Thursday, June 04, 2009

Fast Food Corner


This past weekend, I was driving down Mac Dade Blvd, on my way to drop off my "dry-cleaning" at my parents' house when I noticed the local Arby's restaurant had closed. No, this wasn't the best Arby's - service was extremely slow, which brought about many questions regarding the use of the term "fast food" in relation to this restaurant.

Part of the reason was that this was one of the "original" Arby's restaurants in the entire Philadelphia area, and one of the first fast food locations in Delaware County. Arby's did little to upgrade the restaurant over the years, but in a way, this gave it character. It had that original Arby's sign ... you know, the big one that was in the shape of a ten-gallon hat, and said, "Arby's Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches Are Delicious." Plus, the restaurant itself was small and shaped liked a half circle - like all Arby's used to look like.

The food itself was pretty good, but really, no better than any other Arby's in the area. This was mainly due to the old equipment that they continued to use (they really didn't have the real-estate to add the newer, bigger stoves and ovens). You actually saw the "chef" cutting the roast beef after you ordered it. In a way, I guess that was reassuring.

I went there despite the longer-than-usual time to get the "fast-food." This was, in my opinion, a landmark in Delco, and I was truly upset by the demise of this location. The sign was taken down, and the store was stripped of any symbol of Arby's. It was always there when I was growing up, and now that memory is gone. Screw progress!

6 comments:

sirgeb said...

I think the lack of an indoor bathroom and drive-thru did that place in.

On an unrelated note, the Red Lobster and Kildare's in Granite Run Mall are both gone! WTF is with all these places closing with no warning?

El Padrino said...

willie roaf beef

Heff said...

It's always sad to see a "staple" of sorts go down :(

schue said...

That was sad to see. I had an empty feeling in my stomach. I'm gonna miss the big ol neon hat that usually had some letters missing....
Arby's oast Be f Sa dwich.

Jeff said...

Screw progress, huh? What if -- hypothetically -- it's replaced with a New Orleans-style drive-thru daiquiri shop? (Not that this could happen in PA ...) Let's reserve judgment until we see what's next.

Kildare's was OK, but not a great loss. We can do better around here.

jnkiii said...

when did this happen?