L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

This location is an embarrassment the L&L chain. Horrible customer service, burnt and over salted food. Rice that looks like mashed potatoes and ignorant rude staff. We complained about our rice being more like congee and our order containing the wrong meat and the man in the back kitchen began yelling and questioning why we didn’t like our order. After arguing with him and the cashier they finally fixed our order and stared at us intently with dirty looks the entire time we ate. This location should be shut down. It’s filthy inside, sticky counter tops, dirty tables, crusted soda fountains. The worst L&L I have ever seen.

It kills me when a menu has been the same for years yet the cooks act like they’ve never made this food before. 2 seafood combos w/​Katsu and a mini Katsu. Once my mother stated the chicken was too hard to swollen and was very «rubbery» I knew I had waisted 30 bucks. I’ve only been to this location once before. It was terrible then and I never went back. A lot of time has passed (years) so I thought I’d try it again. Now I’m writing this review on the toilet trying to determine if I have the runs or if I’m going into labor and my body is cleaning itself out first. *slaps forehead* maybe I should just give up all types of dinning out for awhile.

I had the seafood combo with the chicken katsu: the fried shrimp were pretty good, the fish was horrible and so was the old Tartar sauce they gave me, the white rice was fine and the macaroni salad had a lot mayonnaise but it was pretty tasty. The two brown sauces were really good. My husband had the BBQ combo with the spam musubi he loved everything! I would have loved to try the canned Hawaiin drinks but way to pricey for a can drink!

Polynesians know how to eat. I like the beef bbq and the chicken bbq has excellent flavor. I’m always happy with a full belly when I leave here.

Aloha! I’ve eaten at various L&Ls in San Diego and Hawaii and the quality has always been consistent… except for the location in Kapaa, Kauai, that one is a complete dump, avoid!
$ 9.50 for a combo plate with hearty portions of grilled Mahi, Kalua pork, rice and mac… tasty and good enough to satisfy my once in awhile Hawaiian food fix. The Kalua pork is always consistently tasty, though the Mahi was a tad overcooked, but what else is one to expect for $ 9.50?
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As I sit down to write this review I find myself laughing to myself. Laughing at what other people thought of my facial expression when my food came out.
I was in a hurry to find a quick bite to eat before a show across the street and came across L&L. My last experience was from a shop in Pacific Beach back in the day and figured this location would be just as good. Ha!
I was in the mood for a burger and BBQ burger at the top of the menu sounded appetizing. Ordered up the meal with a side of fries and soda. The lady at the counter had a blank stare while taking our order but I wasn’t too concerned. I was hungry and in a hurry so service wasn’t a big deal. Just serve me my food :)
We sat down patiently at a table which was dirty but the cleanest one available. Our order actually came up quickly so I have no complaints there. What I did have an issue with was my meal. I literally LOL when I sat down to look at probably the sorriest excuse for a burger and fries combo. I lifted up the bun thinking to my self «where’s the meat?» Almost expecting someone to yell out «Under the pickle!» I shrugged in disappointed and tried to doctor up this poor measly burger.
Even the fries couldn’t hold their own being of low quality and tasting of freezer burn.
What else can I say other than to make sure you use your Unilocal app before you dine out. I did not! So shame on me. If I had I would have seen their rating and would moved on to the next spot.

Love this place. Come here all the time. They messed up my order one time but were very sincere about fixing it. Came here after an un named close by place gave me horrible service and walked out and they always greet you with a smile here. Turned my night around. Thanks!

Probably the best L&L in all of the franchises in San Diego. Always nice service and the food is usually on point.

It was my department’s turn to host the staff lunch this month. I came up with the idea of a Hawaiian Luau Lunch. The first place that came to mind was L&L. I haven’t eaten here in a very long time but my memories of the food has always been good. I called a few weeks in advance to ask about catering options. They do not deliver which took off one star for me. Their website is very limited I was hoping for a full menu but you have to call to get more information. The store emailed me a picture of their catering menu. I called the day before to place my order for pick up. The food was piping hot and smelled like it was freshly cooked. An employee helped carry the trays to my car which is going to smell like Hawaiian food for a few days. The entire office loved the food and everyone is taking home left overs. Two party trays were more than enough for about 17 people.

If you want fast kine Hawaiian BBQ, then this is the place to hit up. May not be up to standard compared to, for example, Homestyle Hawaiian, but honestly, I’ve grown accustomed to their taste when I lived in Hawaii many years ago and they’re not so bad.
Their chicken katsu is always crispy! And any of their BBQ (BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, and/​or BBQ short ribs) is the bomb dot com! Moreover, their garlic shrimp tastes just like you’re in Hawaii! I’m never disappointed when I come here…
Location wise, it’s easily missable because it’s kinda hidden and small. It’s always busy during lunchtime so expect a short but reasonable wait.

The food quality is consistent with any other L and L. The speed of the service is something that needs work. Stopped in for lunch and it took about 3 – 4 minutes to take an order per person in line. That is a wait. The people who worked there seemed nice enough but they gotta figure out a way to get orders down quicker.

I have been wanting to try out this spot for a while now. I ordered the mini BBQ chicken and it came with macaroni salad and rice. It was amazing! So delicious. It came with a good amount of chicken too. The only reason why I didn’t give a full 5 star review was the place was dirty! The tables were dirty there was no clean ones I just had to deal with a dirty table. I figured maybe the guy at the register was busy? Only later to see him look at at phone talking to his coworker not doing anything. Otherwise I would definitely come back the food was delicious!

We just had a great experience at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. Nothing special either. My honey was watching Anthony Bourdain in Hawaii and was inspired to eat katsu chicken.
We finally made it to Point Loma and he got super excited. The portion was huge. More than Enough for two. His first bite of plain katsu chicken and he was like «what’s the big deal». It is good crispy fried chicken but that’s it. Then I reached over and grabbed the sauces on the table. Boom, a whole ‘nother level of delicious.
My spam masubi was delicious. Their teriyaki sauce is sweet and yummy.
The young lady that took our order was very welcoming too.
Don’t expect anything fancy. It is mixed-​plate and that means relaxed comfort food.
I think the orange bang soda is no more.

I’m honestly not too sure if the times are even correct on the Unilocal page. Anyways, I came around ⁸²⁰⁄₈₃₅ at night before closing time (9:00) and they were already closed? Not sure if they close early bc they don’t get customers, but out of all the other L&L locations I’ve ever been to, even if it is after closing time but lights are still on and there’s still customers and the doors open, they’ll take my order pretty quick.
Anyways, this location is one of the hardest locations to spot at night, in traffic with no gps going on. Honestly, after the first time, my hubs and I decided to stop driving around for 45 minutes to even bother finding them and settled on Phil’s BBQ down the street the first time.
Honestly, this location can be the biggest hit or miss. I always either get the loco moco or katsu. For some odd reason everytime I order either one, it’s never consistent. I either don’t get enough katsu, it’s burnt, or it smells as if it’s been sitting outside for a while. I honestly don’t even recommend this location to others, and I would much rather pay the extra at Homestyle, or drive a little but more north towards Mira Mesa.
Nonetheless, it’s fast, sometimes, and it’s alright. Not a place I’d go to everytime Hawaiian BBQ comes up.

No one beats their garlic shrimp for me.
My husband’s fave is the kalua pork and my kids love their chicken katsu.
Busy location but the people who work here are nice and they even offer car side pick up if you’re in (military) uniform! That was always a plus for my drill instructor!

I’m about to start pulling the race card in San Diego lol. I paid extra for extra beef and I didn’t get it nor did they tell me which one had the extra, I ordered 2 of the same plates. They look exactly the same. I went there two days before and they put the extras in a separate plate. I feel disrespected because I walked to the counter and asked did the give extras and she looked my straight in my face and said it was in a plate.

Went here for a birthday lunch with my SO. We both got the BBQ mix plate. You get tons of meat (chicken, short rib and what seemed like bulgogi). Great value for the price. I ended up only liking their chicken so lucky SO, he got my other meat. The rice was nice and buttery tasting. The macaroni salad was sooooo good. Probably the best ive ever had. I couldnt get enough of the stuff. I ended up getting way too full and had to take some food home.
Parking– Don’t try to park in the front. Park in the back near Petsmart. Way easier. Getting out of the parking lot is fairly difficult due to the close proximity of the traffic light. You’ve been warned.
It’s located right next to a Starbucks which is pretty convenient. Overall I would def. be back as the flavor was spot on for the chicken.

Update time! 3.5 stars
I’m not sure if the owners read all the bad reviews here, or if they just realized it was time to make a change, but make a change they did, and I couldn’t be happier!
Gone is the muscle-​bound meat-​head sullen cashier, gone are the sticky and smeared floors, gone are the underwhelming plates of food. Is it all perfect? No. But it’s worlds better than what it was before.
So, true — in my first review I swore that I’d never come back. It was horrid, people — the cashiers were rude, the food was terrible, and the dining room was never clean. But, sometimes, one gets desperate, and desperation leads to one going against their word.
Don’t judge me!
We’re both incredibly impressed by the young lady that runs the register right now. She’s super friendly and helpful, and goes out of her way to be accommodating. She asks questions if she thinks she missed something — instead of just assuming that she got it all — and ensures that we have everything we need when handing us our food.
And the food has gotten much better, as well. They’re still very heavy-​handed with the mayonnaise in the mac salad, so I stay away from that — but the food tastes fresher and has more flavor than before. I haven’t had the strength to order saimin from them yet, but I will, one day. (UPDATE within an update — yeah, the saimin? Pathetic. Noodles and broth and — only if you order it — one slice of Spam (I’m assuming that the other meat options are equally pathetic). That’s it. No fish cake, no green onions, nothing other than ramen noodles and a bland sauce. Definitely will NOT order again in the future — leaves a bad taste in my mouth…)
The only thing is that, while the dining area itself is usually clean, the self-​serve area can use a bit of help. The sauce cups and lids are typically low on stock, and there have been a couple of times where the lids have been splashed by the sauces from the bottles — they tend to squirt out when turning the bottles upside-​down or right-​side-​up.
But, given where they were not so long ago, that’s not terrible. It could be addressed, sure, but great strides have been made at this location, and I’m happy to know that I can put this restaurant back on my rotation.

I’m not a regular customer of L&L’s but because I really wanted Loco Moco… I Ordered the Loco Moco and it was bomb. they could’ve put more gravy but it was bomb!

Yikes… I did not realize this place had such bad reviews.
We rolled in here after surfing Ocean Beach Dog Beach… but I had a great experience (minus the stupid teenage bitch and her mom who kept staring at me) probably from the Midwest brotha, stupid houlies houlies (whatever I am one)
maybe all my tattoos… but that is not this places fault…
Here goes, super cute friendly girl behind the counter… «Mahalo» smiling with her cute black rimmed glasses…
We ordered Lau Lau Plate, yum… steamed fish/​pork/​chicken in tea leaves/​banana leaves, with mac salad, Chicken katsu/​Kalua pork plate and BBQ mix plate, BBQ ribs/​bbq chicken. yum… spam musubi (little rice roll with Spam wrapped in Seaweed)
large portions ya… choke meal brotha… good food after junk waves brah…
;) this ain’t the Lanikai Shrimp Shack but it is good stuff… shaka