Johnny’s is Lighting Up Williamsburg with Stellar “Chifa” Dishes

By Scott Lynch

Johnny’s is located at 642 Lorimer Street, at the corner of Jackson Street, and is currently open on Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday from 5:00 to 10:30

The Tang family has been feeding New Yorkers well and often for more than 50 years now, ever since Yuen Jam Tan arrived here from Peru and, with little more than a head full of recipes and a ton of determination, opened up Peking BBQ in Woodside in 1973.

“It was one of the first pollo a la brasa restaurants in the city,” Tan’s granddaughter Stephanie Tang told Brooklyn Magazine. “He learned how to make rotisserie chickens in Peru and was driven by that classic ‘American Dream,’ always looking to improve his family’s life. He couldn’t speak a word of English when he got here, but he knew how to make food.”

Family photos hang on the wall, including this shot of Johnny Tang, for whom the place is named (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Peking BBQ is still serving its Chinese-Peruvian, or “Chifa,” fare to Woodsiders today, and many of “Gong-gong’s” (which is what everyone called Tan) multiple children and grandchildren would get into the food business themselves, opening restaurants all over Queens and New Jersey. “They’re all kind of the same,” said Stephanie. “Mostly takeout, hole in the wall, rotisserie chicken spots.”

This summer, though, Stephanie and her brother John Jr. broke the family mold with Johnny’s, an utterly charming full-service, full-bar restaurant on Lorimer Street, located just a few blocks from Stephanie’s home in Williamsburg. Named after their father, who passed away at a young age, before he could realize his dream of this sort of upgrade, Johnny’s has quickly emerged as a fun, easy neighborhood favorite.

The place to start here is with the rotisserie-blasted meats. “These are true to my grandfather’s recipes from the ’70s,” Stephanie said. “This is our family’s legacy right here.”

Half rotisserie chicken combo plate with yuca fries and a salad, $25 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Spare ribs a la carte, $14 for the “small” (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Johnny’s chicken, which you can order by the quarter, half, or whole, is an elite-level pollo a la brasa, all juicy meat and charred, chewy skin. The spare ribs are equally satisfying—the “small” size stars three thick slabs of sweet and funky pig. Both dishes come with some excellent aji verde, which livens things up considerably, and, if you get it as a combo, a pile of thick yuca fries or veggie fried rice as well as a nice little salad.

Lomo saltada, $28 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Vegetable lo mein, $16 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Other Chifa bangers here include a terrific lomo saltado—very beefy, very well-seasoned, with dual servings of carbs, both rice and fries, to soak up all that jus—and a platter of bright, crunchy, vegetable-forward lo mein.

Our party of two didn’t have room for Johnny’s smashburger, which, per the menu, arrives adorned with Asian pickles and aji verde, but we’ll make that a priority next time. Dessert is an unabashed crowd-pleaser, a sugary chocolate chip cookie drizzled with dulce de leche, sprinkled with black sesame, and served warm enough to melt the scoop of vanilla ice cream plopped on top in a hurry.

Frozen chicha morada with rum, $14 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The bar (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The room, which Stephanie designed, is cheery and welcoming, and by 6:00 p.m. on a Tuesday night, nearly every table was filled with local families and celebratory crews. House cocktails are $15, you can get a 12 oz. Tsingtao for $6, and there are two boozy frozen drink options for $14 each, including a reportedly quite potent dark purple chicha morada made with rum.

“I grew up in restaurants,” Stephanie said. “My mom would strap me to her back while she worked, and I used to sleep on bags of rice in the basement. I’ve been around this my entire life, and I always loved it. But seeing such a positive response to Johnny’s is more than I could have ever expected. My family never thought that what we do could be so celebrated by people, so it’s a really proud moment for us.”