What's In a Dame

Much adough about muffin

A woman hopes to make some dough over some bread.

Troy Tucker (yes, a female) of Sikeston, Mo., is suing due to injuries she claims to have sustained at Lambert's Cafe when she was struck by a dinner roll.

Lambert's, you know, "Home of Throwed Rolls."

Many an Arkansan has feasted at legendary Lambert's, which has locations in Sikeston (the location in the lawsuit) and Ozark, Mo., and Foley, Ala., or perhaps on trips to Branson, St. Louis or the Gulf. It's famous for its tour-bus-friendly accommodations, bus-size portions of Southern fare like fried catfish and chicken and dumplings, family-style sides called "pass arounds" and its touristy trademark bread toss. The Travel Channel once designated it one of "The World's Best Places to Pig Out."

The roll tradition began with a lunch rush. Norman, the original owner's son, was pushing a cart of hot rolls when a hungry customer asked him to just throw one. The custom is now Lambert's bread and butter. Heck, its website is ThrowedRolls.com.

I first visited a Lambert's while reporting a story on the "Redneck Riviera" for this section years ago: "They might not have the best grammar, but they've sure got a great gig going here in Foley, just a few miles north of Gulf Shores on Alabama 59. Not only is the food good, but playing with it is fully acceptable. After customers are seated in a scruffy wooden booth with fake meat hung above it, the bow-tied bread man cometh. 'Hot roll!' he screams, pointing at the newcomers, hurling a yeast roll at them before they can protest." Not that I'd ever protest an offering of high-gluten, high-glutton goodness. Then or now.

I fondly remember the flung rolls being hefty and heavenly. Not harmful. Except to maybe a waistline.

But Tucker sees them differently. And at issue is how Tucker sees now, period. In a lawsuit filed last week, the 67-year-old woman claims she "suffered serious and permanent personal injury." She says she "sustained a lacerated cornea with a vitreous detachment and all head, neck, eyes and vision were severely damaged" when she was pummelled by propelled roll.

Talk about a rolling stone.

The incident is reported to have happened in September 2014 when Tucker visited the restaurant with her Bible group. Would a devoted believer make exaggerations about her daily bread -- the staff of life? That would be "crumby."

She seeks $25,000 to cover about $10,000 worth of medical bills and legal fees, as well as any future costs, due to what the suit calls the restaurant's "carelessness and negligence." The suit calls Lambert's tossing of rolls a "defective condition."

But it could be argued it was Tucker who was careless and negligent for not heeding the restaurant's warnings. If she didn't see all the many "throwed roll" signs, perhaps her vision wasn't all that great in the first place.

In which case, her complaint would be half-baked.

Dough me a favor, email:

[email protected]

What's in Dame is a weekly report of the woman 'hood. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (b98.com) from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Style on 08/18/2015

Upcoming Events