Lame… charge you to use your debit card and only want cash. Although they only want cash, they do not want you to use bills bigger than $ 20.
Jeannette W.
Place rating: 2 Oakland, CA
This place hits the spot if you are craving Hawaiian food but I don’t like it enough to rave about it. My favorite food item is the garlic shrimp which has a good sauce and is made with shell on shrimp. A plus is they offer mini sizes of their dishes for the more diet conscious eaters. One of the things I don’t like is the lack of condiments and they are so stingy that they charge 75 cents for things like extra katsu sauce. The last time I was there, they used long grain rice instead of the short grained stickier rice. This was a major disappointment and partially ruined my meal because I had my heart set on it. But I keep going back for the convenience factor. It’s close to Jack London Square where I work and it’s easy to find parking in the big lot.
Philip L.
Place rating: 4 Alameda, CA
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, is fast good food with without being«fast-food» Good ingredients, tasty, I highly recommend this for a clean fast tasty lunch or dinner. While running errands at Marina Village its the perfect place to eat. enjoy ;-)
Carla S.
Place rating: 2 Olympia, WA
Probably the worst L&L I have ever been! I got bbq beef and it’s so dry and no taste! Never coming back
C D.
Place rating: 2 Alameda, CA
The smallest portions I have ever had at any L&L location. It looked like the food was just thrown on the plate because there were no neat scoops of rice or mac salad. The eggs on the Loco Moco were overcooked and had gray spots on it as if they weren’t cooked on a clean surface. The spam musubi should be called RICE musubi because you get a whole block of rice and a very thin slice of spam. The taste wasn’t too bad, but for a little better quality my family would rather go to Ohana near Nob Hill.
Huong V.
Place rating: 2 Union Square, San Francisco, CA
The food is good. Customer service is not. The workers are so ratchet. They’re rude and unprofessional. If you’re hungry and want a pick up, it’s place isn’t a problem. But if you’re planning to sit in the restaurant and eat your food, not a good idea.
Alden C.
Place rating: 1 Martinez, CA
Not a good experience. First time trying Hawaiian food, I still can’t wait to try Hawaiian food. I ordered a Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich, simple and easy. It took 40 minutes, most of my lunch break to get it. Empty apologies about a new employee, no offer to pay for my lunch they clearly forgot about. The sandwich, if you want to call it that was tiny. A piece of chicken that was smashed or stomped on until it was as thin as the lettuce. My tomato was thicker. Seasoning was nothing exciting. I took a picture for your viewing pleasure. The place was filthy and cluttered and i didn’t see any Hawaiians. The cashier used bare hands, after handling money to add more raw chicken to marinade troth. It made me think of the show Kitchen Nightmares. Aloha
Manny M.
Place rating: 1 Castro Valley, CA
Two days ago [4/13/15] I witnessed the cashier lady holding the seaweed paper(to make masubi’s) was not wearing any gloves. Prior to what she was doing, she didn’t wash her hands after taking orders on the phone and taking cash/putting cash in the cashier. Even the Mexican Cook wasn’t wearing any gloves WTH!!! I love Hawaiian food but man they make L&L look bad. Hope the manager reads this review smh.
Karen Z.
Place rating: 3 Oakland, CA
Broad menu, and inexpensive, but this place doesn’t seem particularly well-kept. Dirty floor, signs taped everywhere. kinda junky. :(
Marji B.
Place rating: 1 Oakland, CA
The food we ate was delicious and I kept praising how light and crispy the curry katsu chicken was. My husband had ordered it and I tried one or two bites. Unfortunately later that night he was throwing up from food poisoning. He said later he thought one of the pieces he ate was slightly pink. His own fault for eating it anyway but L&L should also probably not be serving undercooked chicken.
Vincent H.
Place rating: 1 Alameda, CA
$ 20 minimum to use credit card? Ain’t that a little too high. And I got charged merchant fee for using ATM?! Ridiculous
Martin S.
Place rating: 2 Berkeley, CA
Is this someone’s kitchen? Homemade signs, clutter, film of grease on everything. No, its a restaurant. But how is the food? Tremendous portions. How many chickens died for this rice plate I ordered? I don’t know but I thank them for providing me nourishment with their flesh. Your life was not in vain feathered friend. As I stab into your grilled remains, I notice that the fork provided me by the filipino employee is substandard: child’s size. Bends with the slightest pressure. Like a sapling in a biblical tempest. Woe is me. I must now eat with my hands. When God created L&L the devil at his shoulder.
Mia K.
Place rating: 3 Alameda, CA
Cheap and easy. I like how when I ordered a tray of lumpias they were done in 15 mins.
Rockne H.
Place rating: 3 San Francisco, CA
Time to get my Hawaiian food fix! There aren’t that many Hawaiian food joints around the Oakland area so when I discovered this place right across the water, I jumped at the opportunity! In Hawaii, L&L joints are everywhere. It’s a staple I grew up with. Most of the to me is not that great and doesn’t really taste fresh. I was cautious about this place but tried it anyway. The joint is filled with bright colors. Signage everywhere regarding the menu and teaching the folks how to speak the Hawaiian language and Pidgin dialect. The host was a bit off. He was dressed pretty sloppy: backwards hat, jeans hanging off his butt. His appearance was a bit of a turn off, however, he was super cool. We got to talking and his personality made up for his look. For my meal, I got the Hamburger steak for $ 7.75 and the Musubi for $ 2.25. The musubi was flavored with teriyaki sauce and a lot of it. Too much actually, to the point that it just became too salty and didn’t really bring that sweet element it was intended to do. The hamburger steak is always one of my favorite things to get there. This plate was packed with three patties, the most I’ve had at an L&L’s! This dish was served with white rice and macaroni salad. The patties were thin but flavorful and lots of gravy to tie in all sides. Everything tasted delicious! Like I said, there are that many choices around the area for Hawaiian food. If you’re craving this cuisine, some of the things on this menu is worth your visit. I wouldn’t recommend the fried items(fried shrimp and fried fish) as there is usually more breading than protein but for other dishes, this place is actually good and flavorful! Come by and check them out!
Michael S.
Place rating: 1 San Francisco, CA
Had the same experience with the cashier. Clueless and rude. Most of the drinks were out of order as well. I was annoyed enough to email the corporate office but no response. Tells you a lot about the company.
Sylvia P.
Place rating: 3 Oakland, CA
Needed a place to get something while out running errands. The atmosphere is not very inviting so I ordered my food to go. I stuck to what I’m familiar with and ordered a mini Chicken Katsu plate and one spam musubi. The service was fine, didn’t have any problems. Food took about 10 mins — taste was good. I felt the spam musubi had a little too much rice but at least the rice tasted good. For the sake of fulfilling a spam musubi craving — I may return. Ps– NOWSERVINGRAMENBURGERS!
Victor G.
Place rating: 3 Oakland, CA
L & L even sells hamburgers! had to try it to believe it. eats: hamburger(2.69?) –cooked medium, with mayo, lettuce, tomato in soft bun. –better than mcd. etc. –meat tasted fresh, though i know it’s a patty –good sized. take outs: –the usual L &L
Marlene s.
Place rating: 4 Alameda, CA
When our first choice for dinner said that it would be an hour wait, we turned to L&L. The space is nothing to write home about, but thankfully, our food was pretty good and didn’t take a freaking hour. I got a loco moco with all rice. Came out hot, was quite tasty, and I got amost three sittings out of it. Hubs and I each got spam musubi… hella hit the spot! Guy at the counter was expressionless but our food came out right so I can’t really complain. My only other gripe is that they don’t take credit card. Just debit and cash.
Noelle H.
Place rating: 2 San Francisco, CA
I was looking forward to seeing some lunch specials but didn’t see any when I came in. I was also the only person there(granted, I did come in around 2 so I might have missed the lunch crowd). I decided to get the chicken katsu curry to go. It was about $ 9. When I got home and I looked at it, the portion is HUGEEEEE. Felt like a pound of food! The chicken was dark meet, and was ok. The only thing I was wary of was it seemed a tad bit undercooked, so I heated it up a little more. The curry was standard, nothing special. The macaroni salad was a bit plain as well. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing… but overall it was just meh.
Peter L.
Place rating: 3 East Oakland, Oakland, CA
Three stars seems about right. Nothing too special here, just your average Hawaiian BBQ. Had a quick dinner here with Elena L. and some classmates to celebrate the end of our class. The original plan was to eat at Mint Leaf, but they were packed and we weren’t down to wait, so we opted for this place instead. It’s annoying that they charge an additional 79 cents if you pay with debit. As if their food isn’t expensive enough already! I ordered the #2 Hawaiian BBQ Mix plate, which came with rice, salad, and macaroni. It was filling for $ 10, but wasn’t worth it for the bland flavors of the beef, chicken, and short rib. It didn’t have the exotic Hawaiian flavor that I was hoping for, but rather all tasted like something I could’ve easily marinated and grilled at home. The macaroni was hella good though. I ended up enjoying it more than everything else! Elena seems to love this place, but she be trippin’ sometimes. This is a great place to get a heaping plate of food to fill you up, but not if you want a hula dancer to wiggle and giggle all over your taste buds. They’re big on the portions, especially the meat. I looked over at Elena’s Chicken Katsu and they had the chicken on STACKS.