L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, known also as L&L Drive-Inn or colloquially as L&L,[1] is the only Hawaii-origin, Hawaii-themed franchise restaurant franchise from Honolulu, Hawaii, centered on the plate lunch.[2]
Eddie Flores Jr. and Johnson Kam purchased the original L&L Drive-Inn in 1976, later starting their expansion and introducing Hawaiian Plate Lunch, Spam Musubi, Loco Moco, Katsu Chicken and Korean Beef Short Ribs - Kalbi to Mainland markets in 1999. There are now more than 200 locations across the United States,[3] including locations in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, California, Hawaii, Nevada, New York City, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Utah, Washington, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. Internationally, the company also has locations in Japan.
History
In 1976, Eddie Flores Jr. bought L&L Drive-Inn at 1711 Liliha St., Oahu, Hawaii for his mother, Margaret Flores.[4] He kept the name L&L, even while there was no relation to the current business, and remodeled the building as a small walk-up restaurant for his mother to operate.[5] Johnson Kam joined Margaret as a partner. In 1977, Margaret sold all her shares to Johnson.
After this single restaurant became a success, it expanded into multiple locations across the island, Eddie Flores returned as a partner with Kam and helped him with the franchising of L&L in Hawaii in 1988.[6] By 1997, there were 30 locations throughout the state.[7]
Mainland expansion
Western United States
In early June 1999 Kam and Flores noticed that a former employee was doing fairly well selling Hawaiian-style plate lunches in the San Francisco Bay Area, in spite of their restaurant's less than ideal location. Since he realized that it was possible to sell this cuisine in California, Kam and Flores obtained a location in October of the same year inside the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, California to open the first mainland L&L location.[8] Due to differing expectations of the types of food usually served at drive-ins, Flores decided to change the name on the mainland to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue to strengthen the chain's association to Hawaiian cuisine.[9]
There were 49 L&L locations in Hawaii when the first California L&L location opened in October 1999.[8] After opening at the Puente Hills Mall, the chain opened other locations throughout Los Angeles County. In September 2000, L&L opened its first location in Orange County.[10]
L&L opened its first location in this region in May 2003, located in Manchester, Connecticut.[21] This location has since closed.
As for New York, the first L&L location was opened on Fulton Street in New York City in November 2004.[22][23] The New York City location has since closed.[24] L&L's only current New York location is near the Canadian border in Evans Mills,[25] though three locations are planned to open in East Harlem,[26] the Lower East Side[27] and Bushwick.[28]
The company previously had locations in the American territories in the Western Pacific. The first expansion westward of Hawaii occurred when L&L opened in American Samoa in June 2008,[35] though the franchise closed sometime between September 2012[36] and March 2013.[37]
A location in Guam was opened in October 2014,[38] but later closed in January 2018.[39]
L&L's first international location was opened in Auckland, New Zealand, in February 2009.[40] In Japan, the first location was opened in the Shibuya section of Tokyo in June 2010, and a second location near Enoshima, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, in December 2017.[41][42][43] In China, the first location was opened in June 2013.[44]
The first L&L location in Malaysia was opened in Kuala Lumpur in December 2014.[38] In 2015, the first L&L location in Indonesia was opened in Jakarta in June 2015,[45] followed by the first L&L location in the Philippines, which opened in Manila in October 2015.[46]
The company closed their sole Indonesian location in January 2017.[47]
Menu
A Loco moco mix plate from L&L, with rice and macaroni salad
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue's menu is centered around the Hawaiian plate lunch – two scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, and a meat or seafood entrée.[48] Many of the menu items include nods to Asian and Polynesian heritage, like chicken katsu and kalua pork.[49] The menu also encompasses popular Hawaiian dishes, such as the Loco moco[50] and saimin.[51] The restaurant chain is also known for their spam musubi, introducing it as a part of their menu in 1999.[48]
In 2021, L&L established August 8 as National SPAM Musubi Day to mark the growing popularity of the snack.[48]
Accolades and milestones
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue's success has earned the company many awards and continued rankings in various local and national magazines. In 2002, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue was named one of the “50 Regional Powerhouse Chains” by Nation's Restaurant News.[52] The July 2005 issue of Restaurant & Institutions Magazine ranked L&L as the 314th out of America's top 400 restaurant chains.[53] Additionally, Restaurant Business magazine ranked L&L as number 15 out of 50 for Top Growth Chains in the Nation in 2005.[54]Entrepreneur magazine has also ranked L&L's parent company, L&L Franchise, Inc. at number 165 out of 500 for the top franchises in 2005.[55]
In 2012, the company published a cookbook entitled, "$266 Million Winning Lottery Recipes: L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Cookbook" written by Eddie Flores Jr. and illustrated by Jon J. Murakami. The book features several of the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue recipes that made the restaurant famous.
^Staton, Ron (June 12, 2005). "L&L had small, slow start but it's moving fast now". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "We have restaurants in Arizona, Colorado and Utah, and all three are doing very well -- in fact, better than California," Flores said. "The reason is a lack of competition. The stores are jam-packed." L&L's first outpost in Michigan opened in January in East Lansing. There are also L&Ls in Nevada, Washington, Illinois and New York, where the first L&L opened on Fulton Street in Manhattan in November and another opened near 34th Street in January.
^"L&l Hawaiian Barbecue". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. March 28, 2003. p. 6. You'll find Western Washington's shiny new L&L Hawaiian Barbecue tucked into the corner of a shopping center on Highway 99 North in Lynnwood, near 196th Street.
^Seftel, Howard (July 8, 2004). "No mirage: L&L Hawaiian Barbecue brings the islands to Mesa". Arizona Republic. p. 70 – via Newspapers.com. this growing, wildly popular Hawaiian chain, with more than 50 outlets on the islands and close to 50 more on the mainland, has just moved to town... tucked away in a sprawling East Valley shopping center; two more Arizona branches are planned in far-north Phoenix and Yuma
^Lehndorff, John (August 13, 2004). "Eatery update". Rocky Mountain News. p. 17D. L&L Hawaiian Barbecue opened recently at 14221 E. Cedar Ave. in Aurora dishing chicken katsu and barbecue short ribs
^Niva, Josh (March 26, 2010). "Taste of Hawaii". Alaska Dispatch News. L&L Hawaiian Barbecue sprang up in the Dimond mall in November... L&L is a national chain bringing Hawaiian, Polynesian and Pacific Rim standards to mainland America food courts since 1988. Its first Alaska location is in the Dimond Center's basement food court, next to the ice rink... L&L's menu is surprisingly broad, covering fish, beef, pork and even Spam. There are even lighter options like salad and brown rice.
^Engle, Erika (November 19, 2009). "Board shorts feature iconic L&L plate lunches". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. L&L Drive-Inn and Hawaiian Island Creations will debut co-branded board shorts, bearing images of the favored local dishes and the L&L logo... The plate-lunch board shorts come with a hang-tag that, when mailed to L&L with proof of purchase, will net the sender a $5 gift certificate good toward a food purchase. For expats, the togs will be sold online via the L&L Web site... Meanwhile, the first L&L Hawaiian Barbecue will be opening in Alaska after the Thanksgiving holiday.
^Vann, Korky (June 5, 2003). "L&l Hawaiian Barbecue". Hartford Courant. p. G3. One of the largest and best-known chains is L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, with 50 or so locations in Hawaii and 17 more scattered around California, Oregon and Washington state. Last month, owners opened the first East Coast outlet, in Manchester. (Another is scheduled to open in Wethersfield this summer.)
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