Lunch: Bill Spoon's BBQ, Charlotte, NC

Sara and I ate lunch at Bill Spoon's BBQ on South Boulevard in Charlotte, one of the oldest BBQ places in town. They serve eastern NC whole hog BBQ.

The restaurant is in an area of town that has seen an economic downturn in the 23 years I've lived in Charlotte; that part of South Boulevard is now mostly Hispanic, with most of the signs in Spanish; Latin American restaurants and other businesses dominate.

Spoon's, which once served both lunch and dinner, now only serves lunch. Here's a shot of the sign and the exterior:

The restaurant was clean and utilitarian, not much decoration in evidence. Menus were laminated cards approx 7" x 11". Very basic BBQ-oriented menu. I ordered a large pork plate, Sara a small plate. Here's what mine looked like:

Very basic, as you can see. Compartmented paper plate with french fries, Brunswick stew and whole hog pork, chopped.

Brunswick stew was ordinary, no stand-out flavor. Fries were shoestrings, hot and fresh, no salt. BBQ was rather dry, not a lot of flavor. Hush puppies were mostly corn meal, rather wretched. Soda came in cans. Plate was just under $10, a bit high but within reason. Sara thought the pork was too dry and drenched it in the sauce, a vinegar-based Eastern NC sauce. She ate most of the hush puppies, but only after drenching them in ketchup to hide the taste.

Rating: 3 out of 5: average; reasonably good food, moderate effort by staff/management. Hush puppies wretched, 'cue average. No real reason to return, but would eat there if hungry for 'cue and we were in the neighborhood.