Throwed Rolls

Foley, Alabama
Anchors Away CG

After a great day at the U.S. Naval Aviation History Museum in nearby Pensacola, Florida, we decided to visit Lambert’s Restaurant in Foley, the “Home of Throwed Rolls.”

This Lambert’s is one of three Throwed Roll restaurants. The original Lamberts was opened in 1942 in Sikeston, Missouri by Earl and Agnes Lambert, and it has continued as a family restaurant for 66 years. Their son Norman opened the second store in Ozark, MO in 1994 and the one here in Foley opened in 1996.

The story goes that the down-home cooking at Lambert’s was so good, and the atmosphere so inviting, the place would fill up and the staff would be overburdened. On one particularly busy night, one of the regulars shouted across the room, “Just throw a couple a them rolls over here.” The rest of the night, the wait staff tossed rolls to everybody. The next night, somebody came in and asked, “Is this the place with the throwed rolls?”

Ah, a USP is born. USP, FYI, is Unique Selling Proposition, the thing that makes you different from everybody else and therefore worth having.

I went for a throwed roll because of the grammar, but I’d go back because of the food. Except that I don’t have to go back, because I brought enough food home for the next two days.

Not only do they serve enormous portions, they also have a cadre of servers walking around the restaurant offering extras. First, there’s the throwed roll boy, who with his plastic-gloved hand tosses the rolls from a foot away or from way across the restaurant.
Hot out of the oven and incredibly fragrant, they are the fun beginning. Next comes the girl with the pot of apple butter. You hold out your roll and she’ll put a big dollop right on your roll. If you don’t want the apple butter, then you can have the sorghum molasses, prettier than honey, and to my tastebuds, even richer.

While we munched our throwed rolls, a lady with a huge tub of fried okra came around and ladled a whole bunch onto a paper towel in front of us. Yum, more finger food.

Two seconds later, the waitress arrived with our sodas – in half-gallon mugs, and the refills are free. I ordered the meatloaf and mashed, and John ordered fried chicken. We got two sides with that, so I chose fried apples and pickled beets, and John got mashed potatoes and the beets. I had no idea I’d be served a full half a meatloaf, but that wasn’t the only mind-bender.

No sooner had we been served than a woman came around with a tub of black-eyed peas for anyone who wanted some. She was followed by a guy offering macaroni in tomato sauce, who was followed by a young girl with the most wonderful looking home fries and onions. I made room on my plate. I don’t think anybody in the room ordered dessert. But there were a lot of huge bellies in that restaurant, so I could be wrong.

This is what we got for our $32 tab:

5 throwed rolls
A gallon of soda
Half a meatloaf
Half a chicken
1 lb. mashed potatoes and gravy
1 lb. pickled beets
1 lb. home fries with onions
15 fried okra balls
½ lb. fried apples

We had so much food left over, it took two big Styrofoam boxes to carry it home. But no way was I leaving any of it on the table. I saw not just great home cooking in my future, but the prospect of no cooking for at least two days. I like a restaurant that feeds you the next day, and the day after that. No wonder they’ve been in business for 66 years. On the other hand, with all that staff and all that food, it’s a mystery to me how they can afford to stay in business.

I think I’ll have meatloaf for dinner tonight. Or maybe chicken.

Betty