johnny's fillin' station restaurant

beware: the following is an honest unbiased account of our visit at johnny's fillin' station.

bad and here's why:
we had heard about thegoodreviews so my family and i decided to try it. we went there saturday april 9, 2016 around 4-5pm. parking was hard to find. inside seemed pleasant enough. sat close near the door looking towards the bar. waitress was nice taking our order. then it happened.

loud mouth:
a guy walks in with his loud mouth and sits at the bar. (sounds like the opening line to a joke, but it's not.) he's sitting near the kitchen. it's obvious that he knows a couple of people there and that the staff know him quite well. during his conversing with the staff and a couple of "friends" next to him he uses the most vulgar and multi-laced curse words i've ever heard in any public establishment.

but he doesn't care about his surroundings. he's loud and wants everyone to hear him. not only were my kids, my wife and i shocked at what we heard, so were, by the looks on their faces, quite a number of other patrons. here's just a sampling of his mastery of the english language that he was seemingly very adept at and proud to display to all. he seemed especially fond of these words in particular: f***, p****, s***, m***********, a******e, g*******, b****, w*****,  ... etc.

mind you, he's using these adjectives in the most unique combinations and with the volume likened to a person trying to be heard over the sound of a sand blaster. this "vulgar juggler" would have made chef gordon ramsay on hell's kitchen blush.

but wait, there's more:
i thought the waitresses or whoever the manager was would say something to this english scholar but nothing was said or done. in fact, the waitresses were laughing with this "intellectual" genius and seemed to be enjoying his descriptive style of expression. yeah, perhaps there's a time and place for this kind of speech but not in a public place like a restaurant and with children present.

i complained to one of the waitresses that we were disappointed with this kind of atmosphere for our children and that we would be leaving. we had not gotten the main course yet (been waiting for 20 minutes already), just the beverages and appetizers (onion rings and fried pickles which were extremely greasy). i offered to pay for what we were served. she said she would talk to the manager. they conversed by the bar. she came back and asked if i wanted to take the food with me since it was now ready. i said no. we don't want the food. she said ok. no charge for the sodas or food. so we left.

some hmmms:
why didn't the manager come over to our table? why didn't the manager ask us about why we were leaving? why didn't the wait staff or manager talk to this "famous orator" with the crude and rude speech to change his word usage? apparently they didn't care or were afraid to do anything about it. what a shame – no back bone.

i thought the manager was in charge of the restaurant and treated it like it was his home when "guests" come in to visit? i thought the manager would be proud to offer guests a pleasant eating experience? it's logical to say, after my brief time in this eatery, that neither the wait staff or manager gave a "flying-you-know-what" about the ambiance of the restaurant, nor for the comfort level of all their guests.

recommendations:
we do not encourage nor recommend this place to our friends, neighbors or internet viewers. burgers perhaps would have been great, but at the cost of having this kind of environment to eat it in, never. my only regret is that we did not leave this “restaurant” much sooner.

sadly this is not the best burger, nor the best anything. a group of friends and i set out for live music and an awesome burger for friday night. it seemed simple enough. we got all excited to go here and knew it was going to be an issue when the server couldn't even tell us anything about the beers. friendly - just completely lacking knowledge. we were told that the veggie burgers didn't come with anything like lettuce, tom, onion, for the person who wanted that, which was strange just a piece of veggie meat and bread- so she got a chicken sandwich instead which was burned to a crisp and extremely dry. we were also told that the chefs do not like when you substitute dressing and that they make their caesar salads in the morning so there is no way to get romain lettuce tossed in something besides caesar. that honestly can't be right, the salads would be disgusting and wilted! but we were inclined not to find out from that description. everyone else who ordered what seemed like big awesome burgers from the menu got over cooked, dry, blah burgers. if that wasn't bad enough- the two man band couldn't get their act together and blew the loud piecing sound that comes on when the mic and ? amp or whatever isn't set up properly - eight times during dinner. i guess it's going down hill or they need to train their servers and cooks better. :( at least we were all withgoodfriends so we could laugh about it!

i work late at nights and its hard to findgoodeats pasted 11pm. thru google i found this place i went and have been back multiple times. the wait staff are nice and friendly.goodis verygoodvery freshly made.

great service and the best burger in town!. johnny's fillin' station has a terrific reputation in orlando because of it's laid back atmosphere, stellar service and excellent food. it's well deserved and always a great experience.

service here is spectacular. food never sits in the window and you're acknowledged seconds after sitting down. servers learn names and drinks get refilled in a hurry.

this really is the best burger in orlando. you can go to gourmet chains but they're not going to cook it to order and it's not going to be as big as a johnny's burger. if you like wings, this is your place. they're asgoodas the popular guys and there are specials that are much easier on the wallet. there is a full bar with several kinds of beer on tap and the drink specials are excellent.

the atmosphere is casual and clean. it's family friendly and has outdoor patio seating when the weather is nice. it has plenty of televisions if you're a sports fan and has the nfl sunday ticket during football season.

this is a great place. the proof is in their longevity and their expansion. a gem that's only minutes from downtown.

sad sad service. i had heard lots of great things about johnny's fillin' station and johnny's otherside. we had a group of 12, 10 of whom had been there on a regular basis before. they all warned me that the service would be horrifically slow, but unfortunately, last night was by far the worst ever.

the waitress came to the table with a chip on her shoulder, took our credit cards and drink orders, at which time we told her we wanted to eat too. we had to search out menus on our own....15 minutes later we got our drinks, and she then left us for 30 minutes. we asked other waitresses if they could find ours, and received some snotty remarks. after that 30 minutes, she finally came back and took our orders. from there, it went downhill.

the food was tasty enough, but one of the orders was wrong. instead of trying to correct it or discuss it with the customer, the waitress decided to ignore it. this group..is very social, and would have stayed longer and drank more, however, after the rudeness of the waitresses, including their complaining to other customers and snotty remarks to us, we decided to leave. let me say, the people in this group are all very service oriented, and very easy going. they all understand working with the public (law enforcement, social work, educational fields), and if someone gets behind or is overworked, a polite explanation and acknowledgement that she knows we are waiting would have gone very far.

what is sad, is that this really is a cool looking place that had an amazing singer, great specials,goodfood, and would be a great neighborhood bar for this group, however, none of them will return. i really hope that the service issue is improved as this would be a fun place to hang out.

johnny's fillin' station, located on the corner of ferncreek and michigan, is a place that i have been going to for almost 20 years now. they claim to have "orlando's best burger", but i am not so sure that is an accurate statement.
the atmosphere - a "hole in the wall" establishment, with a full bar, pool tables and waitresses in tight jeans and white t-shirts.
the service - friendly - (in my last visit i got called "honey", "sweetie", and "baby" all by the same server) considering how busy it was when we got there (saturday 2pm) the food came out relatively quick (we left at 3pm and by then the place had emptied out)
the food - burgers, wings, and deep fried items (i bet that even a salad here would not be healthy) beer and liquor
i wanted to have a burger to rate for myself if it was orlando's best. with more then 10 on the menu to choose from, i decided on the bacon bleu cheese burger ($8.20) beef patty topped with crispy bacon, special bleu cheese dressing, lettuce, tomato, onion and choice of cheese. since bleu cheese crumbles were not an option for my choice of cheese (weird) i opted for provolone, and i also decided to add steak fries for an additional .99 (i also find it interesting that an $8.20 burger does not come with fries automatically) then after adding an iced tea and tip, my portion of the bill set me back $16. (please let this be agoodburger!, please let this be agoodburger!) to pick it apart, the bacon was flavorless, the slice of provolone was more enjoyable then the bleu cheese sauce, i don't care for the fact that everything comes out in plastic baskets (although it does fit in with the décor of the place) but the burger itself was pretty good, well done as i ordered it, but still juicy and delicious, the burger patties seem very fresh and pressed out into a perfectly sized disk of meat, and the bun had been grilled which was a nice touch, making it a wonderful casing for the sandwich. the fries were as i expected them to be, and i definitely left feeling quite full. should i return i will probably just get a plain burger, because the meat is by all means the "star of the show" here at johnny's.
not so sure that it is "orlando's best", but it is also not the worst! be sure to have some wet wipes with you in the car, because you will need them to get all of the grease off!

damngoodburgers.. i love going to this place. great atmosphere, great food. i've never been disappointed by the food. the service can sometimes be spotty though. i have had a few times where the girl just kind of disappeared. has not stopped me from going back there at all! oh, and try the deep fried mushrooms, trust me.

great place. i think people don't understand johnny's. yes the waitresses are dressed in casual clothing and there are no host stands and it looks like a hole in the wall. but...that's the point. it is a local place. you seat yourself, and someone is there to greet you and take your order immediately. i go there every week or so and i have never ever felt ignored by the staff. they are always making sure that our glasses are filled and that we are being taken care of. every waitress will check up on you, not just the waitress that first started helping you out. and that's cool, it's a very laid back atmosphere. there are several entrances to the place and it may seem a bit confusing at first but no need to complain about it. just seat yourself somewhere and order something. it's that simple.

i don't care what anybody says but they havegoodburgers.goodpulled pork,goodcheeseburgers,goodcheesesteaks,goodbeer specials (on certain days),goodservice, interesting atmosphere. the prices are reasonable and the food is great. i have not had a bad experience there yet. however, you need to realize what kind of restaurant you are going to before you go there. it's not a fancy eats kind of a place. it's just a local burger and beer joint that is very laid back and casual. it's a bit loud and extremely full on certain nights but you need to expect it, it's a popular dinner place because it is open so late.

give it a shot, i personally like the place. i recommend it.

there must be about a dozen things i still want off that awesome 50′s era looking menu, the roy burger with it’s sour cream and jalapenos is the next on my list. all in all if i had to give a number rating i would put johnny’s at a 8.5/10 and if you know me i’ve never had a 10 so that’s about asgoodas it gets for me! what you need to do is go and stop off at johnny’s fillin’ station and get some of the best burgers in orlando for yourself.

lunch at johnny's fillin' station - so good!!. an associate and myself were over by fern creek ave in orlando the other day taking care of some personal business when it occurred to me that the burger spot everyone was always bragging about was just up the block. that's right i'm talking about johnny's fillin' station, i suggested it and like always my buddy who is consistently out to try new food spots agreed. it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon and i had a rumblin in the tumblin so we pulled in.

parking was a cake walk, even though there were a fair amount of patrons already inside (always agoodsign) it seems johnny's has two sides to it. there's johnny's fillin' station and then there's johnny's other side.. which is just that, on the other side of the parking lot. today we went into the more casual laid back fillin' station side. we were greeted at the luncheonette/bar by our hostess tandy, who was the picture of polite.

walking in the place is quite comfortable, there are plenty of tables for a traditional sit down, a bar to sit, eat and drink at. as well as few raised bars with ample seating to keep everyone happy. a jukebox as well as two pool tables and an assortment of video games to keep the kids busy. a very cozy kind of atmosphere that i settled into very quickly.

after browsing the menu a bit we decide to start with some deep fired pickle spears, they were very tasty! they come paired with what is an amazing horseradish sauce that had steam coming out of my nose in an oh sogoodway. the deep fried pickles come as whole spears, which i prefer to pickle chips. i decided to go with the standard fare for me at a burger joint, the bacon cheeseburger. my friend went with the johnny's patty melt burger, judging by the way he ate it and at the speed in which it disappeared i would say he enjoyed it immensely. my bacon cheeseburger was perfect, done to medium-rare.. not just supposed to be medium rare.. but actually medium-rare. the bacon was crisp and very tasty. i particularly like the way some places will serve the hot side hot and lettuce, tomato and onion on the top of the bun to the side.. this is a plus as lettuce tends to wilt at the pickup window while waiting to go out. i am happy to say johnny's serves them separate, just the way i like it!

during our lunch we discussed marti gras, and how we will be forced to miss it this year. so in tribute we ordered a few hurricanes to drink, these were obviously not the normal fare but our hostess tandy was happy to oblige. she made an excellent cocktail properly using both light and dark rum. and i have to say.. they really hit the spot. they were well made and perfect strength, far from the watered down drinks one becomes accustomed to downtown.

when the bill arrived, it was not at all overpriced. yet it was not cheap, i would have to say the price fit the quality of the meal and i was very pleased with the value.

there must be about a dozen things i still want off that awesome 50′s era looking menu, the roy burger with it's sour cream and jalapenos is the next on my list. all in all if i had to give a number rating i would put johnny's at a 8.5/10 and if you know me i've never had a 10 so that's about asgoodas it gets for me! what you need to do is go and stop off at johnny's fillin' station and get some of the best burgers in orlando for yourself.

used to begood- gets worse everytime. i used to go at least once a month for the last few years. this last time i got really pissed, so yes - five guys is now my burger place. the quality went down out the door. this last time, the burger was very mediocre, my appetizer - onion rings - took 40 minutes to get to the table ( not a lot of customers) and only got 6 heavy breaded rings. the waitress knew i was pissed, but didn't take it off the bill and sent her other friend waitress to get my money. i'll never go there again !!!

better burgers elsewhere. overcooked mediocre burger...definitely nothing special. five guys has a better burger.goodbeer selection. the worst part....about 85 degrees inside...when asked if this is part of the regular ambiance...it is. so if an average burger is what you are looking for while sweating your ass off then this is your place.....really disappointed!

i can't wait to go eat here and brag about howgoodit is

best burger ha no. sorry this is not the place to get agoodburger, try mcwells, they have the best burger in my opinion. they also have it included in their $5 lunch special which is great value. this place has great food and great owners, give it a try. you will find it where the old tom and monys used to be, fort gatlin shopping center, 4757 south orange ave


-----29 mar, 2009-----

best burger! ha ha. sorry, this used to have the best burger in orlando but not now. if you want a reallygoodburger go to mcwells restaurant and bar. they have a great lunch deal too which includes a burger and fries for $5. well worth it.
mcwells is located where the old tom and monys used to be but it has changed for the better and i love the place. the food is great and the owners are very friendly, my advice, give it a go.

this ain't the best burger in town!. johnny's fillin station does not have the best burger in orlando. no way. no how. do not be fooled by reader polls, your friends, the internet, the sign plastered on the side of the restaurant's building, or the claim emblazoned on the front of the menus. granted, they do havegoodburgers. maybe top ten or top five in orlando - but not the best. that out of the way, let me tell you i love agoodburger. i've heard about this place for some time and always wanted to try it. i was excited to experience the place and taste the burgers there.

johnny's is located in a seedier section of what is now known as sodo - south of downtown. it's on the corner of fern creek and michigan ave. the building looks like a hole in the wall, with a much bigger parking lot than any old hole in the wall should need. and the lot was quite full. the inside is bigger than you would think from the outside. the walls are covered with discarded items - memorabilia, old signs, bicycles, posters, junk really. large flat-screen tvs are everywhere. more tvs than i've ever seen in any restaurant of this size. there's a large dining section with pool tables and the bar, a smaller dining section to the side, and a patio with seating and live music outside. we couldn't find a hosts stand, so we sat ourselves down in the smaller dining section. the place was busy with only a table or two open.

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