Arby's is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a variety of special offers. The promotions include:
- $5 BBQ Bacon Cheddar Roastburger combo, featuring curly fries and a drink, available through August
- Wednesday FREEbies program, featuring different free menu items with purchase offered each week through Aug. 26 at participating restaurants
- Arby's Extras fan club special offers
Brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffel opened the first Arby's restaurant July 23, 1964, under a glowing neon cowboy hat in Boardman, Ohio. They had a vision to offer something different – roast beef — with an innovative menu featuring oven-roasted, freshly sliced roast beef sandwiches, Texas-sized iced teas and classic Jamocha Shakes.
Throughout the years, Arby's continued its innovations, including:
- The 1970s — Menu additions included Beef 'n Cheddar, the Arby-Q, and signature sauces like the tangy Horsey sauce.
- The 1980s — Arby's expanded into Canada, added the signature curly fries to the menu, created the Arby's Foundation and introduced a new "Burger Boycott" ad campaign.
- The 1990s — Arby's added Sidekickers to the menu and held the first Arby's Charity Tour Golf Tournament to benefit the company's national charity, Big Brothers Big Sisters.
- The 21st century — Menu additions included the Market Fresh line of sandwiches and salads, Toasted Subs and Roastburgers, the new "I'm Thinking Arby's" ad campaign and a merger by Arby's parent company Triarc with Wendy's, creating the new Wendy's/Arby's Group.
Arby's culinary innovation center continues to introduce new products under the leadership of industry veteran Brian Kolodziej. The center employs a dozen people and has been responsible for such creative menu introductions as Roast Chicken and Iced FruiTeas.
"As we reflect on the past 45 years and look down the road to what's next, one thing remains true — our commitment to providing our customers with a unique, better tasting alternative to traditional fast food," said Tom Garrett, president and CEO, Arby's Restaurant Group Inc.
