L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

Not one of this chains crowning achievements…
Ordered BBQ chicken Saimin, staple type stuff, broth was not even to the point of warm. The place was pretty empty and had a very depressing aura about it.
Not going back to this location.

Hawaiian themed fare at a decent price. Fast and friendly counter service with a wide selection. Specials of the day and combo plates can make the choices a challenge but you can’t go wrong with whatever you pick.
Bring cash because they don’t take plastic.

First time and now last time here. I ate here yesterday and it ended bad. I got food poisoned and ended up spending time on my toilet throwing up and having severe diarrhea last night. I will definitely never go here ever again.

I haven’t had any spam musubi that’s this bad. Tiny thin piece of spam with salty sauce and a think chunk of rice. Not even eatible. On top of which, presentation is just ugly, and it’s $ 2.30 while it’s cost maybe 20 cents. I’d rather pay 3 for a good one than waste my money on this ugly piece of rice chunk. I’ll never go back. Absolutely disappointed.

Cash only in 2015 is just plain bad business. Not worth the effort to make sure I have cash on me beforehand, and there’s plenty of other places to go nearby that don’t add the inconvenience.

I was in the area so I decided to stop in and give the Hawaiian BBQ another chance. I always liked the one in Huntington and the one they used to have in Costa Mesa. The place is still dirty with questionable food handling. While the cashier was personable, she kept going back in the kitchen to help (no hand washing after handling money, of course). The whole time I was there this guy with a dirty jacket, hoop earrings and neck tattoos was in the front conversing LOUDLY. He also went back in the kitchen (no hand washing or gloves). This isn’t a restaurant, it’s like going to a really dirty, drunk, loud guys house for a crappy warm lunch. Again hope I don’t catch something. I’ve learned my lesson… I won’t be back.

Been my go-​to Hawaiian place for years now. Cash only but CVS next to it has cash back. Stands out from all the L&L’s I’ve been to in SoCal because of the manager, I forgot his name but he’s been there for years now. Really awesome and kind dude. :)

Lynn is the best! Great prices for the amount of food you are getting. The chicken Katsu is super addicting and has a lot of good flavors. Will definitely return :)

I’ve been craving L and L for awhile so I stopped in to this one. Overall good. Nice staff and it was quick. Cash only though.
I had the BBQ mix. The meats taste like they should. Good, albeit the ribs were too fatty, even for me, and I like fatty cuts of meat.
The rice, for being Asian, I hate rice. I still had some so it was alright.
The macaroni salad though was off. I don’t know how any place messes it up, I have the cookbook and it’s easy. Too much mayo and something was just not right. Perhaps the wrong brand of mayo… Guess I’ll just make it myself when I want some or get some when I visit my parents area. Those two locations never disappoint me.
I probably won’t go here again. In my experience with other L and L’s that mess up the mac salad, it’s always off.
Too bad since it’s close by. =(

Wow… My college joint is no longer the same! I’ve first experienced this restaurant in San Diego off of College Ave. Man it was good. Meat was tender, the aroma of the flavors and seasoning was just sublime. When they gave you your order, my box was barely able to close due to the amount of food they packed in it. Everything was amazing. Years later, I’ve noticed this establishment here in Irvine and made a mental note to visit them one of these fine days. The fine day came along and I visited them. I was around 12ish and there was no one around. That should have been a red flag. lol I thought I was lucky. So I ordered the combo plate with the short ribs, beef, and chicken. When I opened the box, my face was laced with disappointment and I can feel my muscles shift because of it. Well, hunger kicked in so I dove in. Taste seems to be off but still had its marking as I remembered it. Ribs were tough. I had to put my skills into full gear to navigate around them bones. Not fun when you are in a 3 piece suit. The beef came apart easily enough but thats probably because it was thin as paper. Chicken was dry but seasoning came across. As I was eating my half full box, I felt cheated. I realized that I paid $ 10 for this box! I remembered it use to be 6 – 7 bucks for the box I ordered. Disappointment continues to kick left and right with every bite. Good thing I packed extra sauce to go. I emptied both sauce cups just revive my food a bit. Rice was ok. Did what its suppose to do. Be rice. You know, warm and fluffy. I don’t know. I’m reliving that moment right now as I’m typing this. gah. I wonder what happen to this establishment. Also, they take only cash. Really? 21^st century and you are a cash only?
I gave this place two stars due their change in quality of food, portion size to the price and the «cash only» ordeal. You’re telling me you can’t incorporate 30 cents for the credit card swipe!!! My meal should have been charged your current price of 7 for a mini. 3 bucks would have covered for that terminal fee.
If you are looking for Hawaiian BBQ and within the vicinity, come here with minimal expectations and you should be ok. As for me, Meh, I’ve really experience better.

Every once in a while, I look back fondly on my last trip to Hawaii and crave spam, rice, macaroni salad, and bbq chicken.
I was shopping at Daiso when I noticed that there was an L&L next door! I decided to pop in to grab some lunch to-​go but was very disappointed in this place.
1. Inflated prices
$ 6.49 for a mini (small square take out box) and $ 8.69 for a large. Also spam masubi is $ 2.29 for one. Considering the wide variety of foods available in the irvine area, this is pricey
2. Restaurant ambiance and interior
Only so-​so. This is a place I would get take-​out but would not want to at in. The restaurant smelled like some type of chlorox cleanser and was not very pleasant.
3. Mediocre service
Even though it was 11am on a week day and there was no one in the restaurant, service was not great. I had to wait at the counter and when they noticed I was standing there, there was no smile or hello but a «what do you need» type of look.
Although the food itself was good, and surprisingly, I was very full after the mini, I think that there are better options in the Irvine area and also for better prices!

Do you like spam-​musubi?
Do you like katsu?
Have you had their katsu-​musubi?
Yeah… it’s a must.
Lower score because the interior is usually sticky.

This is the main Hawaiian bbq plate lunch spot in Hawaii. I’m glad that they’ve expanded beyond the islands. They have all the typical go-​to items that you would want at plate lunch. Such as Chicken Katsu, Loco Moco, Saimin, Musubi, Short Rib, Mahi, Kalua Pork etc. They cook the items well and the taste is good.
This specific location is Cash Only, so just keep that in mind. They also have Hawaiian drinks from Hawaiian Sun, they make the juices such as Passion Orange, Guava, Lilikoi, etc.
This establishment has Musubi for $ 1 on Mondays and they also have a Ramen Burger which looks crazy, I need to try it! They seem to have won an award in 2012 for best L&L location.
The service was nice, prices fair comparable to what you would see at other plate lunch spots. They were sold out of short rib today and told us up front. I like the variety and the quality that you get at L&L compared to other plate lunch places so come here and enjoy.

North Irvine needed a Hawaiian BBQ restaurant and Hawaiian BBQ needed to come to north Irvine. So imagine my delight when I discovered that L&L, the grandfather of all Hawaiian BBQ, was opening shop in the increasingly popular Heritage Plaza. That delight quickly dissipated after I realized that this place must be run by an actual grandfather (no offense to grandfathers).
Tucked in between two other restaurants, this place was frustratingly hard to locate. But once you do find it, you will walk into a small alley of like 5 tables and a counter. I ordered the ramen burger because this is literally one of two places that make it in Irvine (the other is coincidentally about 6 businesses to the left). It took about 15, 20 minutes for me to get my food, which would be so bad if I wasn’t sitting alone in a small restaurant listening to Hawaiian song covers at a volume just loud enough that I could not zone out.
The end result, the burger was pretty good. The ramen bun fell apart on me, but that’s fine– I was so hungry that I would have torn that thing apart anyways. I probably will return as this is the only outlet of Hawaiian BBQ in this corner of OC, but if they ever open a second, I will probably migrate.

L&L is not a bad option if you’re in the area & craving some Hawaiian BBQ. Portions are generous and the food fulfills your cravings and appetite! Depending on how hungry you are or really how much you can finish, you’re most likely to have leftovers which is always awesome because you can have some leftover for tonight’s dinner or tomorrow’s lunch! They also have Spam Musubi, which is yummy and convenient when you don’t want to make it yourself!
Downside is L&L is CASH ONLY.
But If you’re with chase bank, there’s a branch nearby with ATMs if you realllllly need it!
Also service isn’t too shabby either. I wasn’t expecting the staff to walk my to-​go order to me, but I thought that was really sweet of them to!
However, the food here is what you expect, but it does the job when you’re 1) hungry, 2) craving Hawaiian food, and 3) in the area.
BUT if I had to be honest, my preference would be Aloha Hawaiian BBQ when I’m craving… because they accept card and I like the overall feel of the place better, but that’s just me! To each one’s own!

I love this place. The only reason it’s not five stars is because it’s cash only.
Wife and I almost caused a 3 car pile up doing circles around Culver Blvd looking for this place as its tucked away kinda hard to find.
My wife and I ran in to place to pick up the order we had placed.
With that being said the food on the other hand was outstanding. The ribs were off the charts the steak was lipsmacking as always and the chicken makes me want to slap my mama. (I wouldn’t recommend doing that)
You can never go wrong stopping by here

Tasty, but soooo heavy. You order one combo plate and the quantity could last you for a couple meals, but once you start eating, you realize how heavy the food is and you end up needing 4 to 5 meals to finish it all.
Which isn’t bad if you’re on a budget and don’t care about your arteries.
I like this place, but I can’t eat here more than once or twice a year. Weak.
Service was friendly and food was cooked to order.
Ribs were good but fatty.
Kalua Pork was very smokey. Eat this FIRST if you get a combo with this in it.
Chicken was very moist and tasted great (my favorite item).
Steak was really thin but tasted good.
Rice was fluffy.
Mac salad was CREAMY.
Musubi is very cleanly made and the seaweed holds everything very well without being tough. My second favorite item.
I’d say if I were to return, I’d order the BBQ chicken and a couple Musubis.
Not the best Hawaiian I’ve ever had but definitely worth adding to the list of go-​to spots.

I came here with my friends to try their ramen burgers. Service was very nice and there wasn’t too long of a wait. It was $ 5.99 for the ramen burger and although it was kinda pricey for how much you get, it was pretty good!
Interior is okay, typical quick BBQ joint. Not too much seating though.
All in all a pretty good experience other than the price.

Great place for lunch or dinner :)
This place is cash only though so come prepared!
I always get the kahlua pork and chicken katsu :) I like getting the combo in te regular size because it’s such a generous portion it’s like getting 2 meals for the price of one since I always have leftovers!
Service here is pretty good as well. It’s always the same girl I see working but she’s friendly and brings the food to your table for you even though I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have to.

L&L serves up the best chicken Katsu in town. Their chicken Katsu is perfectly cooked. The chicken is tender and juicy, while the outer has the perfect crust without being overly battered. And the dipping sauce is sweet and savory, adding another flavor element when combined with the chicken. Add a side of mac and scoop of rice, well. you have an awesome Hawaiian plate lunch.