L & L Hawaiian Barbecue

Great food!!! They have great service and calling over the phone is always great service. The food is very filling too not just a light snack. I love the Mac and cheese salads and the Katsu sauce is the best

One regular serving of their meals can feed an average family four. Who can beat that? katsu well its katsu with a great katsu sauce. If you want rice and meat and are on the run call ahead of time to pick it up. Shrimp tempura-​too bready and hard
Beef stew-​tough at times and not enough meat
Anything terriyaki-​its terriyaki salty sweet
Saimin-​soggy
masubi selection-​good size for a snack if you dont want to over eat
Pork roast– plenty of pork just super salty
Seafood combo– its all fried so its good
Service-​i always order to go so cant really tell you much
Verdict-​great for 4 broke people to enjoy a meal just ask for extra rice

L&L — Hawaiian Fastfood chain restaurant — average check ~$ 11. Food is average, service is average. Doing a review about this is like doing a review about McDonald lol. ³⁄₅ stars, my fav place to eat once in a while.

From the outside, this seems like a semi-​decent «restaurant». I came in here today for two reasons: 1, the L&L by my job (aka, the one on Maryland and Sahara aka, my favorite place in the whole entire world) was PACKED to the point where the line reached my parked car and 2, because I trusted it would taste the same. Boy was I wrong!
To start off on a bad foot, I walked into the restaurant and was greeted by this putrid smell of what I could only describe as resembling «Mothballs»? I, stupidly, decided to place an order anyways and was surprised to learn that my usual BBQ Chicken Bowl was one penny more than at my usual location, but at this point, I was hungry and didn’t even care.
After I sat there and pondered about my many life goals, achievements and the proverbial «one that got away» for the next 5 minutes, my bowl was finally ready.
I looked up and was mildly pleased to find that the Chicken Bowl at this location was about 30% larger than the Sahara location’s… but that mild pleasure was soon to meet its demise for it did not know the disaster that was about to ensue.
I opened my bowl and was almost knocked out by the warm mothball smell that wafted my way… I wanted to vomit at that exact moment… but again, my extreme hunger forced me to press onward!
Alas! I came across my usual favorite part of the meal: the Chicken.
Words cannot describe the injustice that was performed upon this chicken… The Skin; left on only to have been scorched in the cooking process… The BBQ Sauce; almost nonexistent. And finally, the smell– I can’t stress how much this all smelled of mothballs.
As I sadly tossed the whole thing in the trash, I wondered if I should even make a fuss, «$ 5.40 for THAT? I’m going to ask for a refund», I thought. But I digress, no fuss was made. I walked out of the restaurant with a broken heart in my chest and a Unilocal review already drafted in my head.

On walkabout on the outskirts of Vegas, southeast of the Strip, I saw this small fast-​food stop standing alone in the far corner of a mall parking lot, next to a car wash. Hawaiian? Barbeque? Yes and yes.
Inside was reasonably clean and well ordered for a small grease joint, and I looked up and down the menu for something that would allow me to explore without getting too much of any one thing… and I settled on the Seafood Platter with Chicken Katsu. After all, for $ 12, how big could it be?
Oh… my… word. When it came out I thought they had the wrong table… it was a rectangular styrofoam takeout container, same as you typically get Chinese food combination plates in, but it was STUFFED to the brim with food. And they didn’t just pack it with rice, either… it was a generous serving of katsu, shrimp, and mahi mahi each, all in a big glistening pile over a scoop of rice and some shredded cabbage (to help move the grease along, I guess.)
And the container was so full that they put the sides (some kind of Hawaiian macaroni salad) actually on the side in another container. Plus two tubs of katsu sauce.
I managed to finish it all, including the super-​rich macaroni salad (which I probably should have skipped, my dietician now advises me), and stagger out of there in an ambulatory food coma.
If you fiend for a pile of deep-​fry Aloha style, get here. Do they do Loco Moco? Of course. Got a good, healthy heart, no history of heart disease, and exercise regularly? Come on down and change your oil, this place is awesome. Mahalo!

SERVICE:
Alright… this woman looks like she hates life… I know she’s in the hot heat of Las Vegas but OMG… please smile. I have no idea what I may had done to you to make you look and act depressed. She answered in one word sentences. She didn’t even ask what I wanted. She just looked at me and nodded. I asked where the bathroom was and she pointed outside. haha… it was actually quite comical.
FOOD:
Standard.
I got the Seafood combo — shrimp, scallops, and pork and mac salad. OMG the mac salad is so good but SO bad for you. BUT SO GOOD.
The food was HUGE. I couldn’t finish it… and it was $ 13 — so not bad at all
AMBIANCE:
Standard seating. Clean.
BATHROOM:
OUTSIDE! Wow… it’s hot out there and the bathroom was hot too. Ugh.
OVERALL:
Eh… I’d pick up food and go next time.

I stopped by to grab something for dinner. The last time I had L&L BBQ was back in California, when I was still living over there. So it was almost 2 years ago. The taste was like regular L&L BBQ, I mean you cant go wrong with barbeque meat, can you?
Prices were definitely more expensive compare to the one back home, but it was two years ago so maybe the prices just went up in these two years.
Portion size was HUGE!!! I am a girl and I think the regular BBQ combo can last me for three meals so for 9 dollars its a good price. I will def be back for the price.

My first reaction to this place was that it had a bad smell, like a teenagers room with used clothes and dishes all over the floor. My friend wanted to use the restroom and asked if there was one. The guy mumbled something that we couldnt understand and pointed to the back of the building. My friend went outside to check but found out there was no bathroom to be found.
My friend and I stopped here for lunch. He ordered a regular chicken katsu plate and I ordered a regular lau lau kalua combo plate. It was awful! The katsu was very dry like they fried it too long. The lau lau combo was dry as well. I usually enjoy eating the fatty pieces along with the moist pork and fish cubes like they usually serve it in Hawaii. But not here! Every piece of pork was dry. There was probably just a small piece of fat, and no fish at all. The kalua and cabbage was gross. No taste. It was also dry like the other dishes. They served it with mac salad, which was okay, and a container of what I think was shoyu, but it didn’t taste anything like Aloha shoyu or even kikkoman. Not sure.
Overall, we walked out with partly filled sore stomachs. I would not recommend this place for Hawaiian food. Instead, look for Island Style on Sahara! 100x better food and even better service!

I was disappointed.
Right off the bat… they didn’t have a restroom. My 4-​year old was doing the potty dance and they couldn’t help me. We had to walk across the parking lot to Albertson’s (which is why I don’t think this is a good location for kids… even if it’s also next to a Toys R Us haha).
Second, and probably most important, our food was bland. We ordered a saimin, a lau lau/​short rib combo and the super low carb plate.
Saimin was alright, but my daughter didn’t get to enjoy it while it was warm due to her mid-​meal trek to the restroom.
My lau lau (oven cooked meat and greens wrapped in a banana leaf packet) was super bland and mostly green. There was literally one 1inchx1inch cube of beef. When I used to make this at home (or eat it at a luau in Hawaii) it would be packed with beef, pork and fish… at least one chunk of each. Not here. Not this L&L. My short rib was ok; a little greasy, but that is to be expected, but also very bland… like they kind of just dipped it in sauce after cooking instead of marinating the meat for any period of time.
The whole bland thing killed the super low carb plate. It was loaded … eggs, bbq chicken, bbq beef, shortribs, no rice… Not a bad deal, I guess, for $ 12. But, again, the meat, the chicken, everything tasted like it was missing something…
I’ll stick to Ohana on Durango… or even Aloha Kitchen on Decatur for my plate lunch fix.

We stopped by here for a quick lunch. The place was kid friendly and had high chairs. The menu was pretty standard with the rest of the L & L Hawaiian BBQ restaurants.
The service was great and they even brought our food to our table. We are used to just waiting to pick up the food at the counter.
We tried the mixed plate with BBQ short ribs, chicken, and pork. It was very tasty.

Back home in Hawaii, we loved this place, ate there often. Since moving to Vegas, we were excited to see they were here, but the only location was Henderson, that was on the other side of town for us. Now they have them everywhere.
The food is pretty close the flavors from back home, but they don’t have the entire menu. I was a beef stew mix with chicken katsu, but I have learned to love the chicken katsu curry instead.
Now they have a low carb option, so we can now get our LL BBQ craving satisfied and stick with our low carb lifestyle. (they have mini version if the regular plate is too much).

I love hawaiian food. This place is fantastic (especially the spam musubi, and their macaroni salad)
The service is very nice too. I love comin to this place.

I don’t know what it was but I had a mediocre experience at this particular L&L.
I have been to L&L many times, across the valley and I was introduced to it when I first visited Cali. I kid you not, I have had the most fulfilling expericneces eating at L&L but alas I can’t say that about the experience I had here.
The funny thing is, I can’t put my finger on it, I have tried to do it in my mind but I have failed multiple times. I just know that I left there feeling empty, not literally because as everyone knows they give you a lot of food, but figuratively. I had the Mix Plate which is a staple for most Hawaiian food establishments but for some reason or another it tasted like it had no soul. Believe me when I say I am bumming myself out writing this review right now, I almost want to change the 3 star rating to 2 stars but I do have to remember that I did leave full but something was missing.
I may have to try again, I just can’t quit you.

GAWDDAYYYUM! The proportions vs. price is EXCELLENTE here, you’re going to receive more bang for your buck– one meal here equaled TWO lunches for me. For my first meal I had the CHICKEN KATSU (Breaded chicken with Katsu dipping Sauce and a side of DELICIOUS ASS MACARONI SALAD! not bad for $ 7.50 Holy moly, I don’t even like macaroni salad but my fellow Unilocalers said I would most definitely enjoy it– and I did: D GREAT CALL. Sadly it’s a small serving but next time I’ll just ask for TWO scoops. The meal itself was very good but Ive had better Katsu sauce. I was able to try the BBQ Chicken as well and was very pleased as well.

This is actually the first L&L I have been to on the Mainland. I have to say, it wasn’t bad.
Having lived on Oahu, I had one near my house & would go there every now & again, just cuz it was close by & when I needed my Teri BBQ fix or chow mein, from this particular location anyways. It was good in a pinch, when I couldn’t get to my non-​chain faves. But on Oahu they are all hit or miss. Some have different items, to include Chinese fare. However, the quality & choices vary by location.
I have been to a few of the other Hawaiian BBQ places near my side of town (the now defunct Aloha A Go Go & Aloha Kitchen, not so great review to follow on the latter) & have been pretty disappointed. Especially in the mac salad!
So, as far as this place goes…4 stars for the portions! I had the large BBQ mix plate. I opened up the container & was pleasantly surprised! 2 nice big slabs of Kalbi, about 3 slices or so of Teri Beef & about 3 HUGE pieces of Teri Chicken, 2 scoops rice & 1 scoop mac salad. All I gotta say is… WOW! Great flavor on everything, especially the mac salad, just as good as any I have had in Hawaii! This was the next best thing to being in Hawaii :) My roomie, Nicki G. had the same, but with triple mac salad!!! Ever since I turned her onto Hawaiian BBQ, she can’t get enough.
I left off the 5^th star for cleanliness & the flat fountain Dr Pepper :(Oh yeah & cuz they serve Pepsi! One thing I would love to see as a beverage, that some of the ones in Hawaii have… Slushies…with ice cream in them!
My roomie has been to the Centennial one & says this location has better portions. I am going to try the one closer to me, in Summerlin. Hopefully this one will e as good, otherwise I will be driving over to the East side to get my fix. Oh & trust me, I will!

L&L rocks. I don’t care what anyone else says, I love this place! You get tasty food for good prices in large portions… people who complain about that should go and review a higher-​end, more expensive joint.
My recommendations is that you go with spam musabis, chicken and/​or seafood/​fish plates and avoid the beef as it can be a bit salty and is styled after but isn’t as tasty as my #1 love, Korean BBQ.
I like that they make your order fresh for you when you order but it’s still pretty fast and inexpensive. I wish they had an L&L where I live now!
See ya there!

On November 10, I had a «LONG» day!
I flew to LA (Los Angeles Airport) and meet with some people for a task development. I was only down there for only 2.5 hours without eating anything.
Then with the next three days off from my job, I immediately flew to Las Vegas for another assignment…“party”!
After arriving McCarran Airport and becoming dark quickly at 4pm, I drove down Maryland Parkway and saw a huge «Happy Hour Special» banner in front of L &L. on Tropicana Ave.
The HH special happens from 4−11pm (closing time). For $ 4.95, I get the Chicken Katsu meal with two scoops of rice and two scoops of Macaroni Salad.

Drink is not included with the meal. So I chose a can of Hawaiian Sun: Lychee Green Tea for an additional $ 1.19.
It has been a while since I’ve had any Hawaiian meal. The meal was ok.
Credit card is accepted.
And I know I can get L & L back home. But the price is right, plus I was starving after a long day!

This one was always in the Entertainment Book (a discount book with coupons, usually BOGO) but every time we used our coupons here, they didn’t like it. Let me explain further. The counter person would greet us with a smile. But as we would pull out the BOGO coupon, the smile immediately turned into a frown, which clearly showed disappointment that we were using a coupon. So, finally after years of unwilling participation, they are no longer in the Entertainment Book. My husband says that we are the single cause for that– ha-​ha. We went to the other one on Maryland Parkway also, but they never gave us any problems when we used a coupon. The service is better at that location.
The food is good. We always get the chicken katsu and the barbeque chicken (order it skinless) and we split it– that’s our thing. The regular pac is pretty big and we always bring home the rest. The macaroni salad is very good. I’ve had the saimin here too– it’s pretty good. All the Hawaiian canned drinks are available. Haupia is not offered at this one. No complaints about the food. This used to be a Taco Bell location– that shows you how long I’ve been living here. No public bathroom at this location.
The number of stars I would really like to give is 3.5. The food is pretty good, fast, and pretty cheap. But Miss Personality (counter person) really takes it down a notch. There are specials hand written on a sign posted outside the restaurant. Also, there is a Drive Thru window. The location is pretty convenient to Target, TJ Maxx, Walgreen’s, 99 Cents Only, the Flamingo Library, Chevron, and Buffalo Exchange.

Oh my L&Ls, where have you been since you left Chambana? The University of Illinois was the only place east of Vegas to have an L&L location, but it sadly closed within a year.
The next year after it closed, I had my first trip out to Vegas being over 21. L&L was immediately on the agenda, and it was again just this past week. The mix BBQ plate is amazing, as is the chicken katsu. I also love he macaroni salad that comes with every dish. The SPAM musubi is good if you like SPAM and REALLY love rice (there’s a bit much of it).
Sadly, this location is a bit lacking, especially compared to the one that used to be on the university. No free cilantro soup here, and the entrance to the washroom is outside like at a gas station. If you live in the area, I’d say take the food to go. If you’re visiting, I’d say at least consider the trip off the strip for some great cheap Hawaiian.

I originally visited this L & L almost a year ago, except that my review is listed under their 2595 S Maryland Parkway location instead. (Unfortunately, Unilocal HQ can’t move any reviews… so I guess I’ll have to write a new one for this location then.)
I really enjoyed my first experience there, loving their pork lau lau and other goodies like their chicken katsu and short ribs. I even gave them a four stars that first time. However, things have since changed…
Their regular pork lau lau order came with two scoops of rice, a scoop of mac salad and two pork lau laus for $ 8.50 There was nothing special about it this time. It was rather dry and just not enough fatty goodness to make it good. I actually had leftovers this time, and when it’s good stuff… I eat it all! The mac salad and rice were only okay too.
The BF ordered the Seafood Combo Plate Lunch ($ 8.20). It’s not the Seafood Combo on their menu, but the one from the picture on the wall. It had three pieces of fried shrimp, deep fried mahi mahi, and beef short ribs. Two scoops of rice and a mac salad come with that combo too. Nothing special once again.
Counter service was okay. The girl at the register is obviously bored and it’s very routine for her to be working there.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with my experience at this L & L, especially after really enjoying it the first time. You probably won’t find me back here again any time soon.
(Pics of our lunch are posted in the business profile.)