L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

L&L is a great place to get quick protein fix for lunch. The mini Atkins is perfect for the amount of meat they include in this plate. I usually will order this with a side of brown rice. The meats are very flavorful and will satisfy your taste pallet if you like Hawaiian barbecue. If you want double the protein, you get the regular Atkins plate, and this combo comes with macaroni and potato salad. It is a protein and carb loaded meal. I have also ordered the spam musubi. The spam musubi also a tasty and inexpensive meal. L&L is a great place to go if you like Hawaiian barbeque and other island-​inspired meals.

Ok food but kind of expensive for what you get

Got sick after eating here. Wish I didn’t. I’ve eaten here before with no issues but I lost a night of my life. My guess the bbq chicken. Can’t say for sure as I got the bbq plate with all the meats.

Don’t know what happened here. Used to be my family’s Aloha fix. Not just me… not just one meal… but a steady and dramatic decline. Chicken Katsu is over-​fried and bland. Pork Adobo is salty, and greasy (not in the good way). Kahlua Pork tastes like shredded pork someone splashed with liquid smoke a minute before serving… being alternately smoky, salty and bland at the same time (???how did they do that???). Saimin tastes like a bland version of instant ramen. Rice is either over or under cooked. The L&L franchise has a recipe for success for providing good plate lunches at reasonable prices with a touch of Alo HA! However, whoever is running this location isn’t adding Aloha… they are adding A LOTTA NO! Will give you one more shot in a couple months… good luck… Mahalo…

Here I go with another Loco Moco craving!
The store is awkwardly small. Immediately feel a little uncomfortable walking in, basically bumping people while they’re eating.
The cashier saw me walk in but didn’t bother to look up from her phone. Until I got to the front and stood there for a few seconds. She was sweet but a friendly greeting and attention would’ve been nice. I ordered my mini loco moco (with no meat) and she asked how I would like my egg cooked, and I really appreciated that because apparently not everyone likes it made the same.
After I placed the order I waited about 11 minutes for the food to be ready. I sat against the bar that faces the wall. Still awkward seating. The TV wasn’t on, music was playing but overall I really did feel like the store functionality was all off.
The loco moco was good. I’d only come back here if this was my only option. Otherwise, I’d look elsewhere. If only the Oceanside location was closer to me! ha

I really like the vibes whenever I come in, but most of the food is meh. I actually come here whenever I need my fix on musubis (I love the spam musubis!). However, any of their other food I’ve tried has always been kinda chewy and I end up spitting out the fatty pieces. This place has really cheap prices, so you get what you pay for, but… I’ll just stick with the spam musubis :)!

I went to this location this week with my husband for lunch. It’s near his work. We’ve been here before and had good meals here. But it has changed. The food has changed! It did not have the signature L&L BBQ flavor. It tasted like they used only soy sauce for the marinade. They weren’t playing Hawaiian music that day. Just EDM coming out of a radio from the kitchen. But when we got back to my husband’s office, we both got sick. We’ll never go back yo this location again. Sad.

Good food, prompt service & great prices. Easy cheesy! I’m coming back to try some more sides. I went for the combo plate this time

One thing you must order: chicken katsu, and stuff that you can forget about: shrimp. Their chicken katsu with their katsu sauce are just simply addicting. The chicken meat was tender and was deep fried to ultimate crispness on the outside with a great crunch. It’s probably one of the best chicken katsu I’ve had.
Their fried shrimp was a total joke. Shrimp? Where? I see a ton of batter. Also the shrimp was not thoroughly cooked as it was still translucent. Took a bite, put it down.
The swai fish was OK. Pretty crispy and the fish was well-​seasoned. It went well with the tartar sauce.
The beef ribs could be better but just okay compared to what I had before in other Hawaiian food places.
The rice and macaroni salad both tasted pretty good.
Service was quick and friendly. The restaurant could be kept cleaner. There were food scraps on the floor and the tables were a bit sticky.
Overall it’s a good place for Hawaiian fast food and especially the chicken katsu which I’ll definitely come back for! Just don’t come here for the shrimp. You’ll likely not see any even if you order it.

I have always liked L & L but these last few visits have been awful! This is the second time I have found a hair in my food! None of the workers wear hairnets! Afew weeks ago I found hair in my rice ! Today I found hair or eyelash hair in my Mac salad! Not to mention I sat there for over 30mins (placed my order at 12:50 left at 1:27) waiting for my order due to a large crowd and catering. Which I understood but the employees got flustered and it was a disaster ! People left with refunds or complained ! This place has definitely gone down over the past months

I’ve frequented L&L Hawaiian Barbecue lately. I must say it has improved quite a bit since last year. I usually order the Atkins Super plate. Pure protein and cabbage. The quality of the food is great. And the cashier/​waitress is so friendly and cute! The area is nice and you can sit out in front of the place and enjoy the sunshine. NIce!

good food. simple. tried the mix of chicken and beef. was ok. what i really liked was the spam masubi. havent had them in a very long time.
my first time i came in, i asked for the scallops, they didnt have it.
i tried the Calamari, it was ok, but i was not served enough for the price i paid. i had like 10 pieces for almost 3 dollars? no thanks
i would come in again, maybe just for the chicken plate, or the Spam masubi.

$ 10 for a BBQ Mix plate which included Chicken, Short Ribs and Beef. I like a little fat in my meat but all 3 items were purely fat. JUST FAT! who does this, who can be okay with handing something like that over to a customer???
not only that but this location has been shut down multiple times for roaches. wish I would have known this before eating here.

Mmmmmm I forgot how good L&L is. Hadn’t been here in ages. The service was quick. The food was delicious. The BBQ chicken falls a part right in your mouth and the macaroni salad is soooo good I get all macaroni scoops and no rice. The regular size is enough for 2 and the small is just right for 1 person. I will definitely be coming back sooner rather than later. I had a 5 star experience so 5 stars they get.

Saddest excuse of an L&L ever. The franchise should shut this place down. Read the one-​star reviews and you will easily understand. Also, go check out their malfunctioning and disgusting bathroom and imagine those filthy hands touching and cooking your food.
Don’t come here.
Ordered to-​go and it took a while despite us being the only ones there besides somebody already sitting down and eating their food. The place reeks of cleaning solution and something else, Hawaiian farts, perhaps? But not anything delicious or like food cooking. Quite the opposite. We had called in our order though and it was like going through purgatory waiting on them, knowing we would get sick or die trying to eat their food. Nothing like 50 cent’s motto of get rich or die trying. Doubt he would dine here either.
Got the food, rice was good… that’s about it. The Katsu was dry and I have seen more meat on a desert squirrel’s tail. The sauce was off and inconsistent, watery and disgusting. I think it looked like moose diarrhea. The macaroni could make a great bouncy ball.
I hope the health authorities come here and inspect them. I would hate for anyone else to eat here.

Food is great like always. But man. This happened twice. They make a big deal about charging for the Katsu Sauce. Whatever I will pay every time. They will even go and make you charge your card again for it. The girl will even say when she gives me the plate «3 Katsu sauces» I live in Escondido I get back and my two big orders have 1 Katsu sauce. Where’s the island love. Give those sauces out. They charge for ketchup. GuamBoys.

Love L&L ! But got to admit it’s a very heavy meal.
1 star is for this location. I think they hire high schoolers here. My food always comes out burnt and salty! Also, the staff is always chit chatting with friends that comes in. Never a time that I come in they don’t have friends sitting with cups of water and just talking about most random stuff before helping with the customers!
I wish this wasn’t the only location in San Marcos

Everyone from Hawaii knows that L&L is mediocre when it comes to Hawaiian plate lunches. This San Marcos location in particular is really good though because they offer a variety of Hawaii favorites such as malasadas, haupia, Hawaiian Sun, and red hot dog musubi’s. The service is not bad and they’re always friendly.
*Spam musubi’s aren’t good for my taste. They add some weird ketchup-​like sauce.
*Fried chicken skins with vinegar dipping sauce is winnahs!
*Loco moco with choke (a lot of) gravy is my go-​to.
*Condiments? Well, I wish they would offer Aloha Shoyu and not Kikkoman!

This is the place to go when you are craving a musubi!
They have pretty big portions on their meals as well!
I see in the previous comments that they didn’t like their musubis but the spam one I had was pretty big and cooked all the way. I guess it just depends how you like it.
The place is pretty small so I wouldn’t recommend eating their if it is during a busy time.

I wouldn’t recommend this L&L in San Marcos. They nickel and dime on stuff on everything
I didn’t think it was possible to make a bad spam musubi, but this place did it. The Spam was basically straight from the can, not even cooked. The rice was pasty. The seaweed was dry and stale. I got 3 spam musubi for $ 4.99. They were gonna charge me an additional $ 3.60 for brown rice which I thought was ridiculous. I asked for a katsu sauce and they said they’d have to charge me.
The cashier replied that all L&L’s don’t offer brown rice and it’s expensive. I thought that was a silly remark. At Carmel Mtn and Mira Mesa I get brown rice and katsu sauce for free. This was definitely a bad dining experience and I will no longer eat at this location.