David L.
Yelp
It's not bragging if it's true. That about sums up Johnny's. They have a lot of press and have been covered by multiple outlets. They are as good as you've heard. I finally had a chance to sample their menu today.
Open daily (except Sundays) only for lunch, you may find a long line out the door if you're during their peak lunch rush. Located in heart of downtown Homewood, Johnny's is a tight ship run by owner and Chef Tim Hontzas. Opened in 2012, Chef Tim has put Johnny's on the culinary map with his most recent James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef in the South.
Along the busy streets of downtown Homewood, you have to walk up a short flight of stairs to the front door. Parking is always a challenge during a weekday and lunch rush, but there is a public parking deck nearby. Tip: if standing in line, keep to the right and don't leave the door propped open or you may be scolded for letting the hot air in! Since they are elevated, there's no outdoor seating, but if you're at a table at the edge, you have a great view of downtown Homewood. While you're standing in line, you can admire the advertisements of the restaurants on the walls along with their colorful chalk written menu. As mentioned, Johnny's has been published in many newspapers and magazines and copies of them are on the wall for you to admire. When you get to the register, you place your, given a table placard, find your seat, then go help yourself to the drink station in the back. After you have a seat, your delicious hot food will be brought to your table.
Chef Tim elevates what most call the meat and 3, but his version is a marriage of Greek and Southern cuisine. Supporting local farmers, today's specials were hamburger steak, conecuh sausage over red beans & rice and Bayou LeBatre shrimp fritters! Their daily Meats & Fish include Baked greek chicken, fried catfish, chicken pot pie and bbq meatloaf. Veggies include fried green tomatoes, mashed potatoes, buttered rice, purple hull peas, macaroni & cheese, creole red beans, sweet potato puree with cinnamon maple butter. There's also greek and ceasar salad with optional roasted chicken.
After much debate, I finally decided on the fried catfish, fried green tomatoes and a greek side salad. Above the chalk written menu is written: If you're not going to eat the roll, don't order it. Practical advice in my opinion! My very large filet of catfish was fried to perfection. The batter was firm, crisp and held all the juices of the succulent catfish inside. I love it when I break off a piece and see steam rising from the catfish. I have had many iterations of tartar sauces and this was now in my top 3. The 5 large slices of fried green tomatoes were some of the best I've ever tasted. The batter was just right, not too thick, not too thin. You know it's made right when it doesn't fall apart after the first bite. The contrast of flavor between the sour tartness of the tomato and the saltiness of the batter was perfect. Yom Yom Yom Yom! My greek side salad was topped with an abundance of freshly crumbled feta cheese. It took a lot of restraint not to eat some of Paul L's hamburger steak and turnip greens.
Currently only open for lunch, I'm guessing that Chef Tim has been encouraged to develop a dinner menu. In the meantime, if I worked nearby, I could probably go through their entire menu in about 2 weeks. The conecuh sausage red beans & rice has my name written all over it! I'll be back!