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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Go West Old Man – Headed Home Across Missouri & Lambert's Cafe– 2012

On Thursday we crossed southern Missouri taking US-53, MO-13, and US-60 and all were very good roads with hardly any traffic.  Much of the terrain reminded us of home and it was mostly rolling pasture land as we drove thru the Ozarks.

That is until we passed Poplar Bluff and it got dead flat – similar to approaching the southeastern seacoast.  It was covered with soybeans, rice (which I’d never seen growing), and a little cotton - I wondered what the yellow rolls were until I could see they were picked cotton.

We stayed at a very nice campground called Hinton RV Park and it’s at the intersection of I-55 and I-57/US-60 along with a lot of motels.

I can’t believe we keep stumbling into pretty neat places to eat and I can’t say we saved the best for last, but this was a good one.  As we drove across Missouri, I suggested Bev use her IPad to do a search on Sikeston, Mo and the first thing to pop up was Lambert’s Café and it got good ratings on Yelp.

We’d skipped lunch and when we checked into the campground mid afternoon, the lady at the desk advised that Lambert's good and only about a mile down the road, so off we went to find the little café.

Talk about a shock, their waiting areas are bigger than most cafes and the parking lot is huge.

As it turns out this place is famous and the Home of Throwed Rolls – just search on nothing but Lambert’s Café and see what you get – my first three pages were this place or one of the other two offshoots (Ozark, MO & Foley, AL).  I thought throwed rolls referred to some part of the baking process (like hand-tossed pizza), but it’s not.  A young man walked around the large room calling out “hot rolls” and when you raised your hand, he throwed one to you. 

Other servers went around the room with various pass-outs that go with all of the meals – fried okra, black-eyed peas, and fried potatoes and onions, plus the roll thower had apple butter and sorghum molasses - this is the black eyed pea girl.

This is about half of the seating for over 300 people and they show up here by the tour bus full or semi as seen above.

I had the fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and turnip greens.

Bev had the round steak which is really chicken fried steak, topped with mashed potatoes, topped with cream gravy and her sides were cucumber salad and white beans.

Here was the real surprise – we thought it was all very good, not Bobby Flay good, but home cooking good and I considered staying another night just so we could go back – I would have had catfish.  My chicken was crispy, moist, and flavorful and both side dishes were very good and cooked with southern flavors - like bacon.  Bev’s was also very good plus she had about four servings of the fried okra pass-out.
They have a menu slate of southern comfort food as seen on their menu and I can easily see why it's a tour bus stop.  If you have the opportunity, you should give it a try, but take cash and even if you think the food is just so-so, the experience is worth the price.  Per Wikipedia – “The Travel Channel named Lambert's Cafe as the "World's Best Place to Pig Out", edging out Beth's Cafe, The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Primanti Brothers, Cluck-U Chicken, and other notable restaurants.”

I'm now responding to your comments and hoping you will stop back by - photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/27/12 event date

19 comments:

  1. So funny about the throwed rolls. Who knew. Love that you've found good places to eat using Bev's Ipad. Another great reason to have one :)
    Sam

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    1. I wasn't in favor of the IPad purchase, but it's cellular capability has proven invaluable during our travels.

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  2. Wow, Lambert's definitely sounds like the place to go. That chicken looks fantastic!!

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    1. I don't think I'd drive up there for dinner from your place, but would sure go there if in the area.

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  3. Now that's what I'd call home cooking. That gravy smothered steak made my stomach growl. I don't know how, but I've heard of this place, and the roll throwing. It looks a lot like a place in Yoder, Kansas called Carriage Crossing. A parking lot the size of a football field, a place for large vehicles and a huge waiting area and dining area. AND, the parking lot is always full. Anyway, back to Lamberts...I think I'd aspire to be the roll thrower rather than be the okra girl.

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    1. Lamberts claims to be home of the throwed rolls which tells me others have copied them. You have to develop special skills to be the thrower, but anyone can dip out okra :-).

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  4. Looks like a fun and nice place to eat. The food looks good. Blessings, Catherine

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  5. Larry, Well despite the fact that Laurie is from Missouri and I lived there for 13 or 14 years, we never made it to Lambert's. Frustrating since we've seen it all over the Food and Travel Channels! So...we're envious! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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    1. Now you know, you have to find a way to get there.

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  6. What a fun restaurant to visit! Both of your meals have me drooling... total comfort food! YUM!

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    1. Pam - They made me drool just looking at them again.

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  7. What a great trip you both have had! We love Lamberts! My husband and I live about 1 1/2 hours from Lamberts in Ozark, so we usually visit every time we are nearby. You are right-it is home-style cooking-really delicious and plenty of it. And they always throw the rolls.

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    1. Lynda - It's good to hear from someone who has lots of Lambert's experience. I thought I remembered you lived in MO. For our next trip west, we'll likely go back the same way and a stop at Lambert's will be in the plan.

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  8. I love how you seem to find delicious food wherever you go!

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    1. Thanks Joanne - We blunder into a lot of them.

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  9. "Throwed Rolls" is really funny. I have a nearly 13 year old who would just love this. Looks like a fun place!

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    1. Marjie - the kid tossing the rolls did seem to be having a good time.

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  10. That's too funny. I have seen the "throwed rolls" on TV, maybe on Man vs Food, but the name Lambert's didn't register until you mentioned it. Wouldn't it be funny if Randy Johnson or another retired MLB pitcher started work there? They'd take your head off!

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