L & L Hawaiian Barbecue

There appeared to have 2 L&L here. I purposely drove further south as this one seemed a little better with 3 stars.
It’s located in a mall food court. Menu was typical as we waited about 5 min for order. We had large short ribs, combo bbq, chicken vege, and chicken bbq.
Overall, good was ok, but the portion of the meat was skimpy. I’ve been to more than my share of L&L, and this place have the least amount of meat. The short ribs barely have any meat as it was mostly bones.
The Mac salad is what’s unique about the Hawaiian bbq, but this place failed to deliver that special taste as it’s like any other reg Mac salad.
As there are several other independent Hawaiian places, I would recommend others.

I came to this establishment pretty early in the day expecting «fresh» — the meat (chicken) was extreme cold and stale looking. I requested a pretty simple/​small order, however, I was still charged for an upgrade and the order was still completed wrong. Very dry apologies provided. Never again.

Initially, I was wary of coming down here to have lunch based on the lukewarm reviews I’ve read. I was running errands and I just happen to be in the food court around 1PM. I usually try to keep an open mind on a place that I haven’t eaten yet. The choice I had was either Arby’s or this place. I decided to go with L & L and it was a pleasant surprise. The young girl who took my order was very friendly and gave me some suggestions on what to eat like the Kahlua pork rice bowl or the fried garlic shrimp. I chose the fried garlic shrimp platter. This platter came with jumbo-​sized shrimp on a bed of coleslaw, macaroni salad, and rice. The garlic shrimp was fantastic. I would recommend this only if you’re a fan of having a good amount of garlic in your dishes. What made this so good was that they took lots of chopped fresh garlic and fried it into the batter so that each shrimp had chunks of fried garlic around it and more on the bed of coleslaw. As a garlic lover who loves a good amount of this herb on Italian pasta dishes and Greek dishes, that ingredient is what makes the dishes stand out. This was one of the best shrimp dishes I’ve had in quite some time. The rice was okay. My favorite white rice is the moist and fluffy version from Charlie’s Bakery. The macaroni salad was delicious and complemented the shrimp very well.
This plate came to $ 13.75 with my drink. A little on the pricey side, but the taste of this dish dissolved all my doubts. I intend to come back to try the Kahlua pork. I love roast pork dishes. Being from North Carolina, I am a big fan of East Carolina barbecue which is basically shredded pork like the Kahlua but made with red peppers and served with a vinegar dipping sauce. This dish is slow-​roasted with wood chips all day in a wood-​fired oven. The roasting would start early in the morning and be done by late afternoon. When it’s done, the meat is so tender and juicy that you can easily cut it with your fork. Kahlua pork, if made right, will have that same taste and tenderness of the meat. I only wished they had East Carolina BBQ places here in Anchorage.

The first thing I noticed is how much more expensive the L&L menu is here, compared to Hawaii.
Reality check: for a cost of living reference, the median home price in Anchorage in 2015 (Forbes) is $ 264,300 and for Honolulu it’s $ 578,900 (that number is heavily influenced by lower priced condos — the average single family home in July was $ 710,000 according to Honolulu magazine). Hawaii requires food to be shipped in from the mainland/​other places, and only has enough food for 7 days, should shipping stop. It is not near any other state, and you cannot drive in or out.
The cost of living in Hawaii is more than twice that of here. And yet, the menu is more expensive here. Minus a star.
Ordering experience: right after we ordered, we saw someone go up to the counter and ask how long their order would take — 25 minutes she was told. Not 30 seconds later did someone else do the same thing, and they were told 30 minutes. What?! If your wait time is that long, you need to tell people before they order, not just let them wait and figure it out!
Surely, it can’t be that long, we thought. There wasn’t anyone in line, but some people waiting at the nearby tables. We decided to sit and wait. And watch. There were two (2) women at the counter, mostly waiting around. There were three (3) men in the kitchen. From the looks of things, they must have been cooking orders one at a time, vs. looking at how many orders in total need to be cooked, and knocking them out in an efficient manner. We watched others getting frustrated with the wait time, and a couple of them get up and leave.
30 minutes later, my husband goes to see about refunding our order. He was told that there was, «a big takeout order» that slowed things, and that our order would be right up. We received our order 10 minutes later, with no evidence of this «big takeout order». We were watching the entire time — this place was just poorly managed, with inexperienced staff. 40 minutes to get mall food?! Minus another star.
While my husband was getting our food, two other people asked for and got refunds. While we were eating, two orders were called, with no one around to claim them.
Food quality: Solid 2.5 stars. It’s what you expect from L&L (even in Hawaii), just smaller portioned than in other states.
Summary: you get less food, at a higher price, at an outrageous wait time. Luckily, this isn’t the only gig in town. If you’re in the mood for Island food, look elsewhere (Hula Hands or Samoan Kitchen). Won’t be back.

Really?!? I rolled in a 8:20. Ok. A little close to closing but I was told I could only get fried food because the cook was tired! Damn! If we could all get out of work because we were «tired»!! One star is too much credit.

Always love L&L! :) Haven’t lived in anchorage very long, but I heard it’s still pretty new! So glad to have one here! I always get the classic Chicken Katsu and I’ve never been disappointed! When I’m in the mood for Hawaiian BBQ this is my go to place!

Very slow service for what is a mall food court eatery. I work in the office connected to the mall when it is crunch time we need to get in and out. I waited over 20 minutes for a simple dish.
I ordered the Healthy Plate chicken katsu. Healthy? The chicken was fried. I was basically a cheap salad the a cut up chicken patty on it. Very disappointed. The «salad» consisted of nothing but iceberg lettuce, two cucumber slices and one tomato.
I will not be going here again.

Yummy food. The taste AND price almost brings you back to Hawaii.

I used to go to L & L in Colorado. I used to have dreams about the Roast Pork plate. I was so excited when we moved here and found the one in the Dimond mall. Much to my dismay, they don’t have the roast pork plate. I ordered the chicken katsu. They give you a bunch, but it was so overcooked that it was inedible. Plus the macaroni salad, which I used to love at the CO location, tasted like FISH! Now how on earth do you do that? It was also inedilble. So overall I would say it sucked. Plus is was very, very expensive. Basically I had to get another lunch elsewhere. Can’t wait to go back to CO and get the real thing. Highly recommend the one there, but absolutely not the one here.

When I asked for kimchee, they said they don’t carry it. «Why’s it on the menu if you don’t have it?» I queried. «I dunno» the cashier responded. I just wanted something light to nosh on, so for 3.50 I ordered a «salad». The picture showed mixed greens with lettuce and cucumber. What I got was a burger box size of chopped iceburg lettuce– NOTHING else. I also ordered a scoop of rice. What I got was no more than 3 ½ TABLESPOONS of rice for a buck-​fifty. Don’t give a shit, there, Mr. Chef, do ya? My honey ordered one of their «bowls» for 8 bucks. It was MINISCULE. Insulting. He said it was good though.
When I complained about my purchase, the manager gave me my money back, which is why they get 2 stars instead of 1. When he saw the salad, he looked at it and smiled wryly and said «something’s missing, huh?» Cute. At least he was gracious about the insulting transaction. Thanks for giving me my money back, Mr. Manager, but L&L still sucks a butt.

I would give it 5 stars, but I just paid 7.60 for a mini plate! It was plenty food, but just seemed crazy when they are usually between $ 4-​$ 5 in all the other L&L’s. Maybe that’s just the way it is here in Alaska? Only my first day in Alaska! Picked L&L for my first lunch and the chicken katsu was to L&L standards! So Ono! Interesting food court with the ice rink, bowling, and gym in view.

Definitely wouldn’t be my first choice for lunch but it’s decent. I received food poisoning once from this place, but all the other times were okay. The BBQ chicken is good, along with the kalbi steak.

I find the food to be great and a nice serving size, but its a little on the pricey side.

I’ve been to Hawaii, and my husband is born and raised from there. Now, for an L & L, and comfort food from Hawaii, this is a great place to go. The one new 5^th ave is more expensive and not so great but the one here in the Dimond Center is somewhere we frequent a bit. Everything is usually really good but I’m mostly a fan of the sides. I could eat their mac salad all day and night. It is located in a food court and the wait can tend to get long but it’s worth it when you need a little bit of home from Hawaii.

I would eat here every day if I could. It’s just to bad it’s located in the Dimond mall. The other location in the 5^th ave mall is very nice but the prices are higher and again it’s in a food court.
I recommend the BBQ chicken plate for beginners, then experiment.

If you miss the Island food of Hawaii then go over to L&L Barbecue in the 5^th ave mall. No it is not all homemade but your in Alaska now.
The BBQ beef Is my favorite but the Kalua Pork is nothing to shake a stick at.
Yes you still get two scoops of sticky rice and a scoop of macaroni salad with your meal. If you are still hungry after eating one of these meals then I can’t help you with any more suggestions. Sorry.

Im not from hawaii nor have i ever had hawaiin bbq but back in CA the food here is delish! So wen i saw there was one here i was so happy! My fave is the Katsu chicken but i skip the salad and ask for all rice

Don’t get me wrong — I LOVE L&L! But this particular location was not exactly doing it for me… I can usually depend on getting a taste of home when I visit any L&L, but this time it made me want to go all the way back home just to make the food myself.
I was picking up multiple orders for my family and got the teriyaki chicken bowl, saimin, and hamburger steak. The rice in the teriyaki bowl was too mushy, the saimin bowl wasn’t filled up (there was literally two inches from the soup to the top of the container), and the only thing that came out okay… the hamburger steak. But wait! They actually spilled all the gravy out of the container and into the plastic bag when they handed me my food, unfortunately I didn’t notice until I walked out of the mall.
The one thing I must say… the girl who took my order at the counter was very nice!