Arby's Diablo Dare Sandwich

by Mike Lunsford, GGR Editor-In-Chief

I am always shocked at the internet’s collective disrespect of Arby’s. From rumors like “their roast beef isn’t even meat: it’s an imitation meat made from gels, liquids, and pastes and passed off as meat,” to “they’re a money laundering front because I never see anyone in there,” they catch all sorts of flack. So much of the slander is utter nonsense but we all know that doesn’t stop the internet.

I personally love Arby’s. Their curly fries are the best french fry in the fast food game and the beef & cheddar on an onion roll is overlooked as one of the most delicious fast food options. Is it healthy? Absolutely not. There isn’t much on their menu that is other than a few items. Their main focus is the extreme. The commercials are proof of this. Ving Rhames yells “We Have The Meats” at us. Marsellus Wallace doesn’t have time for your bullshit.

“You ain’t got no problem, Jules. I’m on the motherf***er. Order the meats, get some curly fries and chill.”

Arby’s knows what they’re about, and they built a house around it. In fact, their newest offering is more of the extreme: The Diablo Dare Sandwich. It claims to be the spiciest sandwich on the market. Does that claim hold up?

What exactly is the Diablo Dare Sandwich? It comes in 2 variants: either fried chicken or beef brisket, but it’s a sandwich topped with ghost pepper jack cheese, hot seasoning, fire-roasted jalapeños, pickles, mayo, and Diablo BBQ sauce all sandwiched between a spicy red chipotle bun. Sounds spicy! In fact, Arby’s claims it’s SO SPICY that you need a milkshake to go with it to cool down your mouth. You’re talking a lot of shit right now, Arby’s. Everyone claims their spicy sandwich is the king, but we’ll see.

My running partner, Jax, split one of these sandwiches with me. The sandwich was large enough that half was more than enough, especially given the heat factors involved. Take a look!

Man, that thing looked spicy! It smelled spicy, too. You got the jalapeño and chipotle aroma immediately. The Diablo BBQ sauce was sweeter than I expected. Honestly, I figured it would be savory but a sweet element to balance the potential heat is a smart move. Let’s dive in.

I was skeptical of Arby’s claim that you needed a milkshake because this sandwich was so spicy. It definitely was spicy but not obscenely so. Did I NEED the milkshake? No, but there was some serious heat. And more so, it wasn’t just hot for the sake of hot. One of my biggest gripes with spicy food is when there is no flavor and it’s all heat. This had great flavor, a complex mash up of spicy, smoky, savory, sweetness from the BBQ sauce and crunchiness from the chicken patty, lettuce and pickles. The only thing I didn’t like? The bun. Sure, the concept of a chipotle bun seems like a good idea, and the flavor was good, but I didn’t like the consistency. It was too dense. It didn’t ruin the sandwich though, because overall, it was really good and lived up to Arby’s bold claims.

What did Jax have to say about it?

Jax: It was spicy, but it wasn’t so spicy that you needed to have the milkshake. It is the spiciest fast food sandwich, for sure but it wasn’t overwhelming. 8/10 on my scale. It’s no Planet Hollywood Guy Fieri Chicken Sandwich

Me: Again with the Planet Hollywood sandwich?

Jax: I’m just sayin’

Arby’s may be a lot of things, but when it comes to their bold claims, they do back them up. Would I order this sandwich again? For sure. I want to try the brisket version now! Arby’s has the meat and the heat. Ew…I feel gross even saying that. Hopefully, I’ll get a check for that or something.