Arby’s Potato Cakes Lawsuit: Promotion vs. Real Class Action

The Arby’s Potato Cakes lawsuit is not a real lawsuit. It’s a marketing promotion the chain launched on February 24, 2025, framed as a “pre-class action lawsuit” Arby’s filed against itself on behalf of its fans. Under the terms, Arby’s promised to keep Potato Cakes on the menu permanently, and if it removes them before December 31, 2026, it will pay out $1 million in Arby’s food split among everyone who registered.¹

How the Promotion Works

Customers sign up at arbyspotatocakeslawsuit.com or by calling 1-833-LAW-SPUD.² Registration locks in a share of the $1 million food payout if Arby’s breaks its promise before the end of 2026. If Potato Cakes stay on the menu through that date, nothing is owed.¹

Early registrants also received a DoorDash promo code for free delivery and a two-piece order of Potato Cakes, redeemable between February 27 and March 5, 2025, with a $10 minimum spend.¹ Industry coverage noted the sign-up form doubles as a customer data-collection tool for the 3,500-unit chain.³

Why Arby’s Set Up the “Lawsuit”

Potato Cakes had been on the Arby’s menu since the chain opened in 1964.³ In 2021, the company replaced them with crinkle fries after what it called “extensive market testing.”⁴ Fans pushed back hard. They started dedicated social accounts, launched a Change.org petition, and generated more than 10,000 online mentions of Potato Cakes in a single year.⁵

Arby’s first brought the item back as a limited-time offer on July 1, 2024, for the chain’s 60th anniversary, then pulled it again.⁶ The 2025 “lawsuit” promotion was pitched as a guarantee against another disappearance. Jeff Baker, Arby’s chief marketing officer, said the initiative was meant to “honor that loyalty” fans had shown.¹

Current Status

As of mid-2026, Potato Cakes remain on the menu, priced starting at $2.69 for a two-piece order. The $1 million payout has not been triggered.³ Registered fans only collect anything if Arby’s removes the item before December 31, 2026.

Don’t Confuse It With Arby’s Real Class Action

Arby’s is also facing an unrelated, actual class-action lawsuit, and it’s easy to mix the two up. In September 2023, New York resident Joseph Alongis sued Arby’s in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging that the chain’s ads depict roughly double the amount of meat customers actually receive, and imply rare roast beef when the served product is not rare.⁷

The suit covers seven menu items: Classic Roast Beef, Double Roast Beef, Half Pound Roast Beef, Classic Beef ‘N Cheddar, Double Beef ‘N Cheddar, Half Pound Beef ‘N Cheddar, and Smokehouse Brisket. It alleges violations of New York’s Deceptive Acts and Practices statute along with breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and seeks to represent anyone who bought those items in New York since September 2020.⁸

In September 2025, the court mostly denied Arby’s motion to dismiss, finding it “plausible that the photos would mislead reasonable consumers” about both the rareness and the quantity of the meat, particularly for “Half Pound” sandwiches where the name itself makes a factual claim about weight. The court rejected Arby’s argument that the images were mere puffery.⁹ That case is still pending and has nothing to do with Potato Cakes or the $1 million food promotion.

1
Inspire Brands. Arby’s Announces Forever Return of Fan-Favorite Potato Cakes
2
Eat This, Not That. Arby’s Brings Back Potato Cakes Permanently
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Nation’s Restaurant News. Arby’s Potato Cakes Have Returned Permanently
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Mashed. A Dreaded Moment Has Seemingly Arrived for Fans of Arby’s Potato Cakes
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Inspire Brands. Fan-Favorite Potato Cakes Are Back at Arby’s
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Allrecipes. Arby’s Potato Cakes Limited-Time Return
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ClassAction.org. Arby’s Overstates Amount, Quality of Meat in Sandwiches, Class Action Alleges
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ClassAction.org. Alongis v. Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc.
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Tushnet.com. We Have Less of the Meats: Court Mostly Denies Arby’s Motion to Dismiss in Misleading Photos Case