Now you can eat elk meat even if your hunt isn’t successful. Arby’s is doubling down on its wild-game offerings with a new elk sandwich, debuting just in time for hunting season. The addition is part of the fast-food chain’s aim to “have the meats,” whatever type it may be.
“We took a look at what hunters and wild-game enthusiasts love to talk about eating and elk was something that kept popping up, and we said, ‘This is another great-tasting game meat we think our guests would enjoy,’” Arby’s Chief Marketing Officer Jim Taylor told USA Today.
The good news? The new sandwiches begin selling October 21. The bad news? The elk sandwiches will only be available at three locations, each in a prime elk hunting state.
The participating restaurants are located at:
- 200 East 144th Ave., Thornton, Colorado 80023
- 2607 CY Ave., Casper, Wyoming 82604
- 2834 King Ave. W, Billings, Montana 59102
While the elk sandwiches aren’t widely available, the venison version tested last year will now be available at all 3,300 Arby’s restaurants, although still for a limited time only. It, too, debuts October 21.
“The positive response to our limited offering of venison last year was so widespread and passionate that we knew we had to find a way to offer it nationwide,” Taylor said in a press release.
The thick-cut steak of 100 percent venison—grass fed, free range, and sourced from a New Zealand supplier—is marinated in garlic, salt, and pepper, then cooked for three hours. It’s topped with crispy onions and a juniper berry sauce on a toasted specialty roll. The elk sandwiches are similar but use a blackberry port wine sauce instead of the juniper berry one.
The venison sandwich was first offered in 2016 at 17 restaurants in key deer hunting states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Georgia. The offering was part of a national ad campaign—“It’s Meat Season”—aimed at celebrating the start of deer season across the country and was available only October 31 through November 28, depending on the location. However, many of those sold out within hours of opening.
No word on how long the elk sandwiches will be available, but if the venison sandwich is any indicator, it may be more widely distributed come 2018.