L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

The food is ok. I haven’t had a whole lot from the menu but the bbq chicken plate is good and my son used to get the spicy shrimp bowl that was good, but they don’t carry that any more.
The real problem is with the service and customer service.
–it takes way TOO long to get your order
–workers are not friendly at all, they walk around like zombies with no emotions (esp. the manager/​owner middle-​aged Asian man)
–you have to ask for a container to get sauce to go even though it is self serve
*parking here is often a struggle in this shopping complex

Located in a plaza across the street from the mall, that shares a parking lot with other eateries that include Elbows, Kabuki and Five Guys.
The overall rating for this location is 2.5 stars, which surprising me that it is so low because when I came here for dinner for my mom last Saturday evening, I thought it was okay and worth 3 stars.
Anyways, my mom and I came in around a little after 6:30 pm. We found some parking a little further away and walked over. After browsing the menu board, we ended up getting:
Mini Size Fish Katsu, $ 6.59 prior to tax– I decided to get a mini size (or small size) fish katsu and figured it would be a good portion for me. Which was (especially with an added side of mixed vegetables). I thought the fish was good. The breading was light (a benefit of cooking with panko bread crumbs) and not oily. I also liked the scoop of macaroni salad. I was also served a side of tartar sauce that I thought I could have easily done without and glad it was on the side.
#2 Hawaiian Barbecue Mix with barbecue chicken, sliced beef, beef short ribs ($ 9.29 prior to tax) — Ordered this to go for my husband. My husband’s beef short ribs was burnt, which is a major disappointment. The other meats in this entrée was cooked okay. The portion of this entrée is more than plenty for one person. My husband just thought this was okay but wouldn’t order their beef short ribs again in the future.
#4 Chicken Bowl, 5.49 prior to tax– My mom ordered this for herself. I tried some of her chicken, which was a good amount that they had for this bowl. I thought the chicken was tender and had good flavor.
Side of mixed vegetables (7 oz), $ 1.39 prior to tax– We ordered 2 side orders of this so that both my mom and I could have some vegetables with our dinner. These vegetables were pretty bland for the most part. The assortment we had was chopped cabbage, sliced carrots and broccoli florets. This was most likely frozen and reheated via boiled. It wasn’t good, but we still wanted some vegetables at this meal and so this is the best that we could do.
— — — — — —
(Total= $ 26.33 after tax)
My mom and I waited a little bit of time for our meals to be ready after ordering. There was only 1 woman ahead of us, making a to go order. Actually during our meal, most people that did come in here made to go orders instead of dining in.
Seating is nothing fancy. There are small metal tables and chairs inside and out. The ladies’ restroom was clean on this visit and stocked with the essentials.
After we had our meal, we made a to go order for my husband. And that took a little time to wait for that to be made as well.
I think the price for dinner for 3 seems a bit on the pricey side for a fast food place. But it was filling for everyone. The food was okay and wait time for the food was reasonable/​understandable.
Overall, this visit was average, thus a 3 star rating.
By the way, this place normally has free WiFi. However on this visit, it was not working properly. The employee who took our order told me that they were having some trouble with their internet for a day or 2 now and have not been able to get it fixed yet.

This is not like other L&L locations. The price you pay for the amount of food you get is ridiculous. They don’t even give you a full portion of food. On top of that they water down the teriyaki sauce and charge you for katsu sauce! Definitely felt like a waste of money.

We ordered the mini BBQ chicken plate for quick dinner for my girlfriend. They took our phone order and it was quick and easy! Picked it up within 10 minutes. It was good. It was cheap. It was filling. We’ll be back, if we’re in the area and are out of options.

I used to get the mini plate a long time ago and portions were a lot bigger back then, either that or different locations have different portion sizes for mini. The rice was very small, should’ve had another scoop.

This place is frugality at its worst.
1) «do you guys take American Express?»
«Kinda.»
“What do you mean kinda?”
«Well we take it, but my owner doesn’t like it because it takes an extra day to get the money.»
2) ice for the fountain drinks is served from behind the counter. It’s free but they are going to monitor how much you use.
3). Be prepared to ask for an extra set of plastic ware, even if you order two combos.
4). You are free to use sriracha or katsu sauce but be prepared to ask for a container to squirt it into. They leave the lids out but the actual containers are behind the counter.
Loosen up L&Ls. There are more respectable ways to save a penny.

Price is expensive and meal less!
The Ono Hawiian BBQ is the best price and a full of meal!

Cons: False advertising. I got the number 2 plate. Short ribs with chicken combo. In the picture has two short ribs and two chicken. I received one short rib and a flank meat??? What the ??? And one chicken? Total ripoff. Charged me $ 9.29 which should have been $ 5. The franchise owners are sketchy. I’ve been to other franchises of L & L Hawaiian barbecue and they live up to the franchise name. This franchise owner is disgracing the franchise name and cutting corners.
Yesterday was a hot day. 88 degrees. There were at least 10 customers eating there and their AC was not on. I glanced at their temperature gage and read 85 degrees. No wonder we were uncomfortable.
Pros: none.
Bottom line: Worst L & L Hawaiian BBQ ever. Never ever coming back here again.

The owners of this franchise need to go take notes from Gardena and Carson L&L restaurant. Horrible food. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Place is a good location and big. The problem starts with the tables tried to put my elbows and I could feel film. Kinda gross. I mean the rest of the establishment is pretty clean but colors also give way to a cheap place. Presentation is key. The cashier was kind and helpful but average. The food was adequate but warm and not hot. Why wasn’t it hot. I came here before my meeting in cerritos and there are a lot of options but I’m a sicker for Hawaiian so there ya go

Love the chicken Katsu plate, I always go all mac salad, but the mixed with rice is a favorite of the family. The Katsu sauce is great with a couple of shots of siracha mixed in! Also love the BBQ chicken and the kalua pork. Huge portions as is traditionall with Hawaiian fast food

Have been frequenting the L&L in Carson for years and expected the same great quality from this location. Boy, was I wrong.
Girl taking our order greeted us with a less than enthused attitude. Ordered mini sizes of the chicken katsu and bbq short ribs. The «mini» size is indeed mini. They skimped on the rice and they skimped on the mac. The food itself was okay… What you’d expect from an L&L, just that the portions sucked.
The reason I’m giving this establishment 1 star is because of the customer service. Boyfriend and I decided to dine in quickly since we were so hungry. Just as were finishing our meal, the lady at the front came up to us and said, «We close at 9:30, and it’s actually 9:40 now. We’re cleaning.» Ummmmmmm okay we had like 2 bites left and there were still people there that just got their food. You could’ve cleaned around us for the few more minutes we would’ve spent there. I’ve NEVER, EVER been told to leave from an establishment BEFORE FINISHING MY FOOD. We weren’t dilly-​dallying or chit-​chatting either. That was soooo freakin rude! We packed our two bites to-​go and decided that we’re never coming to this L&L again.

Stopped by today to grab a small snack.
I got the spam with rice Togo… it was ok.
Will try other items if I am in the area again.

Food is really good!
The only reason I give 4 stars is the service. Its really slow. Sometimes there’s only one person ahead of you and it takes quite awhile just to get your order. But other than that no complaints :)

This location is very alow4. Try coming when it’s not busy. Which is not during lunch

Probably the worst L&L out there.
Today I ordered 2 spam musibis and I took a bite of one then threw them out. It was obvious they were not fresh and it was probably sitting around for a few days. The rice was hard and it had this funky taste to it.
1 star for always having POG on deck.

I recently started working in the area, and as a lover of all things Hawaiian, I stopped in. The wait for my usual order is a little longer than I would have hoped, but he food is solid and always enjoy it. Now, I call my order in and pick it up 10 minutes later– still hot.
You can’t beat a solid meal of spam and eggs with rice in the am or a chicken bowl (w grilled onions!) in the pm. Their teriyaki chicken plate is also an easy go-​to with spam musubi on the side if you’re feeling extra hungry. You can never go wrong with spam. Mmmm. Spam. Now please excuse me while I go hunt for more.

Love the Kahlua pork here. I always ask for it with shredded cabbage. The lau lau, saimin, loci moco, and spam musubi are ok… not the best, but when I need a quick fix, it suffices. Wontons are pretty decent too. It does take a really really long time for your order to come out, even when they are not busy. Other than that, the place is fairly clean and service is ok.

The overall two star rating for this place is spot on. When I started working in this area, I saw that this location was closer to my work, but due to the low rating I would drive to the much farther location in Norwalk.
My coworker and I wanted Hawaiian, and she said we should go to this location. After we were done eating she said next time we will take a longer lunch and go to Norwalk.
— In general, I hate this shopping center, especially at lunch time. It has an awful layout and parking is a disaster.
— There was only one person ahead of us in line, but it took close to 20 minutes to get our food.
— The macaroni noodles in the salad were not cooked long enough. Super disappointing since that is what I was really craving yesterday.
— The garlic shrimp bowl was pretty flavorless and I had to cover the thing in loads of sriracha and teriyaki to give it taste.
— About an hour after eating here, I was sick.

When this L & L location first opened up, it was a LOT better than it is today. Sadly, the service and food have gone way down. There was a time when you could walk in and not have to wait 25 mins for a simple order. The portions back then were also much more generous, and the taste/​freshness of the food was better. What happened to you, L&L?
Because we know the wait to get your order is ridiculous now, we normally call ahead for pickup. One time we went in to get lunch and there were two teenage boys sitting down, waiting for their food. As we passed they started whispering «we’re sooo hungry… we’re sooo hungry» — they’d been waiting a while for their food and I think they were trying to warn us. Nice looking out, boys.
At L&L we tend to stick to the same thing — a regular chicken teriyaki plate, and a mini chicken katsu. The teriyaki comes with sides of rice and mac salad, as does the chicken katsu (the mini plate has smaller portions). Even though they’ve cut down the size of their portions, these two items are enough to fill up two adults.
Other small things have changed — they used to have their teriyaki sauce in thermos type pumps so it would be dispensed warm, but that’s now gone. And last week when I was there I saw a new item — kalbi jjim (which is basically a Korean short rib stew). If this location wasn’t so iffy, I would probably give it a try as I do enjoy me some kalbi jjim.
Since this is the closest L&L to us, we still frequent this location, although not as much as in the past, and probably will in the future. I just wish they’d get their act together, read some of these Unilocal reviews and make some positive changes. We enjoy Hawaiian food, so it would be swell if we could get some ono eats nearby.
Tip: their spam musubi is decent and usually already made, so if you’re starving and waiting for your order, get one of these to munch on while you wait.