L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

Worst service as the clerk couldn’t get the order right coz she don’t understand English. It took me 5 mins just to make her understand what I wanted. And food was bland. I don’t think the chicken was fully cooked. Bbq beef was chewy and oily like rubber. I guess they use the lowest grade of meat.
I would have rated 1 star but 2 star as they greet you aloha and Mohalo no matter what.
Also, I just noticed these F**ckers charged me 21instad of $ 13. I need to deal with this now.

So my experience coming here has been a pleasure. The music is relaxing making me kinda feel the whole Hawaiian vibe. The food was great. The bbq was really bbq ed. Flame grilled. I like there macaroni salad and white rice was bland. But that’s how I like it. Lol. How it should be i say. The lady you meet at the register always says Mahalo. And she’s nice. So good food bbq style and a nice environment good people working. I give it a thumbs up. !

I used to come to this location and had not been to another one for years, up until two days ago. Let’s just say that I will never come back to this location again. The portions here are getting smaller and the quality is inconsistent. I recommend the Millbrae location, hands down. The Millbrae location almost doubles the meat portions and gives you two free katsu sauces. Just saying.

Tried out the place because I was starving and had to wait a while for my sister’s flight. I cant say I was impressed the food was alright but nothing special. If your in the area just find some other place

Do not go to this location. Doesn’t compare to other L&L restaurants. The portions you receive seem to be a lot less compared to other locations plus the food can be flavorless.

Drove all of 2.6 miles (but 40 minutes) to get L & L during the rush hour so you know that o was craving super hard. This was my first visit here and it’s forgettable. The cashier was very sweet but was very disinterested when I walked in. She was sitting in a chair by the register and didn’t issue a hello at all. The food is bland and not as good as other locations. Skip this location.

The food here isn’t up to the same standards as other L&L’s in the area and it most certainly does not compare to any of the locations in Hawaii. The food just seems to be slopped/​thrown together. The BBQ chicken and teriyaki beef are pretty good. However, the Lau Lau is pretty bland and the chicken katsu is dried out. The curry chicken is exactly the same as the katsu except a curry sauce is the splattered on top.
The facility is pretty crappy in my opinion. It has a kind of oily grime that’s settled over the interior of the place. It all just seems very unsanitary and filthy. I am curious to see what the kitchen area looks like.
The lady that works behind the register (possibly the owner) is a little different. She can be nice from time to time but I’ve found her to be (what I consider) rude for the most. I know what it’s like dealing with the general public, so I can cut her some slack in this department. However, the one thing I will not tolerate is an unsanitary practice. The last and final time I went in, she was sitting at a table eating her food with her bare hands. She did not acknowledge us at all. After about a minute, she got up and went behind the counter and started plating food and grabbing napkins/​utensils without washing her hands. I have no plans on going back to this location. I’ll drive to Milbrae location instead. They may be slightly more expensive, but the employees are extremely friendly and they offer more options.

Do not go here. The food is horribly made. I absolutely love L&L, this location is just sh*t. My food either comes out way under cooked or burnt, there is no in between. The rice is also nasty and the portions are ridiculously small.

Very small, and no restroom. But the food was pretty good and the lady at the counter cracked some jokes.

Used to come here once a week to pick up lunch. Got dinner from here for the first time in ages and it was not a good experience.
1. the place really needs a revamp. It’s showing it’s age.
2. I usually walk in but called in my order this time. They only started cooking it once I had paid… so why did I bother calling in? Lady had also been rude to me on the phone.
Plenty of take out in San Mateo… no need to come here.

Overpriced. Small portions. Flavorless food. Soggy containers. Go to L&L in Millbrae. My kalua pork with cabbage was tiny and so soupy the container started to fall apart. The green salad I ordered with it became hot ice berg lettuce soup.

When this L&L first opened it was okay, I don’t know what happened as far as I know it’s the same franchise owner. It has gone downhill…
Portions are much much smaller compared to other locations. I no longer go to this location! On our last visit we ordered the chicken katsu to go. When we opened it up the chicken katsu looked like it was put in the fryer twice, in other words it was cooked earlier then thrown back in the fryer it was shriveled, dry and burnt not edible at all. Being from Hawaii we often joke that L&L stands for «Lousy Lunch», this location is definitely lousy!
If I want L&L, I will drive the extra miles to Millbrae or all the way down to Mountain View (Mt. View’s L&L is good, they do plate lunch right and portions are what they are suppose to be, the owner is friendly and seems to be very involved in the operation). If you’re in San Mateo and don’t want to drive but want a plate lunch or musubi go to Takahashi’s down the street.
This franchise owner does not seem to care or look at all the bad reviews.

I should have read the reviews before coming here. Was craving for some L&L BBQ chicken (which was VERY GOOD at other locations btw) so I came here as it’s closest to my house. Terrible decision. Teeeeeerible decision! The BBQ chicken was as bland as plain boiled chicken and though it makes me full, the craving is STILL here! So now I’m stuck with a full tummy while still craving for BBQ chicken. So so so upset…

I’ve tried a lot of different hawaiian places and this is definitely one of the worse ones. The food taste bland. I tried the BBQ Mix and katsu. Portions are smaller than the other L&Ls and the bbq chicken didn’t even have a bbq taste to it.
The customer service is okay though and it’s at a convenient location.
NO PUBLIC BATHROOM! :)

If I could rate zero stars I would. First off the lady working was not very friendly. She was on her iPhone when I first walked in and and presumed as soon as I paid for my approx. $ 9 bbq chicken lunch. When I asked for Katsu sauce she said since I didn’t get Katsu I would have to pay $.25. Ok so I’m not cheap but to me it’s the principle, I like the Katsu sauce and don’t want to use soy or teriyaki sauce. All of the L&L I have been to in my life I’ve never had to pay for sauce so hence I’m a little disappointed. I just know it left a bad taste in my mouth and I would never come back to this L&L or any others as there other options out there. It’s sad when one location can ruin the franchise reputation.
Also they only gave me 2.5 pieces of chicken wow really?! No cabbage either!!!
The worst place ever!

Although one piece of BBQ Chicken Musubi ($ 2.50) filled me up for a good amount of time — 10 minutes in that place made my clothes smell like grease and fat. I was wondering if there was a ventilation in place… overall, this place needs some TLC clearly.
On the menu you’ll find pretty heavy Hawaii-​inspired items, like BBQ mix plates and onigiris. Prices are also on the heavier side although I liked the $ 2.50 for the musubi.
I’d probably not coming back unless I have a fatty snack craving.

I’m comparing this locations food to San jose locations.
The sauce for catsu chicken was to watered down.
Servings were way smaller.
The food wasn’t as awesome.
The bathroom was clean.

Well this is disappointing…
The first thing you notice when you walk in is a bunch of flies right in front of the cash register, so to even order anything to eat you will have to go through the cloud of flies. Urgh. The girl at the cash register seems nice, and was pretty friendly, but overall didn’t seem to care about the flies :(
I got the «BBQ mix combo», which was a plate of BBQ meat and rice. It costed more than $ 10. Pretty expensive for a place without waiter service. The quality of the food was actually pretty tasty – the bbq chicken was really juicy, and the beef and ribs were also smokey from being grilled. Nice.
Inside, the décor is very much hawaiian. The tables are a little dirty.
Overall, a place to eat once and probably not go back :(A little expensive even if the food is not bad, and actual place itself seems to be needing a little bit of care in terms of cleanliness.

I came in here as I was passing by to my car out of curiosity. They do have a lot of Hawaiian and teriyaki dishes, but I was craving spam musubi. I had their aloha egg-​spam musubi, which was unfortunately a bit disappointing for $ 3. The marinade was a bit plain and there wasn’t any furakake in it, which I typically see at other places. Better to go to Takahashi market a few blocks away for much better spam musubi and Hawaiian food in the area.

Let me preface this review with I’m torn on the rating as to whether to give it 5 stars to keep it alive or 2 stars because of the food quality. I’m from Hawaii where L&L is a cheap, great go-​to fast food standard to get a plate lunch. Also, living in the Bay Area, there is NOT a lot of other Hawaiian restaurants around which makes it difficult for me to get a taste of home.
I’ve lived in the area for about 10 years and have been a repeat customer of this spot for awhile. However, over time I have watched (or tasted) their business see the times of a tough economy. While it is good to have fast and hot food, I agree with the other Unilocalers that the portion size is now quite small. From standard ice cream scoops of rice and salad, it’s now gelato sized scoops. Also the kalbi meat quality is not good — very fatty with a small part of the rib actually containing meat. My plate was missing the cabbage that usually is under the meat. This was the first time that I noticed that the portion size was smaller (while the price was still the same). My husband said this is the sign of a business that’s headed out.
My recommendations given the circumstances: Stick to the chicken katsu plate which I still think is pretty good. I’d say stay away from the kalbi ribs or the plates that do have meat. Also check your order before leave (no matter what restaurant it is, mistakes sometimes happen so it’s good to make it a habit). Out of the what might be 15 visits, I’ve only had one mess up on my order where I got katsu curry instead of just plain chicken katsu.
I hope that this franchise reads the Unilocal reviews and responds as I still would like a Hawaiian restaurant to be close to my house even if the food quality is going downhill. In summary, 3 stars as I will return given that I love hawaiian food, but will be more cautious about what I order there to ensure quality and value.