Missouri already has one Buc-ee’s, and residents are now watching the state’s chances of joining the two-Buc-ee’s club. The state’s strangest restaurants, however, provide entertainment that even Buc-ee’s cannot match.
Customers can catch flying bread, receive burgers from a train and swim into a cave after lunch.
Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston
Lambert’s Cafe is famous for throwing hot rolls across the dining room.
The tradition reportedly began in 1976, when an impatient customer asked restaurant founder Norman Lambert to “just throw” a roll. He did, other customers wanted the same treatment and an ordinary act of impatience became the restaurant’s defining feature.
Servers now walk through the dining room tossing rolls toward customers who raise their hands.
The restaurant also provides “pass-arounds,” including fried okra, black-eyed peas and other sides delivered around the dining room in addition to the food customers ordered.
Lambert’s operates three restaurants, including two in Missouri, but the Sikeston location is the original. Visitors should remain alert: Dinner may be arriving through the air.
Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant in Kansas City
Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant replaced human food runners with an overhead electric train.
Customers place orders using a telephone at the table. A train then carries the meal around the restaurant before stopping above the correct booth and lowering the food onto a platform.
The Crown Center location serves burgers, fries, hot dogs and other diner food, but children spend much of the meal watching the tracks.
Fritz’s has used trains as part of its identity for decades. The system is not a video screen or short-lived promotion—it is the way the restaurant delivers food.
Even adults who have no interest in model railroads may find themselves hoping another table orders something.
The Lemp Mansion in St. Louis
The Lemp Mansion combines a restaurant, inn, murder-mystery theater and alleged paranormal hotspot.
The historic home belonged to the Lemp family, whose brewing fortune and personal tragedies became part of St. Louis history. Generations of visitors and employees have since reported unexplained sounds, apparitions and other unusual activity.
The mansion embraces its haunted reputation with ghost hunts, paranormal tours and overnight stays.
Its restaurant serves lunch, dinner and a popular family-style Sunday meal. Interactive murder-mystery dinners add another layer of theatrical danger.
A customer can eat fried chicken, investigate a ghost and sleep inside the haunted mansion without leaving the property. Whether anyone sleeps comfortably is a separate question.
The Fountain on Locust in St. Louis
The Fountain on Locust claims to be the home of the ice cream martini.
More than 20 varieties combine ice cream with cocktail ingredients in flavors such as Thin Mint and Mississippi Mudslide. Traditional sundaes, soups and sandwiches provide options for customers who do not want dessert served in a martini glass.
The interior is equally unusual. Hand-painted Art Deco murals cover the restaurant, creating the appearance of an extravagant 1920s soda fountain.
Customers seated in certain booths can listen to episodes of “Soap Hospital,” a comedic radio serial created for the restaurant.
The Fountain transforms dinner, cocktails, dessert and radio theater into one highly decorated experience.
The Cave Bar & Grill near Camdenton
The Cave Bar & Grill gives customers the opportunity to swim into a natural Missouri cave.
The Lake of the Ozarks restaurant sits beside an enormous waterfront swimming pool that extends into the cave. Guests can eat pizza, burgers and sandwiches before entering the water and exploring the cooler underground section.
Boat slips allow customers to arrive from the lake, while live music contributes to the resort-like atmosphere.
The dining tables themselves are not hidden deep underground, which may be a relief to anyone uncomfortable with dripping cave ceilings.
Still, very few restaurants can claim that a customer’s next stop after lunch is a swimming pool inside a cave.
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