Johnny P's - A Place for Ribs

So this time it was my turn to choose the locale and I went nostalgic. Our very own Rich Jorgensen worked at a BBQ place in Thousand Oaks called 'Porky's' in high school. He'd show up after work with their famous Onion Ring Loaf, that crazy BBQ sauce and some Potato Skins. We'd meet him out on the driveway of Brian's house and mack it all right there so we didn't have to share with the 'rest' of the party inside. Now those were some finger lickin' good times. Anyhow, Porky's sadly burned down a short time later. They re-opened in a much smaller location in Westlake soon after and renamed themselves 'Johnny Ps: A Place for Ribs.' It's been 24 years and I had yet to try it so we went last night.

It's a locals favorite, judging by the clientele. We had some classic WLV Octogenarians, the typical sports bar types and seated right next to us was my first boss (Skip Toller of Electra Craft). We elected to sit outside on the patio that overlooks bustling Westlake Blvd. It doesn't get any more hometown than that and this feature is the best thing about Johhny Ps, without a doubt. We tossed back some beers and ordered up the Full Loaf of the Onion Rings, of course.


After 30 minutes it arrived, luke warm at best and a bright-orange color to boot! The flavor was there though, just as I remembered. With that we each ordered our entrees. I went with the Beef Ribs and Baby Back combo. In hindsight I should have gone with all Beef Ribs but it's a gamble since so many places do them poorly. Here they were decent, not great, but decent enough. The Baby Backs were not, in my opinion.
I'm a bit of a snob since smoking ribs is a speciality of mine but these weren't tender and the sauce not only wasn't a good match but it was just lathered on after they were plated. It was a weak attempt on those, I was left flat.

My Baked Potato was good, I can't fault them there. Gregg's Spare Ribs were well-received, he seemed to enjoy them. I never really heard from Dan on his Tri-Tip but it didn't look spectacular.
The service was slow, the food was anywhere from weak to decently good and I felt the price was a bit much. The atmosphere of the patio can't be beat anywhere in town except maybe front row Bocaccio's (at the lake). I'd come back here for beers and appetizers anytime, and I'm sure we will.




For that alone, trying it was worthwhile. As it stands, the reigning giant for most BBQ in this town is, of course, Wood Ranch. As good as Wood Ranch is, they don't have a Pulled Pork Sandwich and that leaves me with a wandering eye...

(Additional comments by Gregg)

For the most part I agree with Scott with the exception of the onion rings. The crude orange mess was an insult to onion rings everywhere. Our server took forever to bring anything and Dan spied her several times in the kitchen on her cell phone. On the other hand, if Megan Fox has a sister, this is her. It almost balanced out the long delays in service.