Johnny P’s BBQ

Used to go here before we discovered other, better BBQ restaurants. It was o.k. in a pinch but nothing great. I see from other Unilocalers this place is closed now, which is a little surprising to me since there were always people in there (at least when we went). As for the food, I found the portions to be small, and thus, with the BBQ chicken, it tended to be dried out a little. Sometimes, it was fine. My husband used to get the baby back ribs. He liked them, but then again, didn’t rave about them, either. Very happy we found better and moved on.

It’s now closed, I think… sushi place now.
I was a customer there for years, cuz its walking distance from my home, but Many, Many Over and Over take out mistakes, wrong food order, tiny portions, cooked poorly, cold, old etc. drove me away. Apparently others too. The staff inside tended to quick turnover also. Poorly managed. Hit or miss, food was generally good.
RIP

Liked this place for BBQ, but it is closing. Last day is Dec 14^th, then it will turn into a Sushi Planet

beware!!! i ordered a simple delivery and was told «45 minutes». one hour later i called and was told it is on the way. 30 minutes after that i was told i would get a $ 5 dollar discount on a $ 60 order. yeah right, i asked to speak to a manager, no such luck!!! never got the food, worst part was that my credit card got charged the full amount for nothing at all!!!
too bad i cant give zero stars!!!
buyer beware, this place is terrible

It didn’t blow my mind. However I’d rather eat here then meat Locker or wood ranch.

Awesome customer service! Super Dog-​friendly. Good BBQ. Looks like a quiet local hangout with a great outdoor patio.

Service was great! Decent BBQ. It is more of a bar with some tables and booths to eat than a resturant. Great outdoor patio!
Small local hangout. Not a typical chain. Had the baby back ribs and burger beer For three = $ 47

Theresa P. and I were there for a meal on the same night, so for an entertaining recap of the night read her review. I wanted to finally leave a review because Johnny P’s is one of your better options for ribs in the area and I was doing you a disservice by not telling you that. Bandits and Famous Daves are not particularly good comparatively with the quality of their food. I do not eat meat very often and for years I did not eat pork. The thing is that every so often I get a a craving for some good ribs. If you have a similar craving, I think your best option in the area is Johnny P’s.

this place isnt out of this world. the food isnt orgasmic. that being said, it is good, and this is a chill spot. definitely one of the better food places in the area.

Johhny p’s still has that great taste. beautiful patio, great staff, good service. I agree to the drinks a bit high but the food and people make up for it! the onion rings are the best with extra bbq sauce! I love the ribs though!!! the owner Phil as some have said is very nice. I enjoy taking my dog and sitting on the patio. My Bailey is always welcome and it is appreciated to have somewhere to go for dog lovers and eaters alike!

Decent BBQ — nothing special. Service is hit or miss. There was a hair in my salad during my last visit. I haven’t been back, mostly because they didn’t seem to know how to handle this situation. These things happen, I was in the restaurant business for years, and we would always offer to comp the meal in such a situation. I don’t need the freebie, but an offer to drop the salad from the check seems like the obvious remedy.

Nice outdoor patio. The chicken or tri-​tip bbq chopped salad is awesome. I get it every time I go there. I also recommend the onion rings with extra bbq sauce. The bread rolls are kinda lame. They use toasted hot dog buns but overall it’s great! I forget if its monday or tuesday but one of the days is two for one at their FULL bar. The owner Phil is really nice and an interesting guy to talk to.

My wife and I moved here from St. Louis a year ago. Our quest was to find some good BBQ; a tall order considering St. Louis standards! We narrowed it down to A little Guatemalan joint on TO Blvd and Johnny P’s. It was okay, at first… good sauce and good atmosphere, but then, after repeated visits, we discovered glitches in their service. On one occasion, we did not get served until 1 hour after we were seated. We ordered our drinks from the bar and explained the problem, but still, we were put on hold. We saw another couple come, eat and go during our wait! On another visit, which was the last straw, I ordered a buffalo burger, «well done». When I finally got the burger, it was cool to the touch and raw in the middle. I talked to the owner and he explained that «they fire them that way, so that they can re-​fire them if the customer is not satisfied»…What?! So, my burger comes back, minus the baked potato and it is like a piece of charcoal! I thought I broke my molar when I began to chew the crusty meat! The owner returned to the table and I told him about the potato and the charred meat. He looked annoyed and said that he would talk with the chef. The end result? The owner never returned to our table, but gave us ½ off our son’s cheeseburger (that only covered our coupon). If the owner had simply not charged me for my botched meal, all would have been well, but we will not return and I seriously suggest that Johnny contact Chef Ramsey for some advise!

The food is very good, and the service is good. There is no messing about you order they bring it to you. The owner is friendly and will chat with you for a little bit. Only negative is the drinks are bit over priced. I go there every other week.

We had a strange night here.
Me & the boy and one of our friends were jonesin’ for something hot and tasty… But it being nearly 10pm in Thousand Oaks, our options were limited. Then our friend remembered that Johnny P’s was open late-​ish and had pretty decent food. And so our adventure begins.
We walk in, and immediately think they’re closed. No waitstaff, no hostess, no other patrons. Just a tired-​looking young woman wiping down the bar and 3 odd old men gathered around a keyboard in the far corner. (Not that far– it’s a small place). We think we’ve walked into to some sort of after-​hours rehearsal, but the waitress seats us and assures us they’re still open.
That’s when the music started. The godawful music. The three aforementioned men started ‘jamming’. It sounded like rehearsal for the 5^th grade talent show. The waitress looked annoyed but resigned, and gave us a knowing smile when asking what we wanted to drink. She mercifully made our cocktails strong. I could smell the Jack & Coke as she carried it towards us… Which turned out to be a great thing.
As the wailing and plucking continued, we asked our poor girl what exactly was going on here. She explained that there is a house band that plays on Friday nights, but most of the band was sick. So this was one guy from the band and 2 of his buddies. Let’s talk about these guys for a sec. Two were sort of aging-​hippie types with long hair and not quite enough teeth. The other looked like a southern gentleman circa 1929– White suit, straw boater cap. There was a clarinet involved.
Eventually we learned to tune out the ‘entertainment’ (thanks, I’m sure, to the Jack) and we really enjoyed our meal. The portions were gigantic, and everything was good. We got great service from an annoyed, put-​upon waitress, and we weren’t hurried out despite the fact that it was only us between her and her freedom.
Positives: yummy BBQ in a saloon-​like mom & pop atmosphere at reasonable prices. Obviously, though, the amateur musicians caterwauling to a creepily empty restaurant is a big negative.
I’d go back if the ‘band’ was guaranteed not to be there and we weren’t going to be the only diners.

Way back in the early 80s we lived in the Valley for awhile. Our fav BBQ place then was «Diamonds» on Ventura Blvd. in a re-​decorated I-​Hop. Fantastic ribs, great sauce, etc. Well when we moved to the Conejo Valley we craved the same, but then we heard Diamonds closed down. We were sad, but then thrilled to hear that one of their chefs opened up a place in Thousand Oaks called «Porky’s» featuring the same great ribs and tangy sauce. They were on T.O. Blvd at the time. Since then they moved to Westlake and re-​named «Johnny P’s» — with the same wonderful food. Unfortunately we don’t get over to that end of town as often as we used to and we’d rather eat at home than in the restaurant, so we mostly get take-​out from here, especially for special occasions. Now there are other good BBQ places in town that we love (Wood Ranch and Famous Dave’s to name a few) but we always return to Johnny P’s for takeout. Our favorite dinner is their combo babyback Pork Ribs & Chicken dinner, with corn on the cob, fries or a baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread. Wow, this makes me hungry… I think II’ll do that again real soon…