A Taste of Chocolate: The Serving Spoon

Love chicken and waffles? Chicken and French toast are on the menu at Black-owned soul food restaurant The Serving Spoon in Inglewood, Calif.

You’re probably familiar with chicken and waffles, but have you ever tried chicken and French toast? 

It’s one of the popular dishes at The Serving Spoon, a breakfast soul food staple in Inglewood, Calif. 

We’re kicking off the second season of our digital series, “A Taste of Chocolate,” by meeting the brother and sister duo behind the restaurant, which was started by their grandfather in 1983.

Their grandfather, Harold E. Sparks, moved from a small town in Ohio to open The Serving Spoon in L.A., hoping to serve excellent breakfast all day and treat customers like family. In 2004, his daughter Angela and her husband J.C. Johnson purchased the family business, and, in 2022, Sparks’ grandchildren, Justin Johnson and Jessica Bane, assumed ownership from their parents. Lovingly called “The Spoon,” by loyal customers, the classic diner with a soul food twist serves favorites like fish and grits, salmon croquettes, and fried chicken. 

Jessica Bane & Justin Johnson of The Serving Spoon in Inglewood, Calif. Photo: theGrio

In the digital series “A Taste of Chocolate,” our host Shernay Williams takes us on a road trip to visit some of the best Black-owned food businesses in the U.S. In our first season, we sampled food in the nation’s capital, historically known as “the Chocolate City.” Now, we’re headed to Los Angeles to introduce you to four popular restaurants you should know. Each episode profiles a business owner’s entrepreneurial journey and takes viewers into the kitchen as we taste their signature dishes. 

In this episode, Jessica and Justin talk about building family legacies and how they run a restaurant as siblings. Then they take us into their kitchen as they make the dishes that have kept their grandfather’s restaurant popular for forty years. Join us for a trip to The Serving Spoon in the video above.


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