LandL Hawaiian Barbecue

History

In 1976, Eddie Flores bought a small building that formerly housed a retail outlet for L&L Dairy on Honolulu's Liliha Street. He kept the L&L part of the name and remodel the building as a small walk-up restaurant for his mother to operate. This business was the first location of the growing L&L Drive-Inn chain that specialized in the plate lunch. After this single building business became a success, Johnson Kam joined Flores in the expanding the business to other locations within the state of Hawaii. To help in the expansion, Flores and Kam began to offer franchises, mostly to successful employees, in 1988 By 1997, there were 30 locations through Hawaii.

California

In early 1999, Flores noticed that a former employee was doing fairly well selling Hawaiian-style plate lunches in the San Francisco area despite the fact the restaurant was not in an ideal location. Since he realize that it was possible to sell Hawaiian-style plate lunches in California, Flores obtained a location inside the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, California to open the first L&L location on mainland just a few months later in October. Since Californians had different expectations on the type of foods that are usually served at an eating establishment that are called "drive-ins" (i.e., restaurants with carhop service like the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California that sells burgers and fries) to that which most Hawaiians would expect to receive at an L&L Drive-Inn on the islands, Flores decided to change the name of the L&L locations on the mainland to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue to strengthen the chain's association to Hawaiian cuisine.

At the time of the opening of the first location in the state of California in October 1999, there were 49 L&L locations in Hawaii. After opening at the Puente Hills Mall, chain open other locations through Los Angeles County. In September 2000, L&L opened its first location in Orange County.

Other western states

The first L&L location in the state of Oregon was opened in Hillsboro in August 2001.

The first L&L location in the state of Nevada was opened in Henderson in July 2002.

The first L&L location in the state of Washington was opened in Lynnwood in March 2003.

The first L&L location in the state of Arizona was opened in Mesa in June 2004.

The first L&L location in the state of Utah was opened in Provo in August 2004.

The first L&L location in the state of Colorado was opened in Aurora in August 2004.

The first L&L location in the state of Texas was opened in Lewisville in April 2008.

The first L&L location in the state of Alaska was opened inside the Dimond Center in Anchorage in November 2009.

Eastern states

Moving east of the Rockies, the first L&L location on the East Coast and in the state of Connecticut was opened in Manchester in May 2003. This location never did very well and the company quickly withdrew from this state.

Advancing into the state of New York, the first L&L location was opened on Fulton Street in New York City in November 2004. After struggling a bit in an extremely high rent location, the New York City location had closed by mid-2013. The only L&L location that have appeared to have survived in the state of New York is located near the Canadian border at Evans Mills.

Central states

The first L&L location in the Midwest and in the state of Illinois was opened in Champaign near the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in October 2004. This location never did very well and the company quickly withdrew from this state.

The first L&L location in the state of Michigan was opened in East Lansing in June 2005. Although this restaurant was located near the campus of Michigan State University, this Midwestern location never did very well and the company quickly withdrew from this state.

The first L&L location in the state of Tennessee was opened in Franklin in June 2015. At the time of the opening in Franklin, that location was the only location in between Texas and New York.

American pacific territories

The first expansion move to the west of Hawaii occurred when the first L&L location in the territory of American Samoa was opened in June 2008. The franchise had closed sometime between September 2012 and March 2013.

Later, the first L&L location in the territory of Guam was opened in October 2014.

International

The first location outside of the United States was opened in Otahuhu in New Zealand in February 2009. In the following year, the first location in Japan was opened in the Shibuya section of Tokyo in June 2010. Three years later, the first location was opened in China in June 2013. As of late 2016, no definite evidence can be found if any location in China still currently exists.

Moving into Maritime Southeast Asia, the first L&L location in Malaysia was opened in Kuala Lumpur in December 2014. In 2015, the first L&L location in Indonesia was opened in Jakarta in June 2015, followed by the first L&L location in the Philippines was opened in Manila in October 2015.

Menu

L&L specializes in serving the Hawaiian plate lunch that is traditionally served at the many lunch wagons and small cafes that had previously catered to the hard working blue collar workers in the Hawaiian Islands which also contain lots of calories, protein and starch to give them enough energy to last throughout the day working outside underneath the hot tropical sun.

The plate lunch could include beef, pork, chicken, fish, or shrimp with two large scoops of rice along with a scoop of mayonnaise-laden macaroni salad.

Outside of Hawaii, the major initial complaint against the food was the amount of starch and the lack of vegetables that was on the menu. One newspaper reporter in Alaska called the macaroni salad "gummy and gloppy".

To adapt to these different market conditions, each franchise slightly modify their menus to fit the expectations of their local clientele. On the mainland, some franchise offer Atkin plates and allow the substitution of a tossed green salad and/or steamed vegetables for some of the starches. Brown rice is also offered for the health conscious. On Samoa, banana was also offered along with the rice. In China and Japan, the franchises may offer local dishes in addition to the standard Hawaiian fare.

Accolades

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue’s success has earned the company many awards and continued rankings in various local and national magazines. In 2002, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue was named one of the “50 Regional Powerhouse Chains” by Nation's Restaurant News. The July 2005 issue of Restaurant & Institutions Magazine ranked L&L #314 out of America’s top 400 restaurant chains. Additionally, Restaurant Business magazine ranked L&L #15 of its 50 Top Growth Chains in the Nation in 2005. Entrepreneur magazine has also ranked L&L’s parent company, L&L Franchise, Inc. at #165 out of the top 500 franchises in 2005.