10 Discontinued Arby's Items We Aren't Getting Back
According to Statista, 91% of Americans know about the fast food franchise Arby's. While marketing undoubtedly plays a role in this, the brand has also distinguished itself by focusing on sandwiches as opposed to burgers or fried chicken. This approach has seen Arby's become one of the largest fast food sandwich chains in the United States.
Roast beef has proved the foundation of many Arby's sandwiches, but the company has flourished over the years thanks to a near-constant innovation of the menu. This was something Rob Lynch, who was previously company president at Arby's, highlighted to Thrillist: "We try to bring stuff that kind of pushes the limits of innovation, and if they scale and people fall in love with them, we try our best to to bring them to the core menu."
This innovation does come at a cost. All places on fast food menus are hotly contested, and for new offerings to have a space, old menu items must be discontinued. This has been the case at Arby's, where many old items have been discontinued over the years. Here are ten menu items that have suffered that exact fate.
1. Potato Cakes
Of all the menu items discontinued at Arby's, the one that hurt customers the most was the Potato Cakes. The shredded, fried potato was unceremoniously booted from the menu after Arby's successfully launched its version of crinkle fries. These joined the ever-popular curly fries leaving little room for another potato-based side, much to the horror of Arby's customers everywhere.
An Arby's representative explained the decision-making process behind discontinuing the Potato Cakes to Thrillist: "Our Curlies have long been a fan favorite, but after many months of R&D and extensive market testing, customers made it clear our all-new Crinkles were a hit, and we had created a true companion on equal footing to its legendary predecessor. Now we have the two best fries in QSR — crinkles and curlies — and they go great together! Although our Potato Cakes have been discontinued (for now), who's to say they're gone forever?"
The customer response suggests Arby's would be wise to reinstate the Potato Cakes at some point. Fans of the side even went as far as to launch a petition on Change.org which, at the time of writing, had over 4,500 signatures. Yet, the crinkle fries have cemented themselves in Arby's contemporary menu a loaded version of the side can even be ordered. What's more, we can't imagine Arby's without its signature curly fry. For these reasons, we believe the Potato Cakes are probably gone for good.
2. Loaded Italian Sandwich
Aside from fantastic curly fries, Arby's has gained a reputation for meat-centric meals and sandwiches. The brand's slogan, "Arby's, we have the meats!", highlights Arby's focus on meat, as does the franchise's impressive range of sandwiches, including the ever-popular Reuben.
This makes it all the more surprising that Arby's discontinued the Loaded Italian Sandwich in 2021. It was a menu item that epitomized the company's slogan thanks to heaping amounts of ham, salami and pepperoni that were served on an Italian roll alongside cheese, vinaigrette, aioli, and a selection of salad.
Rob Lynch made the following statement to Prepared Foods at the time of the sandwich's launch in 2015: "The Italian sandwich has become a worldwide favorite famous for stacking delicious Italian meats, so we feel it's a natural addition to the Arby's menu. The Loaded Italian pays homage to the classic and reinforces our commitment to offer highly crave-able, Meatcrafted sandwiches to our guests."
In place of the Loaded Italian Sandwich, Arby's decided to amp up its meat selection by launching a limited-time real country-style rib sandwich made from meat that had been smoked for eight hours. A chicken cheddar ranch sandwich also entered the line-up after the loaded Italian was side-lined.
3. Pizza Slider
Arby's Pizza Slider first appeared on the franchise's menu in 2017, taking the total number of sliders sold at the time to eight. Staying true to the brand's roots, the Pizza Slider contained two types of meat: pepperoni and salami. Provolone cheese and roasted garlic marinara sauce completed the sandwich.
In 2021, Arby's made the decision to overhaul its menu, discontinuing six menu items. Among these was the Pizza Slider. The slider's unique ingredient — roasted garlic marinara sauce — was also removed from Arby's stores.
Today, Arby's only sells four sliders: The Buffalo chicken slider, the chicken slider, the jalapeño roast beef slider, and the roast beef slider. The loss of so many sliders has irked some Arby's customers over the years. Fortunately, the brand has several other worthwhile menu options that can be ordered in the Pizza Slider's place, as one customer highlighted on Reddit: "I miss the pizza and corned beef sliders, those things were awesome. Just gotta stick with the [Reuben] now, though it is a solid consolation meal."
4. Loaded Curly Fries
Despite being a meat-oriented sandwich restaurant, Arby's signature menu item is a portion of curly fries. This popular side was voted the best fast food French fry by Thrillist and has ingrained itself in fast food culture. Arby's take on this side is so iconic that many consumers even believe the restaurant brand invented the curly fry. This makes it all the more unbelievable that Arby's Loaded Curly Fries, featuring bacon, sour cream, and cheddar cheese, were discontinued.
The loaded fries were launched towards the end of 2015 and remained on the menu until Arby's 2021 reshuffle. During this time, different iterations of the loaded curly fry were offered for limited periods. Perhaps the best of these was the brand's gyro-loaded curly fries that came with Greek gyro meat, tzatziki, and gyro seasoning atop the fries. Unfortunately, this option was also discontinued despite Arby's gyro items typically being very successful. At the time of writing, there are no loaded curly fries available on Arby's menu at all, although chicken bacon ranch loaded crinkle fries could be purchased.
5. White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is notoriously difficult for fast food restaurants to master. Due to bulk cooking and high holding temperatures, the pasta can easily become overcooked. The sauce often ends up gloopy, and lower-quality versions of the dish are known to taste unnatural. Arby's managed to avoid all these pitfalls when it sold its version of mac and cheese as a side or part of the 2 for $6 Everyday Value menu. Customers frequently commented on the quality of this particular mac and cheese, with well-cooked pasta and a unique, tangy sauce receiving particular praise.
Today, Arby's 2 for $6 Everyday Value menu has been replaced with a two for $7 Everyday Value menu. Mac and cheese is no longer featured as an option on this menu, with mozzarella sticks taking its place. Mac and cheese is also not available as a side on the regular menu.
Interestingly, there was a brief period towards the end of 2022 when Arby's white cheddar mac and cheese was available for a limited amount of time. During this time, a loaded version of the side that was topped with bacon and cut pieces of chicken was also available. These two dishes have been spotted around the country from time to time, but neither is officially featured on Arby's menu.
6. Ham Slider
Another slider that has been unceremoniously dumped from Arby's menu is the Ham Slider. When launched in 2015, this slider formed part of an exceptional debut month — 29 million sliders were sold. This exceptional launch was not enough to save the Ham Slider in 2021, and it, along with five other menu items, was discontinued.
Although not the most exciting of Arby's items to be discontinued, the loss of the Ham Slider still hit customers hard. One person expressed their feelings on Reddit: "My thoughts are as follows, I have always enjoyed an Arby's ham sandwich. then it switched to an Arby's Ham Slider. Now you want to discontinue the slider. [It] seems like you no longer want any customers to buy you food. Sorry to say but you know have lost another long term customer."
It's not just the Ham Slider that's gone — Arby's seems to have turned its back on ham in general. Instead, the current menu focuses on sandwiches and sliders that are filled with roast beef or chicken.
7. Steakhouse Onion Rings
As a successful fast food franchise, Arby's does a lot of things well. That being said, every brand is going to have a slip-up now and again. For Arby's, this slip-up came in the form of the Steakhouse Onion Rings, a side that launched in 2010.
Those that ordered Arby's Steakhouse Onion Rings were greeted by a handful of large, battered onion rings that, on appearances, lived up to their name. This, however, was as good as it got for the product. Customers routinely complained about the entire onion pulling out of the batter after one bite and that the product tended to go soggy before they had finished eating. To make matters worse, Arby's onion rings were difficult and time-consuming to make.
Because of these shortcomings, those who worked at Arby's were not shocked to learn that the onion rings were being discontinued. A former Arby's employee expressed this view on Reddit: "When I [worked] there, they were one of the longest fried food items to cook, and we never sold enough to have them ready for customers. So I'm not surprised that they're gone."
8. Arby-Q
The Arby-Q, a sandwich filled with roast beef and barbeque sauce, was first served by Arby's in 1977, just 13 years after the company was founded. Since this time, the Arby-Q has been discontinued and brought back several times — in 2008, it was sold for $0.99.The sandwich also resurfaced in 2012 when two were available for $4. In both instances, the Arby-Q was not kept on the menu for very long.
While a stalwart of Arby's for many years, the Arby-Q has not been a hit during these brief renaissances. Instead, the public has complained about the overpowering, salty, and not at all barbeque-like sauce. Furthermore, Arby's currently sells nine different versions of a roast beef sandwich, suggesting there might not be room to squeeze in another, whether it's slathered in barbeque sauce or not. This, when combined with the poor response to the product in recent launches, suggest we won't be seeing the Arby-Q back on the menu anytime soon. For many, that news will be met with relief.
9. Sourdough Melts
Arby's two Sourdough Melts were launched in the early 2000s to much fanfare. The Sourdough Melts were both filled with ham and Swiss cheese or beef and thousand island dressing. Commercials from this time show two enormous sandwiches packed full of meat and cheese, along with the attention-grabbing animations of the time. The result was somewhat overwhelming.
Unfortunately, the reality of Arby's Sourdough Melts was significantly underwhelming. Customers reported an enormous amount of bread being served with very little meat, an imbalance that made both melts quite tasteless. The Sourdough Melts have long been abandoned by Arby's in favor of other menu options that have a better meat-to-bread ratio, like chicken sliders and roast beef sandwiches.
In terms of sandwiches made with sliced bread, Arby's menu currently includes a pecan chicken salad sandwich and the franchise's eponymous corned beef Reuben. Given that it's been decades since Arby's stocked the two Sourdough Melts, we would not bet on them ever surfacing again. Fortunately, there are plenty of other Arby's options that fulfill a similar role.
10. Chocolate Turnover
Turnovers have long been one of Arby's classic dessert options. Today, the brand still sells apple and cherry varieties. While these two versions of the dessert remain relevant, there has been one turnover that's fallen by the wayside, the Chocolate Turnover. This item was sidelined to make room for Arby's range of chocolate cookies.
The Chocolate Turnover being discontinued was unfortunate, especially given that the dessert was well-liked. In reviews, customers praised the flaky pastry and the abundant chocolate filling. The former was made by Pepperidge Farm and the latter by Hershey's, factors that undoubtedly contributed to the quality of the dessert.
Despite this, there was no great outcry when the Chocolate Turnover was discontinued; a petition with the goal of bringing the Chocolate Turnover back received a measly 173 signatures on Change.org. The fact that Arby's cookies have proved so popular makes the dropping of the Chocolate Turnover easier to swallow, especially as the franchise continues to innovate through products like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups cookies.