The Serving Spoon has been an Inglewood cornerstone for four decades, dishing up grilled corn bread and fried turkey chops.
Now, though, the whole country is in on the secret.
The breakfast and lunch spot on Centinela Avenue was announced Wednesday by the James Beard Foundation as one of six winners of the America’s Classics Award, an honor the foundation says goes to “timeless” local institutions. The foundation is also responsible for the James Beard Award, one of the nation’s top culinary honors.
The Serving Spoon joins a pantheon of other LA-area eateries to win the classics award including Guelaguetza, Langer’s Deli and Philippe the Original.
Jessica Bane, part of the third generation to run the family-owned restaurant, said the honor is still sinking in, but that it validates decades of work. “It’s being done out of love,” Bane said.
The award announcement hailed The Serving Spoon as an “anchor” of LA’s Black community, run by staff who genuinely care for their customers.
“The restaurant is cherished for its joyful hospitality and as a place where all can gather and feel at home,” the announcement read.
The Serving Spoon didn’t exactly need Beard recognition — the diner is often packed and already has pedigree as Snoop Dogg and Raphael Saadiq’s breakfast spot of choice in the 2000 Lucy Pearl song “You” — but Bane said the award takes the diner’s reputation national.
“The recognition is beyond appreciated,” Bane said.
The Serving Spoon was founded in 1983 by Bane’s grandfather, Harold E. Sparks. He passed the restaurant down to Bane and her brother, Justin Johnson, through their parents.
The menu looks much the same as it did four decades ago, Bane said, though some of the dishes have been renamed for regulars.
During the Thursday lunch rush a day after the announcement, The Serving Spoon’s vinyl booths were packed, as usual. Bane oversaw the dining room while Johnson marshaled plates of fried catfish through the kitchen.
Tina and Kevin Jenkins waited for a table outside. The LA natives each have been coming to The Serving Spoon since childhood. They live in Lancaster now, but make sure to come back to the diner whenever they’re in town.
“It’s the atmosphere, our people, our music,” Tina Jenkins said.