Yes, It IS a great Giant Hat - The History of Arby's Rib Beef



Yes, It really IS a great Giant Hat. We'll get to that in a moment. But 1st...

The History of Arby's

In 1949 a young fellow in Youngstown, Ohio named Forrest Raffel teamed up with his even younger brother named Leroy to buy out their uncle's restaurant equipment business.

While working on designing and building other restaurants the brothers saw a need in the market for an upscale, non-hamburger fast food chain. They figured also that roasted beef sandwiches would a good thing to sell in their new restaurant.

For a name they took the 1st two letters of Raffel Brothers (RB) to and came up with Arby's.

The 1st Arby's rib Beef

The 1st Arby's opened in 1964 in Boardman, Ohio. This 1st restaurant had a "chuckwagon-style" design with a natural wood and stone decor and a giant 10-gallon hat for a sign.

Yes, it is a hat. Not a great oven mitt or a great ol' hunk of rib beef as many people seem to believe.

A hat.

On the original menu was their rib beef sandwiches for 69 cents, potato chips and iced tea.

Arby's was an almost immediate success despite charging quite a bit more than other fast food restaurants at the time and within a year of opening the brothers franchised their 1st operation.

Arby's nowadays

Royal Crown Cola (RC) Company of Atlanta, Georgia, purchased the Arby's business in 1976 and started expanding overseas with the 1st Arby's opening in Tokyo in 1981.

Nowadays, there are more than 3,400 Arby's restaurants worldwide.

Nowadays's powerful Electric Outdoor Grill is convenient and reliable -- the perfect choice for your patio, deck or yard. Or as a second grill for those nights you don't have time to fool with gas or charcoal. They are also the perfect portable grill to take camping or tailgating.