Fast Food Review: Arby's $5.01 Combo

My friend Zach called me the other day and said he was going to be in town and wanted to know if I was up for getting lunch. It didn't take long for us to decide on Arby's. Zach has been a fan of Arby's long before I was, and I wanted to try one of their new $5.01 combos.

For five dollars and one inexplicable penny, you can choose between five combos: roast chicken ranch sandwich, regular roast beef sandwich, regular roast beef gyro, roast beef patty melt, and French dip and swiss sandwich. I decided to try the roast chicken ranch sandwich: chicken on toasted sourdough with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a "parmesan peppercorn ranch sauce." I got some popcorn chicken for us to share, since Zach said he'd never tried Arby's popcorn chicken, which I think is as good as any fast food place, with the possible exception of Popeyes.

It took a long time for my food to be ready. Zach got his (a roast beef sandwich combo) after just a couple minutes, but I stood around for several more minutes waiting for mine. There was a computer screen ticking off the time until my order was ready. When it hit seven minutes the manager realized I was watching it and walked over and turned it off. It was probably another minute or so before my food was ready.

The food was definitely served to me hot. But I didn't much care for the sandwich. There wasn't much chicken in it - certainly less meat than I would have received with a regular 99 cent roast beef sandwich. There was hardly any parmesan peppercorn sauce and what was there tasted like neither parmesan nor peppercorn. It tasted like mayonnaise. I definitely do not recommend this sandwich. 

But the popcorn chicken was great as always.