L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

Kinda disappointed with this location. I used to go to the Santa Barbara location a lot and the food tasted really good and fresh, same with the Pasadena location, but this location didn’t taste the same. The reason for 3 stars was the friendly staff, but that’s about it. I ended up getting half beef half short rib combo with 2 Mac salads and 1 rice. The beef was decent, but the short rib was dry, it felt like it was pre cooked and left out.

Horrible took forever including the fact I called 20min before coming! The sauce situation is ridiculous never again I love Hawaiian bbq but this place ! No I’ll pass

The food here is definitely not as good as the L&L’s elsewhere. I was very disappointing at the salty taste of the chicken, and it was very bland. The restaurant is also a bit dirty here. The spam musubi was delicious though, and I would come again only for that.

Good cheap food. I go all the time. Check out the katsu Or The cheeseburgers. Get a Hawaiian sun too

Do not order the BBQ chicken. It was pretty gross. We ordered the BBQ and chicken Katsu, and felt as if the Chicken Katsu was heavily breaded. It lacked luster i get from other L&Ls. The BBQ Chicken still had the skin on it and felt extremely slimey just eating it. The rice had a little bit more watery consistency, when i’m used to the Perfect Rice L&L has.

The food was very well portioned but failed to resemble the taste of the l&ls I am used to on Kauai

Not very good L&L location compared to others I’ve been too but decent and as always, good priced.
Food is obviously not very authentically Hawaiian and I always get the combo plate with bbq beef, bbq rib, and chicken katsu. The chicken katsu is good but the bbq beef and bbq ribs are bland and tough to chew on. Something about the chicken katsu sauce here is also a little bit off. Overall, satisfies my Hawaiian food cravings when I’m on a budget but not a restaurant I would choose to eat at normally.

I don’t usually write reviews but today I had too!!! Food is good but the guy at the register had horrible service. I order my meal and tries to over charge me for brown rice on a mini meal! When it clearly says the price right behind him. I point it out to him and says something under his breath in Spanish not knowing I speak it also. Second issue was I asked for a cup of water and tells me «oh we don’t have cups for water» I’m like ok!!? Let me get a reg cup?! It’s just Effin water I’m getting to enjoy my meal. Geesh people need some customer service skills sometimes SMH!

Worst of the worst. I thought the idea behind franchises are to have some kind of uniformity between the locations. This location is the dire pits for a number of reasons.
I ordered the BBQ plate and asked for just beef and to substitute the other meat choices with katsu. The counter person looked like she saw a ghost at this request and was taken by complete surprise and needed to ask other staff if they could do this (which they have done at every other location I’ve been to).
The katsu was cold and the beef macabre. In short it was a sorry excuse for what amounted to a leftover order from earlier, not a piping hot plate of meat that I was expecting.
After realizing I’d need more than a small miracle from the food gods to force feed myself this order, I looked for any sauces that could help. To my surprise, there were none in sight. Upon asking where the teriyaki sauce might be found, I was advised that they keep the sauces behind the counter and only give out by request only. So I was given 2 sealed containers and went back to my seat only to realize it was soy sauce. I went back to point this mistake out to them and they insisted it was not soy sauce, but teriyaki. They were out of the teriyaki and I would have been OK with this if they just told me upfront instead of trying to pass of the soy sauce, though insisted it was indeed what I was asking for. As if I wouldn’t know the difference, child please!
Sorry L&L, but never again at this location. Amateur hour across the board from the food to the service.

We had a bad experience. Service sucks, the place smells and the restroom is out of order and that kid with a mustache is very disrespectful to his customers. We will never return to eat at this place again
This Unilocal app it’s forcing me to give this place some rating so I will use one star… I would give it negative stars if I can

They have brown rice in the menu, but NEVER got brown rice!!! Never!!! So if you are healthy eater maybe not a right place for you.

Ok. It’s mother ‘s day. I totally understand workers working at any restaurant must feel down that they have to work on mother’s day. So, I would give 4 to 5 stars for today’s special.
Then, it is about beef rib I had just one bite and almost throw up. Not sure it was sauce or beef itself. It smelled pretty old.
Chicken was good. It was fresh and cooked just right.

Comfort food galore! Out of all the Hawaiian BBQ chains this one is my favorite. I like everything on the menu and they also give large portions. When ordering an egg be aware that the egg will cook more on top of the meal. So your «over-​easy» egg will be well done when you get home.
Most of the meals are not very good for you BUT if you divide the meal into thirds then eat it in 2 hour increments then your body will process it better. Thus less guilt.

The quality in the food here is atrocious. Do not come here! Had the seafood combo + spam musubi.
Spam Musubi — razor thin slice of spam with tons of rice.
Short Ribs — razor thin and old. How could I tell? When the marrow in the bone is all dried up.
Fried Shrimp — all batter… No shrimp. I’d rather have 2 decent sized shrimp than 3 shitty ones.
Fried Fish — had the right texture and crunch but lacked any seasoning.
Words of advice… Please look at what your selling. Give your customers value rather than volume. I’m ashamed you guys are serving people your crap! You guys don’t deserve to be in the restaurant industry!

L&L, where is your quality control?
I happen to live just down the street from the Carson location, but work near this Santa Monica branch. The food at the Carson location is pretty consistent, and I’ve been happy with it for the past few years, so I decided I’d give SaMo a shot.
I ordered the chicken katsu to-​go and happily brought it back to my desk. The first thing I noticed was how dry the chicken was. I’m pretty sure the cook left it in the deep fryer for way too long. I’m accustomed to chicken katsu that is crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. It was super crispy, but not in a good way. It was really just all over the place.
I thought that the katsu sauce might be it’s saving grace, but I was disappointed a second time. It had the consistency of milk. It was so runny and flavorless, like they had watered it down to make more.
The macaroni salad was flavorless and bland, but it was still the best tasting thing on my plate, so I ate all of that first. The rice was pretty odd. It stuck to the cardboard to-​go tray and I was scraping it off with my fork at one point.
Overall, come here if you are desperate or masochistic. I’m not sure what else is in that plaza, but it’s probably better! I’m giving them 2 stars: 1 for mostly edible food, and 1 for O.K. service.
Pick up the slack, L&L!

Food wasn’t great but it was awful. The food doesn’t smell good when walking by. It was some chicken or beef dish and it didn’t taste good. The staff is ok. Tables are small. But at least there’s a free parking lot.
Food: ⁰⁄₅.
Service: ³⁄₅.
Décor: ¹⁄₅.
Parking: sometimes ⁰⁄₅ and other times are ⁴⁄₅.

If I wasn’t so hungry I’d give it one star.
Worst L&L I’ve ever been too. Staff is friendly but this is solely on the food. Chicken Katsu Curry is so tasteless and raw. The BBQ Chicken is undercooked. Just gross. Where’s Curry House!!!

I had Saimin and I got sick…
Bad quality.

Definitely better than the Ono Hawaiian BBQ, imo. Maybe it’s also because I was really** hungry, but the combinaion plate, with Chicken, pork, and beef ribs were more than satisfying, and at a very reasonable price ~$ 9. The chicken bowl was even cheaper, and had a good amount of broccoli, at around 6 bucks? Any way, found it to be very fulfilling and, at a time of need, can concoct magical feelings of love and appreciation.
Pretty ample parking, within walking distance to the beach, and is definitely a gem. Inside the establishment, it is clean, ample sunlight through the glass wall, and a wide variety of patrons. If you’re craving meat, good barbecue, then come. If you want veggies, go elsewhere — it’s probably not for you.

This is the closest L&L Hawaiian BBQ place in LA/​Culver City/​Santa Monica and from my apartment. It’s about 4 – 5 miles out from my apartment which isn’t terrible if you go right before or after peak traffic hours.
I saw a friend’s facebook post of her lunch at an L&L in the bay area, and since I haven’t had it in forever, I knew I had to satisfy my craving right then and there. I texted my friend and made sure we could go that night for a quick L&L fix for dinner. And boy, was I in heaven!
It’s this small fast-​food restaurant on the corner across from the 711. They have a fairly large and not so busy parking lot so it’s easy to arrange parking and get to.
The place is clean and you have to ask for the key if you want to use the bathroom there. It’s not for the public and they make you buy something before they give you the key. Just an FYI for you!
The chicken katsu was as crispy as ever! Definitely delicious. Their bbq beef was on point too! Definitely the way I liked it. Their regular size chicken katsu was the same price for their mini bbq beef, so my friend and I just split the two dishes. It was JUST the perfect size AND we were hungry.
They don’t put as much cabbage in the BBQ Beef as the one in Long Beach does. Also, the macaroni salad isn’t as heavy/​mayo-​based as I’m used to. I was impressed with how much healthier it tasted, but also rather disappointed at the same time. I mean, c’mon, make it fatty! Give me the grease and the oil! That’s what I wanted!!! Alas, I digress. I’m going to have to come back here for another quick bite to satisfy my horrendous cravings.
YUM YUM YUM. THANK YOU FOR A DELICIOUS MEAL, MY FRIENDS.