More restaurants adding lamb to menu mix

Lamb, of all things, is making a comeback in America.

Arby’s, the king of roast beef, will soon start selling lamb gyros year round. Sandwich seller Potbelly Corp. is offering a gyro flatbread; Darden Restaurants Inc.’s Yard House brewery, a lamb burger topped with feta cream cheese; and Romacorp Inc., lamb ribs at more of its Tony Roma’s restaurants.

Meanwhile, fast-growing Mediterranean-style eateries such as Zoe’s Kitchen Inc. and Taziki’s, looking to their heritage, are featuring lamb meatballs and chargrilled lamb, along with hummus and pita.

As younger diners start showing more adventurous tastes, lamb is now on 20 percent of all U.S. restaurant menus, up from 17 percent a decade ago, according to food researcher Datassential.

“With the influence of media, as well as things like the Food Network, you see an increase of just having lamb in front of people,” said Bob Gallagher, Romacorp’s senior vice president of food and beverage. “People are more open to it.” Maybe. Lamb is the oldest domesticated meat, but it’s never quite tickled the American palate. It has long been relegated to the occasional splurge at steakhouses or as kebabs at Greek diners. Only half of the population has even tried it.

There’s also the sad child factor: A lamb is a sheep, under 14 months old.

Still, Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. says it sold 6.5 million gyros in April, up from 6.1 million during the same month last year.

Black Angus Steakhouse is trying to draw in younger diners by pitching their New Zealand lamb as free range, said David Bolosan, the 44-store chain’s senior director of product innovation and procurement.

“It definitely resonates with millennials,” he said.