100 Very Best Restaurants 2017: Johnny’s Half Shell

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Design features from the Cashion's Eat Place days persist at the new Johnny's, including an elevated bar.

About Johnny's Half Shell

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cuisines
Seafood

After ten years in a cavernous spot on the Hill, Johnny’s is where it belongs—in a cozy Adams Morgan space that once housed co-owner Ann Cashion’s previous restaurant, Cashion’s Eat Place. There’s a palpable sense of happiness. Co-owner John Fulchino is a natural-born restaurateur, hugging regulars and bidding strangers “Good night, my loves.” Cashion’s food is just as worthy of excitement. Much of her Mid-Atlantic–meets-Southern menu hasn’t changed since the beginning—there are still the same wood-grilled wings with Green Goddess, crab imperial, and tasty pair of desserts. We’re wild about newer additions, too, such as a Cajun-spiced hard-shell crab with lemony butter and some of the best, olive-oiliest taramasalata we’ve ever tasted. Expensive.

Also great: Oysters; barbecue shrimp with Asiago grits; crabcake; streaky spoonbread; lemon chess pie.


Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.

Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.

Kristen Hinman
Articles Editor

Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.