The chain of Arby's restaurants begins its history from the names of Forrest Raffel and Leroy Raffel, who was actually his younger brother. In the 1950s Forrest has already been a graduate of Cornell University School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration Leroy had a degree of Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania. That time they bought a restaurant equipment business. They named the company as Raffel Brothers, Inc. Bought from their uncle, small organization appeared to be a fitting introduction to the foodservice industry of those days. It got off the ground and soon became one of the country's leading foodservice consulting companies.

The main business of Raffel Brothers, Inc. was design and installation of foodservice facilities. At first time there were no Arby's restaurants, what is more there simply were no such label as Arby's. It was created later. That time Raffel Brothers dealt with equipment. Well-known pieces of their work are the flight kitchens at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, interiors of six Ohio Turnpike restaurants and foodservice facilities for the Hospitality Inn motel chain for Standard Oil of Ohio.

The 1960s were the decade of fast food phenomenon development. The Raffel brothers were quick-minded and appreciated the potential of this kind of food. As hamburgers have already been popular and famous, the Raffel brothers tried to base their fast food business on something different from them. People might have thought that brothers were just insane, but they were confident in everything they did. The results can be seen easily.

The turning point of the whole affair was a late-night excursion to a small Boston sandwich shop, made by Raffels one rainy Halloween. They were inspired by a trivial 79-cent roast beef sandwich. It helped them to born the main idea of what they will do. However, creating the idea was just the beginning, not the end.

The main problem occurred when they attempted to choose the name for their future product. Initially, they were going to use the name "Big Tex". Unfortunately, it has been already used by some businessman, who refused to negotiate with brothers concerning the name. According to Forrest, they "came up with Arby's, which stands for R.B., the initials of Raffel Brothers, although I guess customers might think the initials stand for roast beef."

Then, the business started its way to the top. The first of Arby's restaurants was opened in Boardman, Ohio, on July 23, 1964. The only items of Arby's menu were roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and a beverage. For about a year this Arby's restaurant was the only of Arby's restaurants existed.

The following Arby's restaurants were opened later by Arby's licensees . Today, there are more than 450 licensees who operate more than 3,400 Arby's restaurants worldwide. So, if you want to try foods from Arby's, you should just find one of the Arby's restaurants near you and enjoy wonderful sandwishes.

Aside from restaurants there is a nonprofit organization called the Arby's Foundation, Inc. It was established in 1986 by Arby's, LLC and has its aim at making a valuable difference in the education and development of the youth of America. The organization carries charity purposes. It works with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. It helps children from primarily single parent homes, one child at a time, by matching them with adult volunteers who act as friends, mentors, and role models.

So, as many companies now, Arby's has managed to combine business purposes with social duties. And having said, with a great success.