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Lambert's Cafe III
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- None
18 reviews for Lambert's Cafe III
I'll give it four stars for the experience--"throwed rolls," humorous pranks from servers, ample food. But the food itself is just okay--not great, not bad, just ordinary. Locals rarely eat here unless we have company.
Still, bring the kids, get ready to wait in line, and enjoy! It's worth it at least one time.
Daggum, this place is good. Go here at the beginning of your vacation, because you'll want to go a second time before you leave.
Even though it is a tourist trap, the food is very good. Enormous portion sizes, quick and friendly service, all at a decent price. I found the veggies that were included in the "pass arounds" to be better than the sides that come with the entrees. Here's what I tried:
Meatloaf - Above average for country cooking joints, and you get two large slices of the stuff.
Black eyed peas - a pass around item. Also very good, cooked with pork.
Potatoes and onions - My wife loved these a lot. By the time they came around, I was too stuffed to try more than a bite. But they were very good.
Fried okra - Best okra I've had in a restaurant. They make a great appetizer. They come out piping hot, golden brown and delicious.
Burgers - Tried these on our second visit. They were a little on the dry side, but had that steak burger taste that comes with quality meat. The steak fries were also nice.
Rolls - This is my dream job... I'd love to be the kid who gets paid to throw these things across the restaurant. On my long distance catch attempt, the roll ricocheted off a fake ham hanging near our booth. With great skill, I managed to catch half of it by impaling it on a finger. You should have seen it, the catch was worthy of Sportscenter. Da na na, da na na.
This place is a winner. Yeah, it is touristy but you're at the beach! It is full of redneck pieces of flair and other bling, and they have the country music up a tad bit too loud. But it is a lot of fun and very kid friendly.
One word of caution... they take cash and check but no credit cards. I know, what's up with that? They will take an out-of-town personal check but not plastic. Doesn't make sense. Just be prepared for legacy financial transfer methods.
I was expecting more throwed rolls. They kind of just tossed them.
Servers were great. Food was really good, and you get a lot of it. The sides were good (and so were the people serving them).
Would go here again.
I so agree with Gabrielle --
it's a tourist trap living on its advertising, not even reputation. The food feels and tastes like it had been cooked in the morning and kept warm all day long. Don't go there for food! And don't waste your money! Only ppl with no taste buds like the place. And yes, that food (I can't really call it "food", sorry), will add to the plaque on your arteries and raise your bad cholesterol, which would be fine by me if it had any flavor ---- but it doesn't!!! Bottom line ---- find a better place to eat!
It's a shame this Lambert's is listed in Foley since it is only 8 miles north of Gulf Shores. Visitors to Gulf Shores looking for an alternative to the tourist fare will miss out unless they widen their search radius.
In any event, this is simply good fun down home cookin'. Highly recommended - even if they didn't throw the rolls. When they come around with the pots of beans or other delights, make sure you saved enough room. It ain't over until you call for the bill.
Two words= tourist trap
This is a great place if you are a fat, gluttonous American or if you'd like to go into cardiac arrest. I would go with a group of friends, hungover... just for the experience- but I would never go if I were sober and just hungry (which is what I did). The portions are RECOCKILOUSLY large and they continually come around and pile more disgusting food on your plate every 3 minutes or so. The only thing I found remotely eatable on the menu was chicken fingers. NO SALAD ON THE MENU! It was a clear sign that I was in the deep south! Don't go expecting quality food. Go with the expectation of a cultural experience. The apple butter was delicious though!
The BEST for southern home cooking and hospitality.
They come bring you extra sides and they slop it out of big tin buckets.
And don't forget to duck when the huge rolls come flying at your head. (it is the home of throwed rolls after all).
I mean where else can you get stuffed, slapped and slopped on all in the same place?
I freakin love it!
Some friends of the wife and I have been telling us for years that a restaurant in Foley, Alabama had such a thing as "throwed rolls". Now, I am a fan of big, heavy, moist yeast rolls, and actively follow up on rumors of oven heaven. So, after two years, I said "Put up or shut up!" and down I85 we went. YES, the food is pretty much Meemaw, Granny, and Nanna good. The problem was figuring out how to portion the intake for maximum satisfaction without causing gluteal sprains. But, ah the rolls! I waited for the cook to appear from the kitchen with a pan of rolls, stuck my hands WAY UP HIGH, and he launched one from about 20 feet away. Since my back was toward him, I endeavored to catch it Deion Sanders style, over my left shoulder into cradled hands- come to Papa! Zip! It went between my hands and smote our friend Fran in her-ahem-chest, where it left a big greasy spot dead center on her blouse. Feeling chivalrous, I chirped, "That 'uns yours!", and successfully snagged the next incoming missile. The wonderful yeasty taste of that roll was a superb reward for my fielding skills, and somewhat eased the pain of the knot where Fran bounced a teaspoon off my skull. I WILL go back to Lambert's again, but with a better humored friend.
I have made many detours just to go to this place to have their throwed rolls and sweet home cooking. To me, this place represents what being in the south is all about... The food, the spirit and the hospitality. You get it all here.
I have to say, my first time here wasn't so pleasant... I was a very broke and broken college student working as a lab rat for $4.25/hr. My friends and i decided to go to beach and on the way there... we were listening to some old song and were trying to figure out the artist. Well, my broke-a$$ was convinced that i knew who the artist was, decided to make a bet with my friend. Loser pays for lunch. I thought i was going to get a free meal out of this...
let's just say, sharing a meal really sucks when you don't get to pick what you want to eat because you're too broke to afford 2 meals at 1 sitting. But the rolls were sooo good!
For those who isn't familiar with southern soul food... they're sweet. :)
OMG, I can't move. Was my only thought as I tried to roll out of Lamberts. I was sad that we were heading home when we stopped at the home of Throwed Rolls, and we weren't heading to the beach. Because something inside me knew that there was an entire village of starving children somewhere that would appreciate what was left of my plate of fried chicken. Did I mention it was half a chicken?
Portions are huge, kids portions included. We introduced the kids to fried Okra "pass arounds" and they couldn't get enough. They always complain that they get baby cups at restaurants, even though they are clearly no longer babies. Not at Lamberts, they too got the bladder buster size.
Pot roast was divine, better than grandma ever made (well my grandma never cooked anything). Chicken fried steak was exactly the way it is supposed to be....perfect, and smothered in pan gravy. Everything is probably twice as much food as you would usually expect, and by the time it gets there, you're already gorged on the warm yeast rolls and pass arounds.
Watch out for those extra special surprises they try to give the kids as you're leaving. Nothing like Possum Stew, or Rats in the toothpicks.
In the deep South, if you can't make it to the major leagues as a pitcher, there might be a job for you at Lambert's as a roll-thrower.
Mama never taught Lambert's that it's not polite to throw your food. The guy with the rolls will throw a warm bread roll to you clear across the room. Their aim is almost always perfect - but you still have to catch it of course. Another server will come by your table and offer you sorghum for your roll - a delicious golden brown syrup lighter than molasses, less sweet than honey and slightly mapley. It's pretty damn frikkin good, so stop by the store on your way out and buy a canister of it.
More servers come around and offer you the "pass-arounds", which are side dishes - Southern-style, artery-clogging, life-shortening, mouthwatering side dishes such as buttery black eyed beans and fried okra. These are all free. Despite the fact that a week of eating in the deep South has quadrupled your chance of heart attack and made all your clothes fit a little too uncomfortably, who can resist free fried okra?
You look around you and realize that 90% of the people in the room are overweight. Make that obese. You consider passing on a second roll, but you can't resist because the sorghum is so good and you need something to put it on. You consider ordering a salad, but chicken and dumplings or fried catfish sound so much better.
Life is short, you can diet when you're dead. For now, eat another roll and savor the fried catfish.
This is yet another oddity in the Deep South -- the concept at Lambert's is that they will throw tasty yeast rolls at you while you are eating. It's not as crazy as it sounds -- they aren't trying to peg you with the roll, but they will launch one towards you if you request one. Super good times.
Overall, the rolls are amazing, the sides are delicious, and the actual entrees do not disappoint. It certainly is worth going for the experience. I think they have a location in Nebraska as well which doubles as the oddest "chain" restaurant in the country.
I loved this place! HUGE portions, very reasonably priced. I got the roast beef with mashed potatoes (I think $11.99) that came with two veggies ( I ordered corn and turnip greens) and hot rolls (that were tossed to you) AND all the "pass arounds" that you could eat. For pass arounds (and rolls) they had people coming around with bowls just scooping stuff on your plates. Pass arounds included, black eyed peas, fried potatoes and onions, fried okra, apple butter, and macaroni and tomatoes. Wasn't that fond of the macaroni and tomatoes, but everything else was yummy. To top it off, I got a huge mug of sweet tea.
I really recommend this place for vistors. The staff was really friendly and helpful. My take out box weighed a ton!
Gotta love it for what it is. Southern food, prepared before you arrive and reheated. Huge portions, all you can eat sides, lots of butter and "Hot Rolls" getting tossed to you from across the room.
I have been coming here since I was a kid. (Don't forget your sharpie, you can write your name outside!) Unfortunately it has gone down recently. The food is good. Same ol' fattening stuff it's always been and the rolls are still flying. It just seems that the staff gets a little over whelmed with the amount of people the pack in there.
Yes, this place is a tourist trap that advertises itself as the "Home of the Throwed Rolls". But despite that and their poor grammer (it should be "thrown" rolls), this place is really pretty good. It's good down-home, southern cooking (meatloaf, country-fried steak, roasted chicken, etc.). And yes, they do throw the rolls to your table, and yes the rolls are huge and deeeelicious. The portion sizes are huge, but they don't allow you to share plates which is a minus. But the prices are very reasonable. They come around to your table and bring you more sides, such as fried okra, black-eyed peas, macaroni & tomatoes, and molasses and apple butter for your rolls. Some other minuses: they don't take credit cards but do take checks (the only restaurant I know of that is like that), and we had to wait in line 15 minutes to get seated for lunch, so you might be in for a much longer wait for dinner on a busy night. But it is a pretty good place where you'll get your money's worth and have a good time.
The south is good for something, and yes, it is making people fat. Lambert's, home of the throwed roll, is like nowhere you've ever been and nowhere you'll ever go. The portions are bigger than should be legal, not to mention they are re-fillable. But the best part about this restaurnat is, of course, the fact that they throw your rolls to you. It is so exciting to anticipate if you will or will not catch the roll and you will pee your pants when your friend is nailed in the head with a flying roll, it will also disgust you that you will still eat the roll after it hit her hair because the rolls are THAT good. If you are ever in Alabama (and apparently Missouri) then there is no reason not to go to Lambert's because there is not much else worthwhile there.
we used to stop at this place on our way to the beach at gulf shores. they have really good, fattening southern cuisine. i'm talking chicken fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes, macaroni, and amazing yeast rolls that they actually come out and toss to you...literally...they throw them at you. haha. also, "pass-arounds" come out ever-so-often...side orders of food that they will actually serve to you table-side. really great food with huge portions at decent prices. the experience and the yummy comfort food are worth the trip for sure.
