Arby's Turkey Roasters

I was lucky enough to grow up near an Arby's. Trips into town with Mom often involved lunch there. I'd get their chicken breast sandwich, with curly fries and a Jamocha shake (chocolate and coffee mixed together). The sandwich was always just ok though. In the years that passed since that Arby's closed down and I was nowhere near one, I never knew what to get when I'd find one. I finally tried their roast beef, but since I've lived in Massachusetts, I only like roast beef if it's half raw and smothered in BBQ sauce and mayonnaise. Their chicken sandwiches were always ok, but with other fast food places beating them, what could stand out as "the thing to get at Arby's?"

Oooo maybe this? 

I mean, sure- it's just a turkey sandwich, but the website promotes it this way: "Does any other turkey sandwich come close to beating the mouth-watering, juicy taste of Arby's Turkey Roasters? Freshly sliced daily and served hot on a warm toasted bun, the answer is simple. And it's 'no.'"

We'll see. I ordered the club (duh- it also comes as regular turkey on a roll, or with cheddar cheese and red ranch sauce, whatever that is). I realize a turkey sandwich isn't exactly the norm for fatguyfoodblog, but every now and then, we eat things with vegetables. And it's from a fast food place. And has bacon. And cheese. And mayonnaise. Of which I put extra on my sandwich. Because I'm fat. So there you go.

curly fries, ketchup, sandwich, soda, milkshake: 5 food groups

So how is this bad boy? Well, for starters, it's a lot smaller than the pictures would have you believe. 

I was skeptical.

But Arby's did a good job with this. The roll was warm and although fat-guy-who-only-eats-white-bread me thought it being wheat would hurt the sandwich, it actually worked much better than I thought it would. The lettuce and tomato were fresh, the bacon was crisp, and the turkey was great. It was very warm- almost to the point where it was weird because the outside had dried up and curled a little bit, but once I ate it with everything else in the sandwich, it worked wonderfully. It was thin and of good quality. This ain't slimy slabs with fat pockets everywhere- this is real.

that's a delicious mess

The bacon was a highlight- it was very crisp and super flavorful. Look at the specks of black flavor on the edge! The website lists this as "pepper bacon" oooooooooo

mmmm mayonnaise goo

The only negative about this sandwich is that I wish there was more turkey. It looks gigantic in the picture, and if I'm eating a turkey sandwich, I want a lot of turkey. Also, the cheese didn't really shine through the flavors of everything else. I'll order it with an extra slice next time. 

The real reason I go to Arby's is to get their curly fries (my favorite fast food fries) and a Jamocha shake. I wolved these down like the pathetic pig I am, alone in a dark food court, and I probably made grunting noises too- I don't care. 

I've never pretended there was any other reason I went to Arby's. The problem was always what I would eat on the side of my fries and milkshake. I think I've found it. 

This wasn't the best turkey sandwich for me- D'Angelo still has unequivocally the best turkey of any sandwich or fast food place. But it was damn good, and I felt like I was eating a sandwich from a pretentious sandwich/coffee shop deep in some shopping district in some fancy city- I guess I should have expected that from a place that created "Market Fresh sandwiches," but this was a nice surprise. If you want to class up your 2 orders of large fries a bit, then go with this bad boy the next time you're lucky enough to waddle into an Arby's. 

-review by Mike.