Lambert’s Cafe

The food is OK, not amazing but the portions are pretty big so you can have enough for another meal if you want to take it home. Service isn’t that great. I don’t think our waitress smiled one time this most recent time we went. The wait is normally pretty long, which we typically don’t mind, as we expect it when we make the trip.

This atmosphere is country. When I pulled up, it reminded me of a Cracker Barrell. This place is HUGE! They offer a game room, gift shop, there Large dining rooms and plenty of parking.
Loud and rowdy, so don’t expect a quiet dinner. We got there at lunch and the guy throwing the rolls hit my mom and it got butter all over her clothes. Also, the roll scratched her arm.
Other than that bad experience, it was great. The host and servers all wear identical uniforms and are super friendly. The food portions are more than anyone can eat in one setting.

We got rolls quickly and they were really good. The only two other pass around a that came were fried potatoes and black eyed peas. I ordered chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes and gravy and corn. The corn was canned and too sweet. The mashed potatoes were homemade and good but covered in brown gravy made from powder. Chicken pot pie was good but would have been better with fresh versus canned carrots.
We did not eat much as the food was not great however both developed stomach ache.
Luckily we went on a Tues night so there was no line. However a line would have been good in this case because we may have opted not to go.
This is one of those been there don’t really need to go again.

Be prepared to wait to get in, wait for a table, and wait for a table. Apparently is stays slammed from the moment it opens to the moment it runs the last diner out. FYI, there are tour buses by the dozen dropping off whole loads of church groups and senior citizens and that contributes to the wait.
This place is famous for «throwed rolls» and they do indeed throw them all over the dining room at will. I didn’t try one because I have a dairy allergy and they contain milk, but my brother said they were great.
They also pass around the dining room with friend okra, blackeyed peas and several other things that they serve like appetizers. The okra was good, I didn’t try the rest because the servers never came by out table with them.
We ordered the special of the day, steak tips and rice with gravy and two sides, which were candied yams and turnip greens. The yams were so sweet from added sugar that they hurt your teeth to eat them. The greens tasted like the can they came out of with a lot of salt apparently added to them. The steak tips and gravy over rice looked good but the taste didn’t keep up with the looks. Instead of the au jus style gravy you usually get with this dish ours came with some gelatinous brown stuff apparently made from a powdered mix. There was also an odd taste to the dish that we couldn’t identify.
We would up taking a couple of bites of everything and then abandoned it, which turned out to be a good thing since we both had some gastrointestinal difficulties later on from the little we tried.
Anyway, I’m glad I went, it’s an experience, and apparently thousands of people like it a lot. so go for the experience and the rolls and maybe you’ll have a better experience than I did.

Always love stopping here. The food is very tasty county style meals. Sides are fresh and served continuously with your main course. We had an excellent server. Very professional and funny. Hot tolls were thrown to us from across the dining area. The whole family loved it. Will always come back here when in the area.

Ah, Lambert’s…Americana at its finest. Not familiar with Lambert’s? Think Cracker Barrel, mainline injected with anabolic steroids, bit by a radioactive spider, and then blast it with gamma radiation. Down home cookin’, monstrously large portions, AND unlimited «pass arounds»…including super soft yeast rolls that they, literally, throw to you from across the room. Seriously, if you leave Lambert’s in any other condition than needing a wheelbarrow to make it back to your car, you are missing out!
The home cookin’ onslaught starts as soon as you order when the pass arounds begin, which are unlimited helpings of the aforementioned yeast rolls (with sorghum molasses and/​or apple butter), macaroni & tomatoes, fried potatoes & onions, black-​eyed peas, and fried okra… and those are in ADDITION to the sides that come with your meal!!! Seriously, it’s insane. But it’s soooo good!
For entrees, I’ve had the Country Fried Steak ($ 13.99) and Meatloaf ($ 13.49), and both come with mashed potatoes and TWO MORE SIDES! The CFS was great with a nice crunchy batter and a white country gravy that wasn’t too salty. The meatloaf was slightly better; the meat was more tender and juicy and the tomato-​based topping was a great tang to the rich meat. At less than $ 14, and considering that you can EASILY get two meals out of each entrée, it’s hard to find a better value for the dollar almost anywhere.
My biggest detractor from 5 Stars is that there is almost ALWAYS a wait here, and the service can be somewhat hit or miss (again, depending on how insanely busy they are and how thinly stretched your server is). I do like they serve your drinks in huge insulated mugs (like a Bubba Keg), so that helps a bit when waiting for refills.
Admittedly, this isn’t 5-​Star dining and they do anchor a bit to quantity over quality, but all in all, I really enjoy Lambert’s — both the insane quantity of food and the fun of constantly incoming rolls make it a must stop whenever we are near Sikeston.

Amazing food– amazing service-​amazing ambience! Loved the chicken pot pie, tasted like my momma’s! We’ll be back.

As many times we have eaten here I can’t believe I never reviewed this place. Prob doesn’t need it tho cause it’s excellent … Really. A bit of a line today 2:15 on a thurs (busses just got out of Resturant) but it went lickety spilt! As soon as we sat down we got ourselves a Throwed roll n okra for me. Waitress came around and we were stuffing our face with rolls. Had to have her come back, lol. The cinnamon rolls were a coming around too $ 3.49 (may get one to go since we going into Canada tomorrow (crappy food up there). So the boy ordered the special wich was poke chops and I had the catfish. Oh boy sooo much food. I had to take some of my fish Togo. Sooo to say the least when those cinnamon rolls came around again. We said. Brrrrp… Nope! No can do. Lol nothing at that point looked good. But this place is a Destination for sure. Always upbeat when the musical lady playing the piano! And the game room was packed too with teenagers ! Must have been another bus! Till next time! See ya.

Cute folksy décor with license plates on the walls greets you. We came through Sikeston at 8:00 on a Thursday night and walked right in — didn’t experience the weekend wait times our server Gary told us can be up to three hours! Very clean bathrooms and everything else. Food is not just plentiful but mostly very good. The rolls are HOT and the «pass arounds» ranged from just ok (okra) to yummy (fried potatoes!). My hog jowl was somewhat dry but I had to give them a break since it was 30 minutes before closing and you can only keep cooked pork moist for so long. Eneruthignelse was delish. We were offered apple butter about six times but we’re disappointed that we were never offered the black eyed peas. Service was fun and friendly — stop if you can but definitely try to avoid it on the weekend.

Great place, a lot of fun and great food. You won’t go away hungry, it’s just not possible. They keep bringing stuff to your table. I Cought two rolls and missed one. We had a great time. You have to go there.

What can I say!!! This is a must stop and try at least once. I actually try and stop here every road trip to Texas (and that’s quite often). This trip the staff was awesome! Super friendly and personable, one of the sweet kids handing out fried okra sat for a minute talking about his soon trip to Chicago. Love this touch this business is on to something!
So I’ll give you tips!
1. Go at off times to avoid the wait. But don’t be too discouraged on the wait. Was told 45 minutes and we were seated in 20. Also smaller groups get seated faster (I guess duh).
2. They only take cash
3. Don’t order big meals because the pass around and rolls will fill you up!
Enjoy!

This place is so much fun! Had never been before we stopped in on Easter Sunday.
Rustic type atmosphere, where they throw you rolls across tables. Serving sizes are really large. I got a a chicken caesar salad was was easily enough for two. They walk around family style serving sides.

The staff was extremely friendly. I had the southern fried chicken dinner, it was good. My wife had chicken and dumplings, she was a little disappointed in the dumplings because they were more like larger noodles. My son (14) had chicken fingers and they gave him a lot and they were delicious.
Pass-​arounds were good. My favorite is the fried potatoes. The kids had a blast catching their rolls.

Food fun and laughter the is not only good it’s in abundance yes your eyes are going to be bigger than your stomach the staff is friendly and hilarious we ate great and laughed while doing so.

Really enjoyed our dinner here this time. One if the roll throwers had no fear and was chucking them all the way across the dining room to the cheers of onlookers and the occasional movement of an overhead lamp, as the roll ricocheted off of it and changed course. The other roll thrower was a conservative guy who tossed the roll to you from the edge of your table:) These are delicious, homemade potato rolls like Grandma used to make (not mine, but I’ve heard some grandmas make a mean homemade potato roll).
One of my daughters got soup, and couldn’t even finish half of the bowl. Perhaps this was because she also ordered milk, which came in a ginormous (her word) mug, which she polished off over the course of the meal. My other daughter and I got chicken and dumplings, which is really dumplings with a miniscule amount of chicken, but tasty as all get out. My husband ordered chicken fried steak and said it was great too.
Our waitress was amazing – friendly, talkative, but not too much so, and efficient. Some of the servers carrying around the dishes to pass did so enthusiastically, while others seemed like weights were around their ankles causing them to shuffle slowly table to table, muttering the name of the dish they were passing out in such a way that it appeared they may fall asleep any second.
The place was crazy busy when we arrived, with a full parking lot and two tour buses to boot. We still managed to get in and out in not much over an hour, and look forward to a return visit on our way back through.

When in south Missouri, we always make a stop at Lambert’s Café. Usually it’s in the Branson/​Springfield area, but this time it was Sikeston on our way to Memphis.
The Sikeston location was larger than Springfield (guess I’d forgotten) so arriving at 5 pm on the dot meant a quick seating. Normally if you get there between 5 – 6 pm you’ll be greeted with a 30 – 45 minute wait at a bare minimum. So, eat with the blue hairs and get there early!
I always get the roast beef dinner and don’t bother with anything else. The portion is ridiculous but I almost finish it! Pass arounds include fried tators, fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes and black eyed peas.
Overall this visit was good. The okra wasn’t piping hot this time but still good, and the black eyed peas were AWOL, but still plenty to go around!

My mom loves Lambert’s in Alabama so we stopped on the way travelling to Mississippi for the holiday. Overall, we were underwhelmed by the experience. I like the uniqueness of the «throwed rolls» and «pass arounds.» When you are seated, you can order lighter. They walk around with buckets of various sides that they plop in your plate — in addition to the sides that are served with your entrée.
We liked some of the pass around sides. We both ordered fried chicken and found it to be «okay.» It’s basically large production comfort cafeteria-​like food.
They only take check or cash. What? Personally, I would trust a credit card over a personal check but I’m sure they have their reasons and it works because the place stays packed or busy.
My mom loves it for the entertainment (pranks by staff) but maybe the sites differ because we didn’t see any or experience it.

Always been curious about this place, which advertises heavily along the interstate. They also have another Missouri location and one in Foley, Alabama. They are known for «throwed rolls» — servers walk around the room with tins full of piping hot popovers, diners raise their hands, and a roll is pitched to them. (Note of caution, the servers are wearing GLOVES, cause the damned things are HOT).
This «country themed menu» restaurant also includes «pass arounds» with each meal; servers walk through the rooms with buckets/​pans of fried okra, sorghum, black eyed peas, apple butter, fried potatos, and mac and tomatos. The night I was there, despite sitting right near the kitchen door, the «pass arounds» were seemingly in short supply. While the sorghum girl frequently passed, potato guy and okra person were nowhere to be seen for the entire meal.
Entrees (like catfish, fried chicken, meatloaf, pork chops and the like) come accompanied by your choice of two or three sides from an extensive list (beans, taters, slaw, cornbread, tater salad, greens, veggies and the like).
I went with chicken fried steak, which came with mashed potatoes, gravy, and I chose greens and white beans for my sides. Surprisingly, this is one of the better chicken fried steaks I have had, and if you are a regular reader, you know I have tried them in a lot of different places.
Food is delivered very quickly, seeming to indicate there is some pre-​cooking done, as this is a massive place, but it didn’t seem to affect the quality or taste.
The only annoying thing (for me) is the constant honky tonk piano music.
Kids will love it. There is a lot of Americana decking the walls, and there is a kid’s menu, too.

Favorite.
Place.
Ever!
Lots of good homestyle food choices, plentiful side dishes, & famous throwed rolls! Good service & a great atmosphere. I try to go here whenever I’m passing thru the area. Gift shop has neat items too!

I’ve been to the Ozark location and the Sikeston location at least 10 times each. Love, love, love Lambert’s. I love the fact that they are old fashion in the sense of no reservations. Yes it would make it easier on people to not have to wait, but honestly when people are worth several hours to eat here because it’s amazing and it’s been on some of the top food shows then they don’t really have to take reservations just because you don’t want to wait. There are plenty of people that are willing to wait. I know I’m one of them.
So my go to used to be their chef salad girl. That thing is huge. The bread is as big as a hub cap. I have never finished a fourth of the salad. Their center cut ham is so good. It’s one of the freshest hams I’ve ever had. The chicken in dumplings beat my family recipe. It’s been in their family for years. Hog Jowl… lawd have mercy… This stuff is so good. It’s deep fried and can’t be beat. I suggest trying it. The polish sausage and kraut is up to par with my family’s kraut and we make it every year from our family recipe. I’m super picky when it comes to eating someone’s saurkraut.
Grab a cinnamon roll to go I promise you won’t be disappointed. With all those free fixins like hot rolls and sorghum or apple butter, tomatoes and macaroni, fried okra, black eyed peas, fried taters you can’t go wrong. I’m usually full by the time my entrée gets there. You can’t go wrong with this place. It’s worth the wait.