Throw Them Rolls!

I take great pride having roots in the Midwest. Unfortunately, the to-dos of everyday life keeps me from visiting Missouri as often as I’d like, but every once in a while I run across something that truly makes me miss the kindheartedness–and sometimes quirkiness–of the folks who live in middle America. Case in point: Lambert’s Cafe.

In a barn-like structure a few hours south of St. Louis,  hungry patrons are catching their supper–literally. Lambert’s Cafe dubs itself “the only home of the throwed rolls.” And rightly so. At each of the three locations, guests simply raise their hand if they want one of Lambert’s famous rolls, and the server throws one to them (the video above speaks for itself).

How did this wacky practice get started? Though Lambert’s Cafe, in some form, has been around since the 1940s, Norm Lambert was passing around rolls to customers on a particularly busy day in the 1970s when an impatient man told him to “throw the #@$#@! rolls.” And throw them, Norm did. A tradition was born.

The restaurant’s traditional Midwest menu–chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, barbecue pork steak, and chicken wings–is mixed with somewhat more eclectic items, like chicken gizzards, livers, and hog jowl. Vegetarians, don’t despair. Lambert’s serves a few veggie-friendly items, and everyone ordering from the menu is entitled to the “pass arounds” as well. Servers waltz around with big bowls of fried onions and potatoes, macaroni, and fried okra, and diners can take large helpings of whatever looks good.

[Lambert's Cafe]

Do you have any wacky restaurants where you live?