This Vintage Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich Isn't On The Menu, But Here's How To Recreate It While You Wait For A Comeback

Arby's serves an epic line-up of roast beef sandwiches. There's the Classic Roast Beef, the ultra-popular Beef 'n Cheddar, the French Dip & Swiss, the Smokehouse Brisket... you get the picture. In fact, Arby's has been making roast beef sandwiches for so long that there's only one sandwich you can order from its original menu: the Classic Roast Beef Sandwich. Over the decades, it has discontinued several big-hitters, like the Arby-Q, featuring roast beef smothered in tangy barbecue sauce, and the Bac 'n Cheddar Deluxe, which came on a sesame seed bun with roast beef, cheese, and bacon. 

One vintage roast beef sandwich that really deserves a comeback, however, is the Roast Beef Deluxe. A promotional poster from 1982 shared on Reddit, described it as Arby's "classiest sandwich ever." It was made in a hearth-baked roll stuffed with slivers of roast beef, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise, which brought layers of freshness and crunch to the sandwich. The Redditor who shared the poster wrote they "wish they still had the Roast Beef Deluxe." However, the good news is that if it sounds like something you'd like, you can still recreate it in two simple steps. 

The closest sandwich to a Roast Beef Deluxe on today's Arby's menu is the Classic French Dip & Swiss. It has roast beef and Swiss cheese, and is served in a toasted roll along with a side of rich au jus sauce, the French sauce that uses beef broth as a base. To order a version of the Roast Beef Deluxe today, all you need to do is ask your server for a Classic French Dip & Swiss, remove the cheese, and add tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise. Either that or you can travel to Turkey, where a version of the Roast Beef Deluxe is still on the menu. However, it's served in a regular bun rather than a long roll.

This is a nice little change for long-time Arby's fans who swear the roast beef sandwich tastes different than during its original glory days. Other modifications are possible as well. Another favorite on the secret menu is the Super Roast Beef sandwich, which basically swaps out the mayonnaise for Arby's Red Ranch sauce. If you're looking to add a crunchy bite to your Arby's roast beef, but don't want the freshness of the tomatoes and lettuce, you could stuff the sandwich with some curly fries. You could get really creative as well, using these five ordering tips to level up your roast beef sandwiches.