This Is Fast Food?

When you hear the words "fast food," warm burritos, crisp salads and chilled margaritas probably don't immediately come to mind. However, a new restaurant that has opened in Short Pump aims to change your line of thinking.

Welcome to Arby's.

And The Fresh Chef. And Barbacoa Custom Burritos. And, oh yes, Cool Blue Smoothies.

"We only have one or two wars in a lifetime, but we have three meals in a day." The Will Rogers quotation sits high on the wall above a long bank of ordering stations. The restaurant one-ups Rogers by providing not three but four completely different menus from which customers can choose. In the few short weeks that the unusual restaurant has been open, word-of-mouth has quickly made it a hot spot to bring the whole family.

Bill Lowe, Director of Human Resources at the sprawling new über Arby's on Pouncey Tract Road, explains that Arby's restaurants are franchise-owned, and so, "We get a little leeway," he says, when it comes to the menu. Not The Same, Old Thing Leeway may be putting it mildly. In one corner, you've got your Arby's sandwiches, subs and curly fries. As you walk over to that station to place your order, though, you might also be tempted by Tex-Mex cuisine from Barbacoa, made-to-order salads by The Fresh Chef and, on your way out the door (or on your way in, if you're one of those "dessert-first" types) blended fruit drinks from Cool Blue Smoothies. In addition to the predictable soft drinks on tap, the restaurant also serves beer, wine and margaritas. (Stacy Warner / richmond.com) It might look like a fast-food restaurant at first glance, but go in the dining room. Lowe says most fast-food restaurants do well with the lunchtime crowd, but business usually falls off around dinnertime. In planning this restaurant, he says, "We went after the dinner market."

Near the Arby's are a Wendy's and a Burger King, but while those restaurants are busy churning out variations on a tired, old theme, Lowe says, his restaurant is trying to carve out its own niche. The other brands sold at the restaurant are local ones brought to you by the Ripps, the same family behind Havana '59 in downtown Richmond.

Technically, this Arby's is still a fast-food restaurant. You order at the counter and take your tray of food back to your table. Still, it's not that fast for fast food. Lowe says that, unlike some of the competition, this Arby's food is prepared when you order it.

"We make all of our stuff to order," he says. "We are very, very protective of the quality of our food." You watch through the glass counter as a skilled craftsman scoops up some grilled chicken, rice and other ingredients, and folds them all into a fresh flour tortilla. Anatomically Correct Next to the unique menus, the ambience inside this Arby's is what sets it apart from the rest.

Take, for example, the high-definition television screens. (Stacy Warner / richmond.com) One of the anatomically correct topiary bulls that stands guard outside the Short Pump Arby's. Three of them. At $18,000 apiece.

The United States is still years away from fully adopting this new standard in television, and an Arby's in Short Pump has installed three of the screens just so its customers can gaze up and watch sporting events on ESPN.

Apart from those technical marvels, the restaurant is decorated with granite and marble floors, and features high-backed wooden chairs around some of the tables. Canadian Indians carved an intricate totem pole that sits in the center of the dining area; geese and wooden canoes hang from the ceiling. Lowe says the desired effect was to give the appearance of a Montana Indian lodge. If that's not to your liking, perhaps you'd prefer to take your tray and dine al fresco under the restaurant's yellow umbrellas. At this Arby's, that's an option too.

Outdoors, alongside the drive-through lane, you'll find traffic-stopping, anatomically correct topiary bulls. Seventh Heaven On a recent lunchtime visit, the indoor seating area was packed, but rain kept people from sitting outside. Just as many customers were enjoying a meal from Arby's as were trying out some of the other exotic creations offered there.

Penny Purcell, who, despite spending the last 35 years in Virginia still holds on to her English accent, was among the many customers trying out the new restaurant.

"I hadn't been to an Arby's in probably 25 years, and so I was a little surprised" walking inside, she said. Purcell gave her salad from The Fresh Chef high marks, although she said the meals in general were more expensive than she had expected them to be. (Stacy Warner / richmond.com) A totem pole carved by Canadian Indians spreads its wooden wings over the indoor dining area. "For me, for lunchtime, it's a little expensive," she says. "I don't normally spend $5 for lunch." Still, Purcell says she'll be back.

Arby's not only sets higher standards for its food, but also for its employees. Lowe says all applicants must consent to a criminal background check and must take a personality test. The test, according to Lowe, allows Arby's to place that applicant in the best possible position based on the test results.

Then, of course, there's the matter of the random drug screenings. Every Arby's employee must periodically provide proof that they are not using any illegal drugs. Failing the test means dismissal from the company.

"My number has already come up twice," Lowe says genially of the screening.

The first Arby's, the brainchild of brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffel, opened July 23, 1964 in Boardman, Ohio. Just three items were on the menu: Sixty-nine-cent roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and Texas-sized iced tea. According to a history of the Arby's brand provided on the company's Web site , the "RB" in Arby's stands not for roast beef, but for the Raffel brothers.

According to Lowe, six of the top 10 best-selling Arby's restaurants in the world are in Richmond.

It's only been about a month since the new restaurant opened, but judging by the steady customers, it's safe to say this one might become the seventh.