Maybe they were getting hungry.
As the night wore on, state representatives began talking less about hypothetical examples of how restaurants would fare under a smoking ban and more about their favorite greasy spoons.
Rep. Dale Folwell took the cake with references to four specific restaurants.
Toward the end of the debate, the Winston-Salem Republican mentioned three local restaurants that went smoke-free or limited smoking on their own: Cloverdale Kitchen, the Lighthouse Restaurant and Noble's Grille.
"For 43 years, I've been eating pancakes and lasagna and other things at a place called Cloverdale Kitchen," he said. "Cloverdale Kitchen a couple of years ago went non-smoking on their own and business increased."
He also noted that he liked to eat at Ted's Kickin Chicken in Winston-Salem on Thursday night for "biker night."
Rep. Cary Allred also name-checked Sharky's Grill in Burlington, while Rep. David Lewis noted that McDonald's has gone smoke-free. The Applebee's restaurant chain also came up at one point.
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Re: Legislators name-check greasy spoons
I don't think I would refer to the Cloverdale Kitchen or the Lighthouse or Noble's Grill as greasy spoons. Maybe Ted's Kickin Chicken but not the other three.