L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

I had a terrible, dry bbq chicken bowl here a couple of years, ago but today while I was in the area, marinated chicken bowl sounded good and I decided to give this place another try. It was just as bad or worse than the first. I think it had been cooked in the morning. Dry, tough and salty. This time I got my money back while still in the store.

There’s a lady who is always working front counter who is the rudest lady, who practically screams at you when she’s taking your order.
Food is typical L&L food, I’ve never had a problem whenever ordering from them. but I try to avoid this place solely because of that rude loud lady.

Come to this place a lot with my boo thang. While their main lunch and dinner items such as the bbq beef, chicken katsu, short ribs, and grilled chicken are great and delicious, their other menu items fall pretty short. Their «chefs special» beef curry is dry and their pulled pork plate gives you rarely any meat with no flavor and mainly cabbage. Three stars but Imma still come here tho.

To be fair I have found the food at other L&L locations mediocre so I was hoping for the best but not expecting to be impressed. First off, the older lady that took my order was curt and about as unfriendly as one can get in the food industry. I was the only patron and she seemed very put out just having to take my order.
Minus 1 star.
Saw the Ramen Burger on the menu and against all my better instincts I thought I’d give it a try. When I picked it up from the counter and took it to my table, it was so greasy looking I was almost afraid to try it.
Minus a 2^nd star.
The grouchy lady told me the Ramen was «crunchy» and it was bought and paid for so I owed it at least a taste. It fell apart as soon as I picked it up. Mind you, I was still the only patron and picked it up as soon as I was called so it’s not like it sat and softened or had time to get mushy.
Minus a 3^rd star.
I’ll admit I picked at it with my fork but I’ll never be back again.

After reading some over the other reviews I do have to agree that this certainly isn’t the best Hawaiian spot to go to in the area but it is available as a last minute result and you are desperate. This place is located next to a dry cleaning place and subway, and if you see a Wells Fargk bank that means you are in the right place. This particular location is on the smaller size but they still have seating options available inside. The customer service here is anything but great, maybe that’s why it’s always empty all the time? They accept cash only which is annoying because in all reality who carries cash now days besides a few extra bucks? The place could be a lot cleaner which is always a downgrade for me. As far as the food, it is OK but other locations have been better. For some reason this one lacks the taste like the other ones but like I said, if you are desperate enough to come here then you will check this place out for yourself but don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
Oh yea, parking here is always annoying since it is shared with like 4 other business and the spots in front are all 15 minute or less.

First and foremost this is a cash only establishment bring cash I ordered the combo which was the mahi tempura shrimp and chicken the macaroni salad was good not too dry I would go back if the cashier wasn’t so dry

So made a pit stop here in Hercules. Came in for late lunch. Service almost a flop. Lady behind counter seems grouchy. Wanted to use debit card, she points to sign ‚“Cash Only!”
Fine whatever…
Food was good. Needed more katsu sauce but costs 35 cents xtra. Not worth it. Should be complimentary in my opinion or at least come with all dishes.
No bathrooms Fail, especially since we have been on the road for a while. Yikes!
Seating very cramped…
I guess if your grabbing food to go I say yes, dining in though is a No. Remember cash only

Not a fan, this location the chicken was very over cooked. Macaroni salad had no flavor and cleanliness was lacking. service was as expected.

I’m updating my review because last nights dinner was SO good. I literally finished all but one piece of meat from my BBQ mix.
We ordered there then waited about 10 minutes for our food. Not that bad considering we had a big order. I never knew how much business this L&L got until I was actually waiting in there. (I usually call in then pick it up real fast.) Even if it is a inconvenience that it’s cash only, seeing all the business they get, no wonder they don’t feel it’s a necessity to change their policy. People are still going to come regardless therefore they will be coming home with hella cash regardless. I just hope they don’t get robbed. Carrying that much cash is not safe.
But anyway, I was so impressed with my dinner last night. The taste of my BBQ was delicious and they hooked it up with the amount of meat this time. It was the first time I tried the fried shrimp and it was delicious with the tartar sauce! Next time I’m definitely getting an extra scoop of macaroni salad cause it is just too good!

I usually come here for take out before I go to work, but today is the last time.ever. I found two mid length hairs in my food

The food is hit or miss. Usually a hit! But the customer service is awful. They only accept cash, which is a bit of a hassle but not a deal breaker. The cashier looks like she never wants to be there, and seems disrespected when I say I ask for sweet & sour sauce instead of Katsu sauce. If she would turn that frown upside down it would be a much better experience.

There service is not bad! There Bbq Beef is delicious I reccomend coming here for Lunch and Dinner!

3 stars for the food, which was decent. Took away a star because of the poor service.
Stopped by this place on the way home for a quick bite to eat with my little one. Hawaiian is usually a good bet with our family — mmm, food with rice. First thing I noticed is the big CASH ONLY sign right next to the register. Next thing I noticed was the unsmiling cashier who curtly confirmed the information on the sign.
I should have probably left right then but the hangries were due to set in if we didn’t eat soon. I stared up at the menu for a bit and asked a few questions which she answered in a too-​loud, very annoyed tone and a sour look on her face to boot.
I ended up ordering a mini loco moco and some spam musubi. She cashed me out, yelled the order back to the kitchen and then promptly disappeared. In the interim, my daughter wandered up to counter to look for napkins and called back several times but with no answer.
Our food was ready in about 10 minutes. Again, sour-​puss lady come out, asked «eat here or take out?» and gave us our food. No thank you, no pleasantries, no nothing.
On the upside, the food was good. The loco moco had a well seasoned beef patty covered in gravy and topped with an over easy egg. My daughter had no complaints about her spam musubi which we asked for without sauce.
This is probably an okay place to get food so long as you take out and don’t mind the sour-​puss cashier. I get it, not-​so-​fast food is probably not the most glamorous job in the world. Even so, acting perpetually annoyed at your customers is NOT the way to get return business. i’ve been to other L&L’s where they were at least courteous. A quick check of other reviews will confirm that others also found her rude so this likely wasn’t an off day.

Came here when we were craving some Hawaiian food. Just coming back from Maui and having lau lau and kalua pork, we were really hoping for some decent food. As everyone states, it is cash only and if you place a large order, it can be quite expensive and I just usually don’t carry a lot of cash. Wells Fargo is near but that doesnlt help much if you don’t use them.
The lau lau is ok. Much more leaf to it than pork. The flavor was ok but I was just hoping for more than a small chunk of pork (like you would get at DaKine on the islands). The kalua pork was just ok. It had ok flavor but I was hoping for much more. The BBQ beef does have some good sweet, salty flavoring but no citrusy tang to it at all. Chicken katsu was crunchy and fairly moist, my daughter did like it and their katsu sauce is pretty good. The spam masubi is good and there are times I would just like to grab a bunch of these to munch on as a snack. The fries are usually ok, salty and crunchy but this time they got a bit steamed and soft as well as not much salt.
There is not much selection when it comes to Hawaiian food and if you have a craving, you just kinda have to have it. L&L will do but I wish they just spent a bit more time on nuturing their flavors.

I have come to this l&l several times but usually order the same dish so my review is not well rounded. I typically get the chef special fried rice with beef which is wonderful. Nice flavor, spam, BBQ beef, seasoning, rice… very nice blend. It is a little pricey but I will pay it every now and then to satisfy my craving. Their spam musubi is yummy. They don’t overpower the spam with too much rice.
One big downfall to this place. THEY ONLY TAKE CASH. seriously? Why? What year are we in? I will not go to this place many times because I carry only plastic. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who feels this way. Please, owners of l&l, avoid being cheap and allow consumers to use a modern day form of payment called a credit card.

I read the first 10 reviews for L & L in Hercules and still decided to go try it out for myself. I have been to several around the bay area and they are ALL the same. You know what to expect when you go in. It is like going to McDonald’s. You know what to expect. It is not gourmet food, you can’t expect it to be gourmet. It is what it is-​hawaiian fast food. You get a lot for you money, the food comes out fast, the owner/​cashier was very pleasant & yes, you have to pay cash.
Spam musabi was good, chicken teriyaki was juicy, chicken katsu was crunchy (just the way I like it), and the macaroni salad was pleasantly good. One negative, ramen burger-​SKIP IT… soggy, hard to eat, messy, and the 2 patties are too much.

I don’t mind shitty fast food and stuff, but this place is the worst L and L I’ve been to. By far the least clean and least friendly one I went to. I won’t take off a star for the unfriendly service because well, it didn’t bother me THAT much. This place is CASH ONLY so it kind of sucks, luckily I had cash. The 2 star rating is just for the food. UGH. Saltiest and most over-​cooked meat I ever had at an L & L. And as a college/​grad student when I was busy studying this would be my go-​to place because it was fast and I dig that unhealthy but addictive macaroni salad. But… I’ll never come here again. Ick.

I’m not the biggest fan of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, but I still don’t mind getting a meal from here every now and then. Personally, I feel like the food can be hit or miss. The only things I’ve had here that are consistent are their spam musubi, scoops of rice, and macaroni salad. Often, I find my chicken katsu a bit over cooked and dry, same goes for some of the fish.
Today, I decided to try their ramen burger combo, which came with fries and a drink. Since ramen burgers have been such a huge success in other places, I was really excited to try L&L’s, for I had never had one before. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with my meal. The ramen «buns» were really soggy; it was difficult to hold the burger. The fries were over salted, which was a shame, because they were nice a crispy, just the way I like them. Regardless, I’ll still come here for food every now and then, but I think I’ll stick with the rice plates and musubi.

I don’t even want to give this place one star. It deserves 0 stars. I ordered the seafood mix, there’s no fish. Tiny shrimps, no rice and macaroni.
I paid over 10 dollars for this?
Never going back.

This place is close to where I live so it’s convenient when I want some decent Hawaiian BBQ.
I ordered the Chicken Katsu mini plate. The Macaroni Salad and Chicken Katsu itself are alright but nothing too special. The portions are also a bit smaller compared to other places. I thought that there would be a little more Katsu but there’s just enough here to fill you up.
I was the only customer that night and thought that the service could be slightly faster. I was inside waiting for about 3 – 5 minutes for my mini plate.
The food is a bit pricey as well. I paid about $ 5 for my Chicken Katsu mini plate. I also really wanted a Spam Musubi but was not willing to pay $ 2.25.
This place is cash only and will not accept debit or credit cards.
I like Hawaiian BBQ and it’s conveniently placed in the shopping center near where I live. It’s not the best but also not the worst food I’ve tried. It’s decent enough to make the trip when I have that craving.