America's desire for inexpensive, pre-cooked deer has been wildly underestimated. Arby's made its new Venison Sandwich available at four Minnesota locations last Friday; the sandwich was sold out at all of them by 11:15am, KARE reports. According to the Nation's Restaurant News, it was the same in five other states where the chain was testing out its "thick-cut venison steak with crispy onions and a juniper berry sauce." Some Arby's locations ran out of the Venison Sandwich in just 15 minutes. "It’s safe to say that the response has exceeded our lofty expectations," a company spokesperson says.
Some Arby's locations had as few as 70 Venison Sandwiches on hand, and an executive blames "the PR storm" ahead of the sandwich's release for how quickly supplies went, despite a limit of two per customer, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. It's unclear if more Venison Sandwiches are on the way, as there may not be a venison supply big enough to meet Arby's needs. So did the chain's foray into deer meat warrant the ridiculous demand? Not exactly, according to the Star Tribune's Rick Nelson, who was lucky enough to nab one of the sandwiches. "The predominant flavor ... was the peppery/sweet punch of Arby's Sauce. Ugh," he says. "It took far more Curly Fries than I would normally allow myself to cleanse my palate." (In other fast-food news, McDonald's has a problem in Italy.)