I don't get Arby's. How do they change their menu so fast?! Doesn't it take a few months just to get the soy/soylent-green molds made up? And what is Arby's supposed to be? I had NO idea (until I read it in a Wikipedia article) that Arby's frames itself an "adult" fast-food chain, and I definitely missed their claim to be healthier than other places -- I always just thought of it as the place with the roast beef. (And, like some other people, I kinda even like the roast beef.) But they don't seem to be able to stick to that.
Right now, for instance, they're featuring "Fajita Flatbread" -- with roast chicken. In the recent past (that I can remember), they've also had "deli" sandwiches (like chicken salad on wheat bread), and a line of what was basically bar food -- jalapeno poppers (still listed on their website as, "Jalapeno Bites with Bronco Berry Sauce" but not available around here, I don't think -- not that I've checked lately), deep fried onion flower thingys, deep fried mozzarella sticks, etc. I'm especially pleased to see that they are selling BLTs at participating locations because I was just thinking the other day that BLTs should be a fast-food option!
Even though it seems to go against the whole franchise business model, and smacks of desperation, I appreciate Arby's nimble ways, and think a more flexible, creative franchise has huge potential as a kind of experimental food space to capitalize nationally in a huge way on micro trends. And slow food is just so ... unprofitable.
Here are some things I think Arby's should put their mass marketing and plentiful drive-thru windows behind:
- For the summer, they should try a whole line of "carnival foods" -- corn dogs, caramel apples, caramel corn, asparagus tamales, funnel cake, etc.
- Crunchy rolls -- deep fried/tempura sushi. Forget about the other kinds of sushi -- just focus on what Americans really like -- crunchy breading, cream cheese and salt. I don't even think they should cut them up, they should just sell them whole, wrapped in tinfoil, like burritos, and just as big.
- They should do falafel sandwiches, and they should advertise them as vegan. I know we've got the Pita Pit but surely there is a market for drive-through vegan dishes.
- Tortas -- I've said it before, I'll say it again: some American fast food franchise needs to get into the torta scene. Taco Bell is missing the ball -- maybe Arby's is the one with the gumption to do it?
- Korean tacos -- and maybe Korean food, in general -- kim chi lite or something.
- An all-dumpling menu - knishes, pierogis, empanadas, apple dumplings, etc.
- Maybe an all-pasta dumpling menu, too -- you know, ravioli, pot stickers, etc.
- Biscuits and gravy -- I envision a biscuit filled with gravy to make it more mobile (maybe this would fall under dumplings? sort of a reverse dumpling?) UPDATE! Arby's DOES sell biscuits and gravy, according to their website. They haven't put the gravy inside the biscuit, tho.
- Deviled eggs. Maybe other "grandma's potluck" items, too, like meatballs in bbq sauce and casseroles?
- Salad rolls, with ranch dressing
Photo from Roadsidepictures flickr stream
