Johnny’s Shrimp Boat

My husband grew up in Boyle Heights, and he gets a taste for Johnny’s every now and then. It is what it is. It’s tasty, it’s dense, it’s high calorie and it’s greasy. It’s basically shrimp, deep fried in a doughnut, served with beans and rice. It’s low priced food that would go well after a lot of beer — kind of an E LA version of White Castle.

I can’t believe I’m sitting here writing a review on this place. In fact, I feel embarrassed I even ate it. Is this really food? Nothing looked appetizing here on photos but hey, I decided to give it a shot given its close proximity to my work. Bad choice. Bad stomach. And lastly, I finally figured out what that batter is on everything they fry with. It’s the same stuff they use on corn dogs!

I finally went here a few months back and the shrimp was great. I had not eaten at one since the late 70’s and that was on main st. in Downtown, L.A. I hope it stays open for decades to come.

Been coming here for years, literally. The Chili cheese fries and chili cheese burger are king of their category. I’ve never tried any other so called chili cheese fries that even come close to the taste of these. Everyone I’ve ever shown them to have been thoroughly impressed. The best chili cheese fries for sure. Always going to be a great spot for me no doubt about it.

We’ll I guess it finally had to happen. White guy in his forties experiences what appears to be blatant racism (now I know how it feels to be treated poorly by some big dumb idiot barely capable of taking an order, simply because of the shade of my skin). Years ago when I worked for KFI. My best friend was a huge latino man named Tommy Arenas. He turned me on to some of the greatest dives in LA. Including the original location of Johnny’s. So, how happy and surprised I was to run across this classic yesterday. About 5:30 pm Sunday (80 215)
.I ordered from a frowning. Latino man with an attitude (took 4 times to explain my order, still got it wrong and charged me an extra dollar). Here’s the crux of my complaint. After I ordered, at least 8 folks (all Latino) ordered behind me. All EIGHT orders came out before I received mine, 22 minutes later. I have always loved the Latin community and in return have always been treated warmly, Until now. I have enjoyed El Tepeyac for over 30 years, Promoted Manuels joint every chance I got while doing Afternoon drive on KIISFM, Love the chili dogs at Chronis down the street. What a disappointment in humanity, that one seemingly racist idiot can put a classic establishment in such a bad light. This man’s position at Johnny’s must be terminated! I will be discussing this further on my radio show.

I remember Johnny shrimp boat as a kid. S. Main st. At W. 3^rd st. Sitting between two of Joe auto parking lots. Across from the old now gone. Main street gym. Shrimp and fries in the brown paper bag and Pepsi cola in a glass bottle with a paper straw. My mom and dad along with my brother would go on a Saturday night. We would park in Joe auto park. My dad and I would walk over order. And return to the car with our orders. Sit and eat and watch. As the old LAPD B Wagon would patrol main st. Pick up the people who had way to much to drink. I go by the old area and I can still smell the fried shrimp cooking. Now that they close down. Move on. And reopen in Boyle heights. The fried shrimp still the same. Hot and juicy. With the fries to. Now that I grown up. I take my family now and then I order shimp rice beans and gravy. That hits the spot. My kids order hamburger stake. With rice beans and gravy. Yes still with Pepsi cola. But long gone are the days of bottles and paper straws. In the dinning room. There is a photo. Of a little boy. Enter Johnny shrimp boat. Photo taken in black and white. That photo us of me. Yes that little boy going in. Now I grown up have a family. I missed the old place. But the food is still great to enjoy. Still filling. One should stop by. Enjoy a meal. Sit down and relax.

The fried shrimp here is delicious. The batter is cooked perfectly. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The fried fish here is also amazing. The white fish that they use is buttery and not at all fishy. However, make sure you do not have left overs because sadly fried food does not hold very well later on. It turns overly greasy and limp. Enjoy fresh!

Oh my. I had no idea this place was still around. I recall my Dad bringing home a big bag of shrimp in a brown paper bag, back in the early 60’s. I have to go to see if they still taste as good. I also remember the rice and brown gravy

Everything I have ordered has been great. Good parking. The place is small though with only 3 tables that sit 4 each.

Love the Fish Tacos… their shrimp and fries are tasty too. Tried the Chicken Teriyaki tonight… was the BOMB. Juicy chucks of grilled chicken. Mmmmm…

The food is great! Great fish and beans are awesome. Make sure you let them know exactly what you want in your order before you pay. Great spot overall! Make sure you dont sit on the orange table inside because it’s not stable to place your food on.

The best of times and the worst of times after a late night out, Johnny ‘s was always the spot to suck up a gut filled with alcohol in hopes it would ease a next day hang over. I’ve been going as far back as I can remember when they used to be downtown. They were opened later back then but the shrimp hasn’t changed at all in over 50 years. Remember to get a bag to go for the drive home, because you can never get enough of Johnny ‘s Shrimp Boat.

This place is ok. If you can’t find a place to go I guess you can try this. I’m not going to say it was great but it’s edible.

I use to come here when I attended hs at rhs about 4– 5 years ago. bIt akways hit the spot! Now that I think about it, Im wondering why I never went back. Theyre good ol cheeseburger special was the best as I dont like any sea food. Would recommend this place.

Definitely a landmark in Boyle Heights and Los Angeles in general. Famous for their deep fried Shrimp. Try dipping them in thousand island sauce. The rest of the menu is good too. Burgers, chili cheese fries, and the teriyaki plates are really good (chicken or beef). This place is next to another iconic landmark «Fosters Freeze». I grew up in the area and would walk there to grub. I miss it now that I moved away. But I’ll be back soon…

If you like it fried this is the place for you. In the heart of East Los Angeles. Nothing to write home about, in fact you may not want to tell anyone you ate here.
The shrimp was oily and the fries were — well — I dunno — I only ate a few since I am not eating fried food much.
I guess if this was the last places to eat fried food it would not be bad. They seem to have a great following and there were many people enjoying themselves so you might as well give it a try if you are ever in the neighborhood.

Tiny & old fashioned greasy spoon kinda place.
Afrika Bambaataa on the radio, photos of skid row in the 70s on the wall and a lunch plate with huge portions of down-​home goodness (rice, gravy & beans, plus two abnormally large shrimp-​more batter than shrimp) makes this place worth it. The staff is nice, and the approach is simple. Don’t expect Water Grill here, folks; Johnny’s is one step above a stand on the boardwalk. Eating here I felt like a kid visiting the beach. Mix a little malt vinegar with some chili sauce and a bit of ketchup for a great dipping sauce, sit back, relax and enjoy the Boyle Heights afternoon.

Being that my mother wanted to reminisce about her childhood, she was determined to eat here.
The service was friendly and the (small) place was clean. The order came out within a reasonable amount of time.
I ordered the nostalgic shrimp, rice and gravy dish (no beans). The shrimp tasted fine, not over-​cooked, but had a bit too much batter. The rice and gravy tasted just like rice and gravy. I can’t say it was to die for, I’ve had better, but it wasn’t awful.
It was a good experience overall, I just don’t think I’d ever go back. Unless, my mother gets another wild hair to go back.

Johnny’s has a reputation with some native Angelenos that goes way back. The old newspaper clippings on the wall sort of say it all. As others have wrote it’s all about skid row and a little food shack on Main Street surviving in the shadows of the skyscrapers going up around it.
Fast forward some years and Johnny’s finds itself here, as well as several other locations around SoCal.
This is food that must stem from the depression era. It’s plentiful, fatty, simple, and served hot. Hamburger patty, plain beans or with chili, steamed rice and gravy, simple pork chop and pot cooked short ribs. It’s like food meant for a chow line at dinner at a construction site. And given it’s original location downtown I have no doubt it served that purpose on many a day.
And of course, the shrimp. It’s big, doughy, deep fried, and thoroughly decadent. Big, greasy, soft mounds of batter deep fried with something that resembles shrimp stuck right in the middle. It’s not fancy, not by a long shot.
I like it fine, and have for the last 40 years or so. Skip the newer menu items (tacos, nachos, fried jalapeño, cheeseburger, hot dog, etc) and just go for the old time grub. Hot beans and steamed rice on a cold day never tasted so good.

The Original Johnny’s Shrimp Boat was established in 1945 on Main st Downtown Los Angeles, honestly it should have went down with the Titanic!
These guys don’t even know how to use a deep fryer, the food is either undercooked or way overcooked, maybe on their BEST day this place might be a 3-​Star joint anyone giving them more than that either came here High or Drunk!
So this Shrimp boat has Fish Tacos but NO Shrimp Tacos!, What?, Yeah OK, so I ordered 3-​Fish tacos, and a side of 4pcs of Shrimp, I also see «Stuffed Jalapenos» on the menu so I ordered 2 of those.
Fish Tacos —
First off lettuce does not belong on a fish taco, it’s suppose to have cabbage!, major Oh NO!, the fish was undercooked with no crunch to the outer side and inside still being slightly wet
the fish was inedible to me, and all I ended up eating was the lettuce and tomato’s, Hmmm I guess I had a small salad then.
Shrimp 4pcs —
Upon first looking at this it’s like WOW some golf ball sided shrimp!, then upon first bite
it’s very doughy inside worse than this fish
and that golf ball sized is just batter and not even fully cooked.
Stuffed Jalapenos —
I think they might have slightly overcooked these what do you think?
Now the menu does not say what they are stuffed with, unfortunately I assumed cheese, and maybe since they were way overcooked I found
NOTHING inside!
Seriously I don’t know how anybody could like this crap!, you can go to ANY Long John Silvers or H. Salt Fish & Chips etc… and get better food than this!