Okay, what the heck was I doing in Missouri? And where the heck is Sikeston?!! Well, my little sisters happen to go to college in Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri State University and about an hour and a half away from there is a famous country restaurant called Lambert’s Cafe, “the only home of the throwed rolls,” which has some of the best southern-home cooked food I’ve ever experienced.
I have to refer to Lambert’s as an experience because that is what this place is, an experience like no other. I grew up in Texas and got to sample some pretty good southern and home cooking, but Lambert’s is in a league of its own. First of all, this location in Sikeston is literally in the middle of no where, surrounded by flat farm land and fields. Secondly, this restaurant is ALWAYS crowded! There is always a wait, usually hours during normal meals times, so we decided to go at around 3 pm to avoid the crowds.
Luckily, we got in after about a 15 minute wait and that’s when the madness began! This place is simply a large room with huge bench/booth type seating with large family style tables, wall to wall decor, and non stop action. We were greeted by our happy and loud waiter and he brought us all waters in huge Big Gulp insultated mugs. The servers here make your dining experience one of a kind by throwing rolls, pranking customers, and even singing songs.
My mouth dropped when I looked at the enormous menu of choices like fried catfish, hot beef sandwich, chicken and dumplings, roast beef, and BBQ ribs. And, I could not help but be distracted by one of the waiters throwing hot rolls at customers!!
Yes, this is that place! When you want some bread, you put your hand up, and someone will throw you a hot steaming dinner roll that is really the best dinner roll I have ever had in my life!! The rolls are massive, made fresh hourly, and taste like a hybrid between a southern biscuit and a dinner roll in one. They are served with unlimited butter and honey. This is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen because they throw the rolls fast, sometimes at your head, and sometimes people don’t catch it and rolls go flying everywhere.
After the initial shock of where the hell we were, we all ordered our food and that’s when the food frenzy began. They have what are called “pass arounds” aka huge tubs of food that waiters bring around to your table like fried okra, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, and black eyed peas. These pass arounds come with your meal at no charge, are unlimited, and never stop coming! My favorite pass around was the FRIED OKRA!! I almost died and gone to heaven when the waiter came by with a vat of some of the crispest and tastiest fried okra I ever had. The okra is literally spooned out onto the table in heaping amounts and eaten off the table!!
When our entrees finally arrived, I was already half full from all the rolls and okra, but Lambert’s is not for the weary and like an athlete ready to win a race, I was ready to continue on the feeding frenzy. My huge portion of fried catfish, green beans, and peaches came out and I had my game face on. Next thing I knew a waiter came by and served me up a huge portion of the fried potatoes, and I was set.
All the food I tasted that day was unbelievably tasty and auethenically home cooked. In the end, my skinny brother Ryan took first place and ate more food and more rolls than all of us!!
If you’re ever in the middle of no where in Missouri, you have to make the trip out to Lambert’s. Lambert’s is for serious eaters only, no dieters will survive in this place. To this day, I dream about Lambert’s, their fried okra, their rolls, and am trying to figure out how to get myself back there!
