Traveling over the Holidays!! It’s great!! My family decided to take a short trip to Branson, Missouri. We left the day after Christmas, and we are on the way back as I type this. It has been a pretty good trip – good food, shows, lights, and family time. However, I am gonna be writing about the food. Because food is what this blog is all about!
So, it’s only fair to start with our first stop – Lambert’s Cafe!! It’s the home of the throwed rolls!! 
About 10 years ago I saw this place on the Travel Channel’s “Best Places to Pig Out”. It was number one and I can assure, it produced in me a desire to PIG OUT!! Probably a year or two later, we were on the road to Branson and I saw a sign for Lambert’s Cafe! It was not the original (there are three Lambert’s in the United States), but the food and experience was amazing!!
I had eaten at Lambert’s three times before we stopped there this trip – twice at the Ozark location and once in Foley, Alabama. Every time, it was delicious!! However be warned, the wait can get long! We had to wait probably between and one and two hours for a table those three times we went! This time, however, we were seated almost immediately!
So, Lambert’s Cafe, what is it like you ask? Well, it’s good, down home, country cooking! Plus, they throw rolls at you! The only other place you can find that many rolls flying through the air is on a trampoline at a fat camp! The only difference – these rolls are for eating, not from eating!! They are scrumptious rolls! Good sized and great with butter and honey!
That roll was probably being digested less than a second after that picture was taken!! Not only are the rolls great, but they have a lot of different sides that they call “pass arounds”. You can get as many of these as you want! For an appetizer, you can down some fried okra! Ain’t nothing quite like some fried okra! 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I didn’t get that much. Trust me though, I’ve learned from experience – you don’t need that much! Why? Because check out this entree!!!
Chicken fried steak!! You know what it is!! So good!! I get it every time!! It’s so good and so much food!! I got the large size (16 oz)!! Why? I have no clue! I couldn’t finish it all!! Close, but no cigar!! I left that place on the verge of exploding!! Lambert’s Cafe, eat there!!
So, if that wasn’t enough food to kill me, then this next meal sure came close! Billy Gail’s Cafe!! This place was our breakfast on Thursday, the day after eating at Lambert’s. Once again, this place tries to murder you with their portion sizes!! Pancakes bigger than the plates!! I got the sloppy biscuit – it was sloppy!! Of course, I love it sloppy! The sloppy biscuit is a biscuit covered with egg, sausage, and gravy, with a little bit of hash browns on the side!
and of course I had to try the pancake, so I ate one of my brothers pancakes!
All of this was too much for my poor belly!! Do I regret eating it all? Noooo way!
Billy Gail’s was an awesome restaurant! If having great food in large portions isn’t enough, the staff is super friendly and Gail (the owner of the restaurant) runs the cash register!! This small little unassuming country cafe is a place you have to visit while you’re in Branson!!
After eating at Billy Gail’s we took a trip to Silver Dollar City!! So many lights!! It was awesome!! This amusement park is styled like an old mining town and during the Christmas season is COVERED in lights!!! It’s incredible!! Unfortunately, it was too cold so the rides were closed, but there was plenty of activity going on anyways!! So, what did we eat? How about this skillet cooked combo called the family feud! It was a collage of skillet cooked corn, okra, chicken, onions, and peppers!! It was scrumptious!! What was really cool about it was watching them cook it on the big skillets! Well, they the don’t do anything special while cooking it, but I still liked watching! And the smell!! Oh the smell!! Then, to end off the night we stopped by the candy shop in Silver Dollar City and picked up some homemade turtles and peanut butter cups. I also had to get a dark chocolate sea salt truffle!! I haven’t eaten that yet, but the turtles were sooooo good! Unfortunately, my phone died and I didn’t get any pictures 😦 oh well!!
So, last but not least, today, we decided to eat at a diner in a cute little shopping center. This diner goes by the name Mel’s Hard Luck Diner. At this old fashioned soda shop/ diner you will be waited on by entertainers!! Not only do the waiters/waitresses serve you food, but they sing too!! That’s right, singing waitresses!! It’s awesome!! We started off the meal with onion rings and jalapeño poppers! Both of these were pretty good! Then I decided to enjoy the singing of the wait staff while drinking a chocolate shake and eating a hard luck burger!
The shake was great! I would recommend sharing it with somebody! They give you enough to fill about two and a half of those frosted glasses! If anybody really knows me, then they know I LOVE all things ice cream!! So of course, I was in heaven attempting to gulp that shake down (it was super thick though. Good thing I love it thick!)!! The shake was great, but the burger was just ehh. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but there are definitely places with better burgers for less money! Also, don’t expect it to be the cheapest! It’s not too ridiculously priced or anything, just not as cheap as normal diner food. But what can I say, normal diners don’t have singing staff!!!
Overall it was a great trip!! Great food and I would definitely recommend taking a trip to Branson and trying every single one of these places!! Stuff yourself! As the menu at Mel’s Hard Luck Diner says “calories don’t count on vacation. Order the big one”! Well, I couldn’t agree more! Unless you are always on vacation!! In that case control yourself!! Pshh, did I just say “control yourself”? What am I talking about?? PIG OUT!!
foodtrash
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