7 Arby's Sandwiches Ranked Worst To Best

When it comes to fast food sandwiches, Arby's occupies an interesting niche. While most fast food companies have a rather narrow menu that often includes burgers and chicken, Arby's offers a wider range of choices. While some of the unhealthiest things to order at Arby's like mozzarella sticks and milkshakes are certainly filling and indulgent, the restaurant has plenty of other menu items to choose from. Although best-known for its roast beef sandwiches, Arby's also sells a variety of other handheld options like turkey sandwiches, barbecue brisket, and corned beef reubens — items typically found in diners and delis instead of fast food restaurants. This uniqueness gives Arby's an edge over some of its major competitors. 

That said, the real question is: How good are all of these different sandwiches? Between my inquisitive spirit and practically insatiable appetite, I took it upon myself to find out, selecting seven different sandwiches across Arby's menu — many of which I tried for the very first time. Wondering which ones took me by surprise and which ones fell flat? Read on to see seven Arby's sandwiches ranked worst to best.

Arby's Crispy Chicken Sandwich gave off a bad first impression. The bottom bun was absolutely smothered in mayonnaise, thinly shredded lettuce, and paper-thin sliced tomatoes. Everything was dripping over the edges and soaking into the bread so heavily that the sandwich gradually fell apart with each bite. I think putting the mayo and veggies on top of the sandwich instead of on the bottom would give it more structural integrity. The weight of the chicken resting on that soggy bottom bun made it a mess.

To make matters worse, the chicken patty seemed really small, which made the sandwich feel like a rip off. The meat has a spongy, overly processed texture that gave me flashbacks to the questionable food that I was served in school cafeterias during my childhood. The breading on the chicken was flavorless and soggy and the chicken was overcooked. I can honestly say that this was one of the worst fried chicken sandwiches that I've ever had. Making crispy fried chicken isn't necessarily difficult, so I'm not sure how Arby's is dropping the ball so badly on this.

The Buffalo Chicken sandwich was almost exactly the same as the crispy classic chicken sandwich. There are only a few differences: The Buffalo Chicken sandwich features parmesan peppercorn ranch instead of mayo, the chicken patty gets dipped in buffalo sauce, and it doesn't have sliced tomatoes.

I didn't taste a difference between the mayo and the parmesan peppercorn ranch — though it's possible that the same condiment was mistakenly used in both sandwiches. The buffalo sauce was very light and almost completely undetectable. I understand that some people are sensitive to spicy food, and perhaps that's why Arby's is so cautious with its buffalo sauce, but I'm of the opinion that buffalo chicken should have some respectable heat. It's also possible that whoever made this sandwich just happens to go very light with the hot sauce. Regardless, defying all common sense, somehow this sandwich was less soggy than the crispy classic chicken sandwich, even though this one is dipped in hot sauce and the other one isn't. How is that even possible? I think it's just a testament to the dousing of mayonnaise on the crispy chicken sandwich and the lack of buffalo sauce on this one. That said, the trace amount of buffalo sauce here added some extra tang and flavor that nudges it ahead of the classic crispy chicken. As someone who loves buffalo chicken, I'd also recommend trying out this buffalo chicken dip recipe.

I honestly had no idea that Arby's sells a turkey sandwich, so I was surprised to see this on the menu and figured it was worth investigating. This sandwich comes with slices of turkey, bacon, lettuce, parmesan peppercorn ranch, red onion, tomato, and cheddar on honey wheat bread. The honey wheat bread appeared to be untoasted, which was fine by me because it was still strong enough to keep everything well-contained.

I was happy with the amount of turkey in this sandwich. It felt like just the right amount — any less would've felt stingy, and any more would've been overkill. The biggest issue with this sandwich for me was the bacon, which was hard to bite through. Don't get me wrong: I'm a fan of crispy bacon. But the bacon slices in this sandwich seemed like they had been a tad overcooked, and then stored or left in a warmer for so long that they practically hardened into stone. Arby's should definitely learn the best ways to cook bacon and take some notes.

The lettuce was so limp and lifeless that it served absolutely no purpose, and the same goes for the sliced tomato. On the plus side, the honey wheat bread was hearty and fluffy. Had the bacon been cooked properly and the veggies been fresher, this would have landed a little higher in this ranking.

I'm a sucker for southern barbecue, so I was naturally intrigued by (and fairly skeptical of) a smoked brisket sandwich from Arby's. Could a fast food company of this size really pull it off? Considering this is a massive chain, I felt it was appropriate to adjust my expectations accordingly.

Arby's Smokehouse Brisket sandwich comes with smoked brisket (which, according to the menu, is smoked for 13 hours), cheddar cheese, smokey bbq sauce, and crispy onion strings on a brioche bun. Much to my surprise, the brisket in this sandwich is smokey and flavorful. I pulled a few pieces of the brisket out of the sandwich to sample on their own (without the assertive interference of barbecue sauce). Yep — the brisket definitely has a natural smokiness to it. While the flavor of the brisket exceeded my expectations, though, it was sliced too thin and was also too dry. Ideally, brisket should be much juicier and also sliced nice and thick — but who are we kidding? This is Arby's. There's no way that we're going to get the same quality brisket as a mom and pop shop that treats barbecue with the patient labor of love it deserves. Still, for a fast food restaurant, this is a respectable attempt.

The main issue with this sandwich is the crispy onion strings, which are neither crispy nor very onion-like. The barbecue sauce on this sandwich does a lot of heavy lifting to compensate for the dry brisket and limp onion strings.

The original roast beef sandwich is a cornerstone of the menu at Arby's, essentially defining the company's roast beef-centric persona. This sandwich is as simple as it gets: A few layers of roast beef on a plain, toasted bun. Truth be told, prior to this article the last time I'd had one of these sandwiches felt like a lifetime ago. I don't remember being particularly impressed with it. I wasn't expecting much, so I was quite shocked at how good this sandwich was. Was it as good as a homemade plate of rare roast beef with gravy? Of course not, but it was still fantastic for fast food.

Shaved wafer-thin, the roast beef on this sandwich was ultra tender. But what impressed me the most was the actual taste of the roast beef: It was deeply rich and flavorful without being overly salty. Was I misremembering its mediocrity, or has Arby's stepped up its roast beef recipe in recent years? What I do know is this — this simple sandwich really took me by surprise, and I couldn't stop eating it until it was gone. This sandwich proves that sometimes food is better at its most basic. Still, there were even better sandwiches in store for me.

There are two main differences between Arby's Beef 'n Cheddar and its Classic Roast Beef sandwich: The bun and the cheese sauce. While the Classic Roast Beef comes on a sesame seed bun, the Beef 'n Cheddar sandwich comes on an onion bun. This may seem like a small difference, but the onion bun really does add a lot of extra flavor into the mix. The bun is speckled with caramelized onions that add notes of earthy sweetness, providing a nice flavor contrast for the roast beef. While the sesame seed bun on the Classic Roast Beef sandwich was a tad on the dry side, the onion bun on the Beef 'n Cheddar seemed more moist.

But it's the cheese sauce on this sandwich that's really the star of the show here. It seems nearly identical to the gooey, neon yellow stuff you get with movie theater nachos at the concession stand — and there's something delightful about that. There's a time and a place for fancy cheese, but there's also something undeniably delicious about the fake stuff once in a while. Arby's is a great place to quell that craving and this sandwich does a great job of delivering it.

Arby's Reuben, stuffed with juicy corned beef, earns the top slot as the best of the bunch. There are a few reasons that I didn't see this coming. I'm pretty picky with my corned beef and I also had no idea that Arby's even had a reuben on its menu. But this sandwich won me over on my first bite and it was by far the tastiest option that I sampled for this ranking.

This reuben comes with the normal fixings: Slices of corned beef, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, and melted Swiss cheese on marbled rye. Just like Arby's roast beef, the corned beef is also sliced wafer-thin, which makes it exceptionally tender. Because it's so thin, I kind of feared that the corned beef might be overcooked and too dry, but that wasn't the case. In fact, it practically melted in my mouth.

The ratio of sauerkraut and thousand island dressing was right on the money. The pleasantly pungent bite of the sauerkraut cut through the richness of the corned beef, and the thousand island dressing added a punch of tasty tanginess. I would have liked a little more sauerkraut and a thicker slice of Swiss, but all in all, this was undoubtedly delicious. Normally, you'd have to go into a deli for a sandwich of this caliber, so I think it's fair to say this is an excellent showing for a fast food chain like Arby's.

I sampled each of the sandwiches featured in this ranking, judging each of them based on taste, texture, and overall flavor. In order to properly assess every item, I tasted each sandwich multiple times and also tasted each sandwich's individual ingredients alone to gauge their quality. I recorded video footage throughout the entire tasting session to reflect back on my impressions during the writing process.