Menu Run · Roast Beef

Arby's Summer 2026 Menu Run — I Tried Everything Worth Trying

One week, seven Arby's visits, one honest verdict. The Wagyu Steakhouse Burger is genuinely great. The Half-Pound Beef 'n Cheddar is a physics problem. And the French Dip is exactly as good as you remember.

Here is the pitch: for one week in late June I ate at Arby's every single day. I paid full price for everything, I ordered from four different stores across two metros (Nashville and Louisville), and I did my best not to write the review in my head until I'd finished all seven visits. This is that write-up.

Arby's is running an unusual promotional program right now — they've brought back three of their most-requested limited-time sandwiches in a single window. The French Dip & Swiss, the Half-Pound Beef 'n Cheddar and the Wagyu Steakhouse Burger. That's a genuine "greatest hits" bundle and I wanted to see how it actually performs when you sit down (fine, when you park) and eat it in a real-world setting rather than a marketing shoot.

Visit 1 — Franklin Rd, Nashville · The Classic Roast Beef

Every Arby's review has to start here or it's not a real Arby's review. I ordered a Classic Roast Beef Combo with curly fries and a Diet Coke: $8.79 out the door, medium size, no substitutions. The verdict is what a Classic should always be — thin, warm, wet-carved beef, a proper toasted sesame roll, Arby's Sauce from the packet stand. This particular visit was a hit-rate win: everything at spec, no drama.

Visit 2 — Belle Meade, Nashville · The French Dip & Swiss

The one I'd been most looking forward to. $8.29 à la carte or $12.79 as a combo, and I went with the combo because if I'm ordering a French Dip I want the ceremony of dipping a sub roll into a cup of au jus while I'm parked in a Kroger lot. The au jus arrived hot, which is not a given, and the Swiss was melted through evenly. The bread held up for about two-thirds of the sandwich before the au jus caught up with it and I lost structural integrity on the last few bites. That is the correct amount of French Dip failure. Any less and you're not dipping enough.

Verdict: yes, order it. Not a value play — this is an occasion sandwich. But it delivers the thing it's marketed as.

Visit 3 — Bardstown Rd, Louisville · The Half-Pound Beef 'n Cheddar

Now we get to the physics problem. The Half-Pound Beef 'n Cheddar is exactly what it says on the box: twice the beef of the regular Beef 'n Cheddar, on the same onion roll, with the same cheddar sauce. On paper this is maximum Arby's. In practice, the sandwich starts to fall apart around bite four, and by bite six I was eating a small pile of roast beef with my fingers off the wrapper.

The other issue is that the cheddar sauce, which is exactly right on a normal Beef 'n Cheddar, gets to be a lot at this format. And the onion roll, which is sweet, starts to fight the sauce rather than complement it once you're past the halfway mark.

Verdict: I really wanted to like this one. Order the regular Beef 'n Cheddar at $5.49 and use the money you saved on a milkshake. You will finish happier.

Visit 4 — Frankfort Ave, Louisville · The Wagyu Steakhouse Burger

The best surprise of the week. $9.99 à la carte, and I'll admit that when I read that price on the menu board I flinched, because ten dollars is a real amount of money and this is a fast-food burger. But the sandwich actually earns it. A half-pound Wagyu-blend patty at temperature, smoked-Gouda cheese that melts properly, crispy onions with actual crunch, a garlic aioli that reads more "restaurant" than "chain," on a brioche-adjacent bun that holds together for the entire sandwich.

This is Arby's most confident premium-burger attempt to date. Order it.

Visit 5 — Hurstbourne, Louisville · The Roast Turkey & Swiss

The Arby's non-beef pick that never gets talked about. $6.29, and it does what it says: shaved turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, on a toasted sesame roll. Nothing to write home about, nothing to complain about, and if you're at an Arby's with somebody who Doesn't Do Roast Beef, this is the sandwich you order for them.

Visit 6 — Franklin Rd, Nashville (again) · The 2 for $7 Everyday Value

My back-to-back-Classic visit for the value pass. Two Classic Roast Beef sandwiches for $7 total is, unambiguously, the best cost-per-satisfaction ratio on the current Arby's menu, and it has been the best for basically as long as the 2 for $7 promotion has existed. If you are feeding one very hungry adult, or two moderately hungry ones, on the smallest possible ticket that still resembles a meal, this is the answer.

Visit 7 — Belle Meade, Nashville (again) · The Loaded Curly Fries + Jamocha Shake

Final visit. I ordered Loaded Curly Fries ($5.29) and a small Jamocha Shake ($4.29) as a snack purchase, because I wanted to end the week on something that wasn't a sandwich. The Loaded Curly Fries are — I've said this before and I stand by it — either your favorite thing on the fast-food menu or an insult to your dinner. There is no middle ground on Loaded Curly Fries. In my case, I love them, so we're good.

The Jamocha Shake remains one of the great sleeper items in national quick-service. Coffee + chocolate + malted milkshake. It is not particularly complicated but Arby's has been doing it right for a very long time.

The overall week verdict

Arby's in the summer of 2026 is running a genuinely strong promotional window. The Wagyu Steakhouse Burger is real, the returning French Dip is worth ordering deliberately, the Half-Pound Beef 'n Cheddar is a well-intentioned experiment that runs into the physics of sandwich structure, and the core menu remains the reliable, execution-dependent thing it has always been.

If I could only order one thing from this menu tomorrow, I'd get the Wagyu Steakhouse Burger. If I could only order one thing on a budget, it's the 2 for $7. If I could only order one thing for the ceremony of it, it's the French Dip & Swiss with an actual cup of au jus.

You can order any of this in-restaurant, at the drive-thru, or through the Arby's mobile app. Pricing varies by market and franchisee, and the limited-time trio is on the menu through late September per current corporate scheduling.