Arby's Angus Cheesesteak

Today, we review the Angus Cheesesteak from Arby’s. This is a limited edition offering from Arby’s. For Arby’s, this marks a return of the cheesesteak to the menu. The cheesesteak is a sandwich synonymous with the city of Philadelphia, long known to have some of the best cheesesteak establishments. This has led many to come up with their own “Philly Cheesesteak.” For a variety of reasons, most of these attempts to deliver a “Philly Cheesesteak” experience have failed. Arby’s, doesn’t attempt to recreate an authentic Philadelphia cheesesteak, but instead put their own spin on the cheesesteak.

Forrest and Leroy Raffel founded Arby’s in Boardman, Ohio. Today, it is a part of Inspire Brands and has 3,472 restaurants in the U.S., as well as many in Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Turkey. Arby’s was founded originally as a fast food chain that was not focused on burgers (although they have one today). Their signature menu item is their hot roast beef sandwich. In the 1970s, they used the slogan Arby’s – America’s Roast Beef, Yes Sir.

The Construction

A cheesesteak is quite simply sliced/shaved steak on a roll with onions and cheese. In Philadelphia, Cheese Whiz is a popular choice for cheese, but even in the city of Brotherly Love, Provolone and Cooper Sharp are becoming popular.

By no means is the Arby’s version an authentic Philadelphia-style cheesesteak. Many will avoid American Cheese and roasted peppers on a cheesesteak. The garlic spread is a unique addition not typically found on a Philadelphia cheesesteak, suggesting it is part of “Arby’s Take.”

  • Thinly Shaved Angus Beef
  • Toasted White Bread Bun
  • Melted American Cheese
  • Savory Garlic Spread
  • Onions
  • Roasted Peppers
  • Sandwiches Eaten: 2
  • Location: Indian Trail, NC
  • Length: 7.5 inches
  • Weight: 9.75 ounces
  • Price: $7.79/sandwich

The Experience

The following is the scoring that was used for this assessment. I went with the same scoring criteria as when we assessed the Pat’s King of Steaks Cheesesteak.

  • Steak: 4 points
  • Bread: 2 points
  • Condiments (Onion, Peppers, Cheese, Garlic Spread): 2 points
  • Intangibles: 2 points

Arby's Angus Cheesesteak

Steak

“Angus” has become a buzzword in the meat business. Angus actually refers to Aberdeen Angus, a breed of cattle in Scotland, and typically has been associated with a higher grade of beef. The beef is considered better because it has more marbling and is more tender.

At the same time, it doesn’t mean this is an excellent cut of beef. While the steak on the Angus Cheesesteak was tender, I didn’t find myself doing handstands over the flavor. As we will see, this was overpowered by other flavors. I’ve had better meat from Arby’s – this wasn’t one of them.

Score: 1.25 points out of 4.00 points 

Bread

The bun is a toasted white bread roll with a split top. The bun didn’t have enough crust on the top. Even with the toasting, it was still too light and airy. On top of that, it simply didn’t deliver much in the way of flavor.

Score: 0.75 points out of 2.00 points 

Condiments

Basically, when it came to the melted cheese and the garlic spread, the two were pretty much fused together. While the garlic spread wasn’t overpowering with garlic, it still overpowered the American cheese. I also found it overpowered the flavors of the Angus Steak. I didn’t see it as contributing a flavor that would get me excited.

The onions and peppers also seemed muted. They weren’t bad, but certainly I didn’t get the flavors I was looking for.

Score: 0.50 points out of 2.00 points

Intangibles

The key to any sandwich is when the experience exceeds the sum of the parts. This was not the case with the Angus Cheesesteak. When all of the ingredients came together, it simply was a “hot mess.” The overall flavor experience was not good. Add to the fact that I felt all of the components were below average, and that certainly didn’t help.  The sandwich is quite large, weighing 9 3/4 ounces, and while the proportions are good, they only made the experience worse, as I had to finish it. Finally, the light bread and overall heavy weight of the sandwich made this quite messy when eating.

Arby's Angus Cheesesteak

Score: 0.25 out of 2.0 points

OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Let me first start by saying: 1) I am a fan of many of Arby’s offerings; 2) I like when someone tries to put a “spin” on something (provided it works). The Arby’s Angus Cheesesteak comes in at a disappointing 2.75 points out of 10. This sandwich wasn’t dinged because it wasn’t an authentic Philadelphia cheesesteak; it was dinged because it simply didn’t perform. This was a complete miss for me, and my advice is that there are better Cheesesteak and better Arby’s options than this.

Summary

Steak 1.25
Bun 0.75
Condiments 0.50
Intangibles 0.25
Total 2.75

Score: 2.75 (out of 10 points)
Value: Well Below Average

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop