REVIEW: Arby’s Smokehouse Beef Short Rib Sandwich and Loaded Curly Fries

Arby s Smokehouse Beef Short Rib Sandwich

America’s favorite fast food punching bag, Arby’s, should stick to the one thing they do best: roast beef sandwiches.

Think about it: have you ever, in your life, stopped what you’re doing and made a beeline for the joint because you simply had to nosh on its gyro or down a fish sandwich pronto? Has a day ever been made better by one of its ice coffee drinks? Ever sat at work daydreaming about a big bowl of those curly fries, well, okay, I’ll give you the curly fries. But, still, Arby’s meandering attempt to enter the barbeque game — one of many, I’m sure — by putting a beef short rib sandwich on the menu is mediocre at best.

Utilizing the mainly fatty beef parts of the aforementioned short rib, an admittedly nice big handful of that cheap cut is packed between two thick slices of mostly toasted Texas toast and topped with soggy fried onions, misplaced melted cheddar cheese and a little slight drizzle of barbeque sauce to give it more of that down-home back-country feel. It doesn’t work, but kudos for trying, Arby’s.

As I took as large a bite as my medium mouth could allow, I tasted more of the sauce than the meat which is never a good sign, especially when it Arby’s barbeque sauce. However, pulling a few pieces of the short rib out to taste by its lonesome, I can see why; the meat was a bit dry, and a good dollop of that sickly sauce gave it its much needed (but still pretty unwanted) flavor.

Additionally, that fraudulent smoky sauce seeped deep into the bread as well, so there’s that if you’re big into sticky, damp bread.

Arby s Smokehouse Beef Short Rib Loaded Curly Fries

Alongside the Short Rib Sandwich, Arby’s has a quasi-companion piece taking the form of Short Rib Loaded Fries which are exactly how they sound: a decent pile of their quintessential curly fries, bastardized with short rib meat, even more melted cheddar cheese, and a whole mess of that barbeque sauce to give them a sense of purpose and meaning.

It’s an unapologetically mishmash of flavors, none of which seemingly belong together in the slightest. The corporate entity barbeque sauce sweetens, almost to a fault, the mildly limp fries. Meanwhile, the short rib meat makes a pretty garnish but not a very useful tater topping, big clumps falling everywhere, just looking for that Texas toast.

For a nice size bowl of these loaded fries—loaded fries being my favorite of all fries, honestly, it’s kind of a wasted effort. Give me some plain curlies and few packs of Horsey Sauce and I’m gold, kid.

Arby’s, your bold experimentalism let me down again, but don’t worry: come Christmastime I promise I’ll be back in line for your five roast beef sandwiches for five bucks. You all still do that, right? Please tell me you do.

(Nutrition Facts – Sandwich – 590 calories, 28 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, 1510 milligrams of sodium, 59 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of sugar, 4 grams of fiber, and 26 grams of protein. Loaded Curly Fries – 730 calories, 41 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 2300 milligrams of sodium, 75 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of sugar, 6 grams of fiber, and 15 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $5.99 (sandwich)
Size: N/A
Rating: 3 out of 10 (Sandwich)
Rating: 2 out of 10 (Loaded Curly Fries)
Pros: Lots of meat. Good to see Texas toast on the menu. Chance to visit your local Arby’s.
Cons: Barbeque sauce too “fake sweet.” Soggy onions and bread. Cheese sauce not like I remember.

22 thoughts to “REVIEW: Arby’s Smokehouse Beef Short Rib Sandwich and Loaded Curly Fries”

  1. I agree. This reviewer seemed biased with a chip on his shoulder before he even began. The review seemed to be more about his beef with Arby’s than about the items in question. Looking forward to trying these.

  2. I agree as well. I mean don’t review Arby’s food if you don’t like Arby’s and don’t review BBQ if you already don’t like the sauce.

  3. Was this really a review or an agenda against Arby’s ? I disagree with this and I enjoyed the sandwich, nothing fake about it. Arby’s is a much better fast food joint than all the burger joints.

  4. I tried this sandwich and I liked everything about it… EXCEPT for the meat. The meat was overly fatty and nasty.
    Arbys should make this same sandwich, but with their brisket and more bbq sauce.

  5. “Think about it: have you ever, in your life, stopped what you’re doing and made a beeline for the joint because you simply had to nosh on its gyro”………YES, yes I have. Their turkey gyro is incredible. You clearly despise Arby’s, don’t you?

    1. their roast beef gryo is my favorite thing on their menu outside of their beef n cheddar sandwich

  6. There does seem to be an anti Arby’s bias right from the start of this review. That being said, the review is pretty spot on. Arby’s has hit homers with their brisket, steak and pork belly, and even their other recent offerings like the fried turkey were doubles and triples, but this one struck out swinging. Really had no flavor in the meat, but even if it had, the sheer amount of bread would have drowned it out. A very rare miss.

  7. what an awful review. not only did he bash the sandwich which if that is his opinion of it then fine but he went out of his way to talk negative on just about every other sandwich that isnt roast beef that they serve. while i havent tried this one yet, their roast beef gyro is one of the best things on their menu currently. as others have said i think this review was more about his hatred of arbys rather than his hatred of the sandwich

  8. I’m not a fan of roast beef so I literally didn’t eat at Arby’s for two decades. I tried their pork belly/brisket sandwiches on a whim last year and was impressed.

    So for me, it goes: Arby’s pork belly >>>>>> roast beef >>>>>>>>>> your review.

  9. Arby’s is a terrible restaurant so I hope all these reviews are just trolls. I literally don’t know a single person who eats at Arby’s or would defend it.
    This review doesn’t even apply to me because I am certain I haven’t registered the existence of Arby’s since I left a tiny town in New Mexico where it was one of five restaurants in town and I still never ate there once in the two years I lived there.

  10. Worst sandwich I ever got from arby most of the ribs were hard and had a lot of fat in the sandwich I couldn’t eat this at all wouldn’t recommend this sandwich arby other sandwiches taste better than this did

  11. The Arby’s fish sandwich is actually pretty serious business, even though the King’s Hawaiian version is too sweet. Also, they used to call it the Reel Big Fillet, which always reminded me of my favorite 90s ska band.

  12. I actually did drive a good bit out of my way to get their Gyro, and was glad I did. They also got good reviews on the fried turkey sandwich last fall. You might be right on the short ribs, Louis, but the credibility suffers.

  13. This review seemed fairly biased from the start. It hurts the credibility a lot.

    I tried both the other week. I actually did like the taste of the beef short rib and enjoyed the fries.

    I think the bread choice on the sandwich is a problem though. That bread really drowns out everything that’s between it.

  14. I also thought the short rib sandwich was NASTY! The sopposedly toasted Texas toast was not crispy but was limp. The supposedly short rib meat was fatty, was not smoked & had a slight slick texture to it. Couldn’t finish the nasty sandwich…yuck. sherry

  15. You contradict yourself by saying that the sandwich has a “little slight drizzel of barbeque sauce” and then saying that you “took as large a bite as my medium mouth could allow” yada yada yada. I’m on my way home from my local Arby’s w/both sandwich AND loaded fries. I hope, and I’m fairly certain, that your (obviously biased) review is dead wrong. I’ve never been disappointed with anything I’ve bought there. Did you get fired from Arby’s or is there another reason that you’re so disgruntled?

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