Arby’s is teaming up with Hall of Famer and former pro football MVP LaDainian Tomlinson to transform the Arby’s at 611 8th Ave in New York City into LaDainian Tomlinson’s Arby’s Steakhouse.
The redesigned Arby’s features everything you’d expect from a high-end steakhouse: the luxury of linen tablecloths and napkins, proper ambiance with tea light votives, fine petite filet steak and a Hall of Fame football player’s name on the door. It will be open for one day only, on Thursday, November 7, with a ribbon-cutting at 11:30 a.m. and a meet & greet with the LaDainian at 12:30 p.m.
The new steakhouse celebrates the launch of Arby’s pulling off the impossible, creating the first true steak sandwich in QSR with its Garlic Butter Steak Sandwich and the Steak & Bacon Melt. The petite filet steak on both sandwiches, featuring a cut considered by experts to be the second-most tender to the tenderloin or filet, is seasoned with black pepper crust, slow-cooked to medium and sliced thick.
“This is a phenomenal steak sandwich,” Deborah Von Kutzleben, VP Advertising, Content & Core Menu of Arby’s, said. “So, to tell the world how good our new Petite Filet Steak Sandwiches are, we followed the playbook used by generations of fine American steakhouses and put a former athlete’s name on our front door.”
LaDainian Tomlinson’s Arby’s Steakhouse announced its national debut with TV commercials starring the Hall of Famer on Saturday, November 2, and Sunday, November 3. You can view it here:
“In the steak world, there’s this tradition of legendary football players opening premium steakhouses,” LaDainian said. “LaDainian Tomlinson’s Arby’s Steakhouse continues this tradition, but in this case, I’m the football player and the steakhouse is an Arby’s.”
The creation of Arby’s new steak sandwiches comes after more than 14 years of work and a slew of steak tests from Arby’s Executive Chef Neville Craw.
“The petite filet is the best steak we’ve developed in terms of taste and texture, delivering in eye appeal and guest expectation of what steak is,” Neville said. “We’ve paired it with a new ciabatta roll that’s toasted, yet soft, and not dry and chewy like most ciabattas.”
The Garlic Butter Steak Sandwich features thick-sliced tender petite filet with pepper bacon, roasted garlic butter, lettuce and tomato on a toasted ciabatta roll.
The Steak and Bacon Melt includes thick-sliced tender petite filet, melted cheddar cheese, pepper bacon, crispy onions and steakhouse ranch on a toasted ciabatta roll.
The two steak sandwiches will be available in Arby’s restaurants nationwide for a limited time.
