Arby’s, the fast food restaurant known for excellent roast beef sandwiches, is just as well known for their succulent seasoned curly fries. Now, Arby’s is branching out by selling their fries in your grocer’s freezer. I put them to the test to see if what you cook at home is just as good as what you get at the drive-thru. Quick service restaurants began to take off in the late 1950’s thanks to baby boomers love of cars and the expansion of the interstate highway system. Food service veterans Leroy & Forrest Raffel decided they would open a different type of fast food restaurant that offered something other than hamburgers. On July 23, 1964, the first Arby’s was born in Boardman, Ohio, just south of Youngstown. The first menu featured roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and iced tea. The Raffel Brothers, who had owned a restaurant equipment business, wanted to call their eateries “Big Tex,” but that name was already in use by another restaurant in Akron, Ohio. They settled on Arby’s, which stands for “R.B.” the Raffel Brothers initials. Within a year, they sold their first franchise to a restaurant in Akron and the chain expanded quickly.  The famous “Arby’s Hat” sign was introduced in 1968. During the 1970’s, Arby’s introduced more, soon to be iconic, products including, Arby’s Sauce, Horsey Sauce, Beef n’ Cheddar sandwich and curly fries. By this time, the chain was opening about 50 restaurants a year. After being sold several times, Arby’s found themselves in the hands of Triarc Companies, Inc., who would later also purchase the Wendy’s fast food chain, making the two eateries temporary sisters. Triarc decided to spin-off Arby’s and retain a small stake in the company. On July 13, 2011, the deal was done with Roark Capital Group, taking control. Roark is...

They once fought to become a big player in the world of fast food.  They were known for their hamburgers, fried chicken, roast beef, and fixin’s bar.  But after a major marketing mistake nearly killed the struggling chain, Roy Rogers is making a come back. In 1968, the first Roy Rogers restaurant opened in Falls Church, Virginia owned by the Marriott Corporation.  Marriott is well known for their hotels, but they also owned a series of failing restaurants known as Jr. Hot Shoppes. Marriott decided to make some major changes to stop the downfall.  The marketing team went into overdrive to rebrand the struggling chain. They chose popular western cowboy Roy Rogers for the name, based on the Wild West’s reputation for good beef and down home cooking.  They acquired the proper licensing to use the name and image and began to expand. They opened several hundred locations in less than two years, mostly on the east coast. Their menu concept was simple – burgers, roast beef, and fried chicken. All locations also feature a free Roy’s Fixins’ Bar – a small condiment bar full of lettuce, pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, horseradish sauce, and more to allow hungry customers to dress their sandwiches any way they want. I love this feature, which includes handing out plastic cups to take your condiments to go if you are on the road. As the 1970s rolled on, more new locations popped up. In 1975 the company made national headlines when their Fairfax, Virginia restaurant was robbed at gunpoint. Five employees were sent into the freezer and each shot in the head. Only one person survived. The chain would recover and in 1980, would make a major step forward when it purchased Gino’s restaurants, adding 180 more stores. Gino’s...