Johnny Dees Lounge

It is like going back in time, but so worth it. Johnny Dee’s has been serving up the best shrimp salad in Baltimore for many years. They know how to take chunks of perfectly seasoned jumbo shrimp and blend it with their special light dressing to produce the best shrimp salad ever. The portions are very generous. The lounge is really a lounge — not very many tables with chairs. They have small sofas, chairs and coffee tables, so you can lounge. Joan, our server, was very attentive and friendly. We went for a late lunch today, and it was superb.

If your not over 70, then run… don’t walk away. I get it, it’s old school I like that kind of atmosphere. But this place also feels dirty and run down, it feels as if they furnished it from dumpster diving. When my hubs asked what type of fish they have, the waitress responded with oh I don’t know, you know the square kind!!! I was told that the tomato sauce here is the best, I ordered manicotti, typical tasteless frozen food but the sauce was as thick as water! We were very disappointed in the entire package here. But again I’m not 60 or 70 and I’m not a native Baltimorean. So that may be my dilemma.

This place hasn’t changed in forever and that’s a very good thing. The waitresses are terrific, friendly and with a good sense of humor. The fried oysters were big and meaty and moist. The hamburger was basic but good and the shrimp salad is always wonderful. It’s not haute cuisine but good, reliable cooking. And the experience of the seating, clientele, and decorations are all of a piece. It’s like a step back in time.

I travel for business and love to search for what I call the local «hidden gems». My customer guided me here and I LOVED IT. I ate in the bar area. The food was FANTASTIC. Shrimp Salad is one of their Specialties, Crab Soup was fantastic along with the French dip. I am excited to go back again when I am in the area,

James Bond is licensed to kill. Johnny Dee’s Lounge is licensed to serve fine food and beverages. It says so right on the door.
It’s not a restaurant. It’s not a bar. It’s a lounge. With a tacky mix of mid century modern and assorted 60’s loveseats, tables and chairs. When you enter, you must choose between the tables in the latticed back room decorated to sorta look like somebody’s back porch or the lounge with it’s grandma sofas and cocktail tables from a half century ago. Wherever you choose, you’ll sit beside many small brass plaques with the names of regulars who’ve kept this place in business since the 50’s.
Located behind and underneath a strip shopping center in Parkville, the place is nothing fancy– just good food in a comfortable, relaxed setting. Set your GPS to 1705 Amuskai Rd, Parkville if its your first visit because you will not find it at its legal address on Joan Rd. (I said it was around back and underneath, remember?) If you can recall back when Frazier’s was in the basement of a Hampden row home, not on the Avenue, then you’ll know the vibe. John Waters could use this place as a set in his next movie.
Shrimp salad and sour beef are the house specialties. But the menu includes crab cakes and burgers, a few Italian dishes and my mom’s favorite, the open faced hot turkey sandwich with gravy. I tried their meatball sub a few weeks back and I’m still thinking about it. The balls were melt in your mouth tender! They even serve french fries with brown gravy here, just like in the movie about Baltimore in the 60’s, Diner. This is old school Baltimore comfort food, hon. Its the last of a dying breed of restaurants that used to feed generations of Baltimorons. The atmosphere alone is worth a visit.

Lunch of bacon cheese burger and fries. Enjoyed it. Wait staff very friendly. Relaxed atmosphere

An Old School gem with the best burgers in town, great wait staff, friendly owner who came out to ask how our meal was… all at very old school prices! I would say that their bacon cheeseburger is my all time favorite! Will go back for sure and with the kids too!

I used to love this place but that was a looooong time ago. I went bowling with some friends and afterwards they asked where we might go for a bite to eat. I thought of this place because of the decent quality food I remembered and the unforgettable club basement ambience. I was quite embarrassed with the outcome!
I ordered steamed mussels with white wine/​garlic sauce. They arrived cold and the first few mussels I ate broke in two when pulled away from the shell, and not just the part that sticks to the shell but right in the middle of the mussel. They DID NOT taste fresh and had a very mealy consistency. Then I noticed a big chunk of ice in the middle of this pile of mussels. When I picked it up, the ice was actually still attached to the mussels. That would explain the cold temperature. These were supposed to be steamed and I’m guessing they were frozen, then microwaved. Anyway, I sent them back. The waitress said they store all the shellfish on ice and that’s why mine had ice on them… whatever!!!
The waitress suggested i order the house specialty of shrimp salad, which I did. It had NO FLAVOR and no seasoning, no Old Bay, didn’t even taste like shrimp. The texture was unlike any shrimp i’ve ever had, I would describe them as GUMMY. I just chewed and chewed and never really got any discernable flavor. These came with an order of fries, which would have been nice if they had been cooked only once, but these «skin-​on» fresh cut fries looked and tasted as if they had been dropped in the deep fryer at least 3 times, hard and no flavor either… just awful. I didn’t want to be a troublemaker, so I just ate what I could and didn’t make an issue of it. I almost always clean my plate, but I left quite a few of these inedible fries, and some of the gummy shrimp as well.
My friends didn’t seem to be as unhappy with their food as I was, but I will say that my partner ordered a special of «Chicken and Dumplings» and he said it was just okay. It looked awful to me, just a unidentiable glob in a bowl, as if it had been prepared a week ago and just popped in the microwave. It looked like any sauce had long since been absorbed by the contents of the dish… absolutely horrible presentation!
Others ordered shrimp salad and seemed satisfied. The Cheeseburger looked like a typical diner cheeseburger, but I doubt if it was as good as you might get at the Bel Loc or Double-​T.
It doesn’t look like they’re doing much business in the dining room as it was empty when we were leaving around 8PM on a Saturday night!
Overall I was extremely dissatisfied and I will never go back to this place.