Alton Brown's Fast Food Joint Of Choice Is A Classic For Meat Lovers

Food television personality, host, and cook Alton Brown, who prefers to be called a 'foodist' rather than a chef, no longer eats from fast food restaurants. After losing about 50 pounds, Brown has some hard and fast rules about his new, healthier approach to eating, like no soda, fast food, or even drinking milk. But just because he doesn't indulge in those certain foods doesn't mean he can't fondly reminisce about them. In an exclusive interview with Chowhound, Alton Brown spills the details about his love for a certain meat-centric fast food restaurant.

Brown says he's sworn off fast food for good and that there's no restaurant he'd make an exception for—but he still feels the "magnetic pull" of Arby's, saying "those Arby's roast beef sandwiches are freaking magical." The Arby's classic roast beef sandwich isn't much more than slow roasted beef, shaved very thinly and stacked generously high in between the halves of a toasted sesame seed bun. Sometimes it is served with the restaurant's namesake sauce or a horseradish sauce, a perfect sharp compliment to roasted beef. While it has been a long time since he's eaten one of Arby's famous roast beef sandwiches, Brown shares that the last time he did eat one, "it tasted exactly like I remembered it tasting from childhood."

Reminiscing on the fast food memories of his childhood, Brown says that "every two weeks we got to go, and I got to have one little hamburger at McDonald's." He goes on to explain that unlike the Arby's sandwich which has retained the taste and quality he remembers fondly, "every other fast food tastes different to me than from my childhood." Brown may have a point, as many fast food companies have made changes to recipes and ingredients over the years, and even McDonald's french fries don't taste the same as they used to. But thankfully for fans of Arby's roast beef sandwich, Brown recalls "last time I had one, still tasted like Arby's."

Brown explains that though he has great memories of eating McDonald's as a child, "I cannot have McDonald's in my mouth... everything tastes like it's made out of sugar," he continues, "Everything's sweet to me." Brown also has a bone to pick with another fast food giant, Chick-fil-A, that seemingly broke his heart when they discontinued one of his favorites. "I broke up with them when they stopped making slaw," explains Brown. "I can't talk about it, but I'm still not over it. I love their slaw." If you also eliminated fast food from your diet, try our recipe for a "better than Arby's" beef and cheddar sandwich to satisfy your cravings.

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