia holds the head office, and the chain trades from more than three thousand US restaurants. Franchisees own the large majority of those. Arby’s Sauce and Horsey Sauce sit at the condiment station rather than on the sandwich. We Have The Meats ran as the slogan for a decade and pointed straight at the slicer. Meat Mountain arrived from a poster that stacked every one of those meats into a single sandwich, which customers then ordered.

Arby’s Menus & Details

Arby’s Menus below split three ways, one page each for the board, the off-menu builds and the allergen list.

Arby’s Meals, sliders, sandwiches and sides, with a price and a calorie figure beside every item.

Meat Mountain, the Arby’s Melt and the rest, with the words to use at the counter.

The Contains line for every item, with milk, egg, soy, wheat and sesame named and calories beside them.