Yes, Arby’s.
This 45-year-old chain of roughly 4,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada was the brainchild of two brothers – Forrest and Leroy Raffel – who believed that people wanted something besides hamburgers. The name of the chain is based on the initials of the Raffel Brothers – RB –and the signature offering, roast beef.
From the beginning, Arby’s menu was more targeted to grown-ups and their latest offerings, three different “Roastburgers” and four “Fruitea” drinks, are a welcome diversion from their big-two burger-giant competitors (Arby’s and Wendy’s are part of the same company).
Even the décor at the Fresh Meadows location is a pleasant change; the vaulted ceiling leading to the service counter is adorned with pleasant murals. The two-story glass wall opposite faces north and makes the place naturally light and airy.
There are potted plants, flat-screen TVs with news, a fresh-brewed premium coffee station and a sense that you are in a dining establishment and not a preschool.
“Our company philosophy is to offer a better class of quick-service food at a slightly higher price,” said Tom Clark, who operates two Arby’s franchises in Queens– the other being at 69-16 Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. “I’m from Queens, so I know that you have to offer better food at the same price [as the other guys].”
For about the same price, what you get at Arby’s is a meal with less fat, less cholesterol and less sugar than their competitors’ staple selections. Better than that, you get something different, dare I say it – a certain complexity and depth of flavor.
They use red onion in the sandwiches for a little more bite; the mustard has more flavor and the mayo less sugar than we have come to expect at such places.
The rolls taste more like bread and less like cake. In fact, their answer to the Philly Cheese Steak, the Beef ‘n Cheddar, comes on an onion roll.
Arby’s new “burgers” are: the All-American, the Bacon Cheddar and the Bacon and Bleu. They have generous helpings of roast beef, atop lettuce, sliced tomato and the aforementioned red onion, and the former has the “special sauce.”
Here’s where the depth of flavor comes in. The latter two sandwiches have cracked peppercorn bacon and either cheddar cheese or blue cheese sauce. Both have body that will pleasantly surprise you.
So will a lot of other items, like the chicken fingers, which are actual pieces of chicken meat and the onion petals – pieces, rather than ground-up onion donuts the others call “rings.”
Their Dijon Honey Mustard and Buffalo Wing Sauce have character, as does their secret-recipe signature sauce.
Arby’s introduced the curly-fry in the 1970s, and in 1991 were the first restaurant in their industry to offer a complete “lite” menu. Their salads and dressings are fresh-tasting and again, a cut above.
Sweetened tea is wildly popular around the country, especially in the South. Two of the fruit-flavored teas (Mandarin Peach and Passion Fruit) are sweetened with cane sugar and natural fruit syrup. Two diet offerings, Peach and Blackberry are sweetened with Splenda. All four are delightfully different.
In fact, Arby’s is delightfully different.
Arby’s
175-14 Horace Harding Expressway
Fresh Meadows
Telephone: 718-888-0444
Open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day
All major credit cards accepted
Transportation: Q17, Q30, Q31, Q88.
Small parking lot.
175-14 Horace Harding Expressway
Fresh Meadows, NY
