{"id":16504,"date":"2016-12-13T09:04:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T15:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burgersdogspizza.com\/?p=16504"},"modified":"2016-12-13T09:04:27","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T15:04:27","slug":"beef-a-roo-review-rockford-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/?p=16504","title":{"rendered":"Beef-A-Roo Review, Rockford, IL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beef-A-Roo<\/a>There’s the undisputed champion of fast food “roast beef” places, Arbys,\u00a0which has more than 3300 units. There have been some ‘also rans’along the way, the Roy Rogers chain<\/a> (once over 300 units) tried to\u00a0be a national contender. Hardees<\/a>, with over 3000 units, has always\u00a0featured a similar product on their menu systemwide after acquiring\u00a0both the Roy Rogers and Rax Roast Beef<\/a> chains.<\/p>\n

And there have been local\/regional chains as well, which have somehow\u00a0managed to survive, despite being outspent in marketing and dwarfed\u00a0in the number of locations.<\/p>\n

I recall visiting a Lion’s Choice<\/a>, in St. Louis, (25 outlets), and this gem\u00a0I visited to day, “Beef-A- Roo” in Rockford, IL. “BAR” has 7 locations and has been around since 1967, and while their initial focus was\u00a0on roast beef, they now have a full menu, offering burgers,\u00a0dogs, salads, wraps, soups and other sandwiches.<\/p>\n

Like Arby’s “roast beef,” the meat at Beef-A-Roo appears to come from\u00a0an emulsification process, that is, beef, a solution, seasonings, perhaps\u00a0other ingredients are made into a slurry, packed into a mold, and pre-cooked. The meat has the same texture and color as Arbys, and or\u00a0course, neither resemble pure “muscle meat” as one would find at\u00a0a quality deli or prepare at home.<\/p>\n

Regardless, it remains popular, and even tho Arbys has a good presence\u00a0in Rockford, locals love their Beef-A-Roo, and I have to say my perception
\nof the roast beef sandwich was despite the similarity, I prefered this.\u00a0To me, it was more flavorful than the competitions, and as I am a\u00a0nut for any kind of bread, I have to mention that hands-down, Beef-A-Roo\u00a0may well have one of the best buns in the industry. It’s terrific, soft\u00a0yet firm, a slight buttery taste, and toasted.<\/p>\n

I also tried the olive burger, a popular item in the Chicago area (i have reviewed others), tho\u00a0different variations can be found. BAR’s closely resembles that one\u00a0you will find on<\/p>\n

\"Beef-A-Roo<\/a>
Regular Roast Beef<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

most menus, with sliced green olives and melted white\u00a0cheese. They added a sauce, and I really couldn’t tell what it was,\u00a0resembling a mayo, and it’s not named on their website menu. The\u00a0burger patty has come from the type of automation that makes it\u00a0appear as if it was hand-formed (meaning not a perfectly round,\u00a0“hockey puck” type patty like most fast foods) and like the roast\u00a0beef, it was more flavorful than most of its competitors.<\/p>\n

Read a bunch of BAR’s reviews and you’ll see people crow about the\u00a0fries, and they are good, as good, or better, as the golden arches,\u00a0which many people hold as the fast food gold standard. They are\u00a0thin and crispy shoestrings, nicely salted, piping hot.<\/p>\n

Other people think BAR is spendy, but I disagreed, came away with two\u00a0large sandwiches, fries and a drink for under $10.<\/p>\n

I wish they’d expand, at least regionally. In the meantime, you’ll\u00a0have to go to Rockford, IL and try their food at one of seven locations.<\/p>\n

I have seen the same name on other restaurants in the Midwest, no\u00a0idea whether they were once affiliated, are franchises or operated\u00a0by other members of the founding family.<\/p>\n

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\"Beef-A-Roo<\/a>
Olive Burger<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beef-A-Roo<\/a>
Cheese Fries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Beef-A-Roo<\/a><\/p>\n

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Beef-A-Roo Review<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s the undisputed champion of fast food “roast beef” places, Arbys,\u00a0which has more than 3300 units. There have been some ‘also rans’along the way, the Roy Rogers chain (once over 300 units) tried to\u00a0be a national contender. Hardees, with over 3000 units, has always\u00a0featured a similar product on their menu systemwide after acquiring\u00a0both the Roy… Continue reading Beef-A-Roo Review, Rockford, IL<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,25],"tags":[321,1343,3030],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16504"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterstromquist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}