Why Longtime Arby's Fans Swear The Roast Beef Sandwich Tastes Different Than During Its Original Glory Days

Bearing the odd yet iconic slogan, "we have the meats," Arby's is a staple for sandwich lovers. This fast food chain is well known for its Classic Roast Beef sandwich, which offers a toasted sesame seed roll filled with a portion of thin slices of beef. The sandwich can be eaten as-is or accented with Arby's Horsey Sauce, a mild horseradish-inspired condiment, or paired with cheese sauce in the form of a Classic Beef N' Cheddar sandwich. While the roast beef is a signature of the Arby's menu, many fans say it tastes different from how it used to.

Of the many facts about Arby's Classic Roast Beef Sandwich you should know, several have to do with the meat's questionable quality. This sentiment is echoed by numerous fans who indicate the sandwich has become sub-par at best. In a thread on Facebook, a user shared a 1967 Arby's advertisement for the sandwich and claimed it "looks nothing like the meat they use today!" Another user chimed, "The stuff they have today doesn't taste like beef. Its weird tasting." Others fondly recalled memories of seeing roasts rotating in stores and yearned for the fresh taste that now seems long gone. 

Elsewhere on the internet, users have compared the beef to processed lunch meats, stating that its less-appetizing current shade of grey pales in comparison to its former pink glory.

Though it's a nostalgic notion that you can still order a Classic Roast Beef from Arby's original 1964 menu, there's something obviously missing from modern-day versions of the beloved beefy meal. More than the mere fact that the sandwich tastes different, the entire atmosphere of Arby's has changed from whimsical to overly streamlined. On Reddit, one user posited, "Arby's just hit different when they had these signs," referring to the large cowboy hat emblems that adorned the outside of the chain locations, many of which have been removed over the years.

In the Reddit thread, user comments support this theory. One reply stated, "I feel like the food was actually edible back then." Another mentioned, "More importantly, it actually contained beef. I don't go to Arby's much any more, but when I do ... I feel like I'm eating a substance that 'is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike beef.' I couldn't even guess how much actual beef is actually in that reconstituted, gelatinous substance any more." Sadly, the gradual downturn in quality seems to be a trend across the board at Arby's and many major fast food chains. 

While customers continue to voice their displeasure, others are turning to homemade versions of their fast food favorites in the meantime. Luckily, there are plenty of copycat Arby's Classic Roast Beef sandwich recipes.