Johnny’s on Oak — Restaurant in Vancouver

A friend was craving lasagna for our Netflix dinner night yesterday, so I Googled restaurants nearby, found Johnny's on Oak (formerly Neighbours) which had mostly 4-star ratings, and decided to roll the dice.

We ordered the following: Lasagna with Meatballs Potato skins Sesame encrusted Ahi tuna appy SnP chicken wings Tower of Power Cheesecake Mud Pie

The only dishes worth any honourable mention are the Ahi tuna which was delicious, and the Mud Pie which was good, although the latter's portion was a sliver, maybe ⅓ the size of the equivalent you would get at The Keg for a couple dollars more.

The lasagna and potato skins were run-of-the-mill [read:bland], and the cheesecake was ok but sized more like a low-rise than tower. Last but not least the chicken wings were, well... You know how people say something looks like it's on Steroids when oversized? These wings weren't just tasteless, they were also the 99 lb. weaklings of their poultry clan. Seriously, it looked like they were from a baby squab, not a fully-grown chicken. [see pic]

Bottom line: Our order of 1 entree, 3 appies, and 2 desserts plus 15% tip was $95, and keep in mind this was take-out, so no drinks. If the food had been savoury or inexpensive I would offer a better rating, but it was neither, and $50 per person is not a trifling amount for casual dining.

Posting an unflattering review is conflicting - I love the idea of a multi-generational family-operated restaurant flourishing in the community, but based on this experience I cannot justify returning, nor would I recommend...

Very disappointed. An expensive and tasteless dinner. The service was crummy and the food was bland, maybe because it came cold. I’m guessing it sat in the kitchen for a while because it didn’t come for about 30 plus minutes. I ordered the kalamari dinner and #33 pizza. The Greek salad on the plate was mostly green peppers snd cucumber slices, hardly any tomatoes and feta. The cheese was not gooey on the pizza and it was bland. The service was not great. After a wonderful waitress got me a table inside, I was handed to another waitress. She didn’t seem too friendly, wasn’t really available, and I don’t know her name. She did package my food to go and gave me the bill 2 hours later. I was too kind as I told her she gave me the wrong bill— it was actually less than mine. I paid the correct bill. It was busy around 7 when I got there, but other people were having an enjoyable time. Then parties started to leave and it was just a few tables left. Still I was ignored. And my food was super cold so I didn’t want to pick at it anymore. I did dine alone. I’ve been here before with people and on my own. I’ve been when it was Neighbours and as Johnny’s. This was the worst experience of all my visits. I let my friends know. They may not want to dine here again. I don’t. I did send an email to them, letting them know my...

Monday Labour Day I had family come into Vancouver. I went to visit them at their hotel and one of them decided that we should go to Johnny’s on Oak. He read on line that they had the best pizza. I was in. We met a friend up there and after an awesome night I have to say I was quite amazed. I have worked in the hospitality for a long time, so it takes a lot to impress me. I have to say...we were greeted immediately at the door by two servers...the owner even greeted us. They help us find a nice table. The service was fast, efficient and they anticipated all our needs. The atmosphere was fun...great music and all the other customers seemed to be having fun. I would say that all the customers knew the owner. It was like a neighbourhood restaurant. The served looked professional. They didn’t forget a thing. The pizza was amazing...thick, cheesy with a lot of toppings and so was the Greek salad and desserts. The beer was cold and the drinks were exactly what we ordered. They checked on our table many times and the servers were friendly. The owner gave us free dessert and he asked us how everything was? Yes, I am happy to write this great review!!! Congratulations to them! All the best in the future! I will definitely go back and I...