‘That Ain’t Steak’: Tiktoker’s Arby’s Steak Nuggets Review Goes Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

Fast food chain Arby’s launched its new Steak Nuggets in early October, promoting them as tender, juicy, hand-cut bites of steak with garlic and pepper seasoning. The company said the product was a bold new menu item that would give customers a smoky flavor. But the response on social media has been far from what the chain probably hoped for.

TikToker Emily Davis quickly became one of the loudest critics of the new menu item. In a video she posted, Davis asked why people had praised the Steak Nuggets and warned viewers who were thinking about trying them. Her review gave an ugly picture of the product, comparing how it looked and tasted in bad ways.

According to Daily Dot, Davis said in her video, “Why did y’all lie about the Arby’s Steak Bites? Now, you might be thinking, ‘That looks like burnt dog food.’ Yeah, that’s what it tastes like, too.” She then talked about the texture, saying it was like beef jerky nuggets but “wet and weird.” Davis added, “That ain’t steak,” saying that the product did not live up to what it promised. 

What The Reviews Say About The New Product

The bad feedback went beyond Davis’s first video. Other TikTok users who commented on her video pointed out strange things about how the product looked. One person said the nuggets looked both dry and soggy at the same time. Someone claiming to be an Arby’s employee suggested the weird texture might be because of ground meat and meat binder used to make them.

Another person who said they work at Arby’s gave harsh criticism of several menu items, calling the steak nuggets nasty. On Reddit, users also shared their thoughts with mixed reactions. One user said the taste reminded them of dried chunks of the restaurant’s beef brisket. But not everyone was completely negative about the launch, similar to other viral TikTok moments that have started online debates.

Some social media users liked that Arby’s tried to bring something different to the fast food world. One Reddit user showed support for chains trying new ideas, saying that recent years have seen too many copy and paste offerings. They said they planned to try the nuggets just to encourage new ideas.

An Arby’s spokesperson said that the company had tested the Steak Nuggets locally in May, where customers responded with a lot of excitement. The spokesperson said they knew they needed to bring the product to everyone across the country based on that response. But even with the success in testing, the wider social media reaction has turned out to be more split than the company probably expected.