When I ate meat, Eastern NC-style barbecue was one of my favorites... even now, it's a terrible, terrible temptation. And Spoon's is the best - the BEST.
We grew up going to Spoon's, mostly because we knew the family from church. Back when I was a kid, I hated barbecue, so I often ordered the chicken or the fish n chips (both of which I remember being pretty tasty). I have some very early memories of eating at Spoon's - the yellow and white checked tablecloths, the weird mural on the back wall, the hard strawberry candies, the letter from Dan Quayle, the banana pudding...
For a period of years after I left Charlotte for college and adulthood, I didn't go to Spoon's. I sort of forgot it existed. And then, one day a few years ago, I visited again. And it was EXACTLY THE SAME. Seriously. Nothing had changed. We went for lunch, and when we paid, Bill Spoon looked at our check, commented that we wouldn't be coming back if they always charged us so much to eat, and promptly rounded down the tab. Amazing.
I love that Bill Spoon's is still around. I love that they've never changed. I love that it's still in the family.
(Also, everything on the menu is awesome - the barbecue, obviously - but the banana pudding is really the best, most authentic NC banana pudding. Marie Spoon used to save a bit for me every time we came, just in case they ran out.)