L & L Hawaiian Barbeque, Oceanside, Oceanside, CA (restaurant)

Name:L & L Hawaiian Barbeque, Oceanside
Type:restaurant
Street:4225 Oceanside Boulevard, Suite E (in the Ralph's Shopping Center)
City:Oceanside
State:CA
Zip:92056
country:USA
Phone:(760) 726-0888
Status:operational

Description:
The 1st L & L Hawaiian Barbecue in North County, San Diego! Now I don't have to drive to El Cajon & College to get an L & L Chicken Katsu plate lunch.

from the L & L website:

In 1976, Eddie Flores, Jr. and Kwock Yum Kam concocted delectable plate lunches that captivated the islands. The Hawaiian plate lunch is a huge, gastronomically challenging mixture of Asian and American starches (two scoops rice and one scoop macaroni salad) supplemented by a United Nation of entrees such as chicken katsu, beef curry, deep fried shrimp, mahi mahi, lemon chicken, barbecue shortribs, hamburger steak, etc.

Ask any islander -- the most famous plate lunch restaurant in Hawaii is L&L. This popular chain has over 85 locations in Hawaii, California, Nevada and Washington. It has been voted the "Best Local Food", the "Best Hawaiian Barbecue", and the "Best Plate Lunch". Eating at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is one of the easiest way to taste the eclectic cuisine and culture of Hawaii. No shirt or shoes required.

L&L is known for its large portions, freshly cooked food, and reasonable prices. For hefty appetite, try our regular plate lunch (easily feeds two people) which starts from $5.50. For a smaller portion, try our mini plate lunch which starts from $3.75. You will never go hungry at L&L!

[ Edited by: freddiefreelance on 2004-03-01 13:10 ]

[ Edited by: freddiefreelance on 2004-03-01 13:11 ]

[ Edited by: freddiefreelance on 2004-03-01 13:11 ]

OMFG! L&L Drive Inns on the mainland! I had no idea. I see they're now opening in Arizona, ever eastward. If only they'd hit the East Coast, I could get some of their saimin.

there used to be a couple of L&L's in connecticut. apparently, they didn't do so hot.

... but are they tiki?

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2004-03-04 08:38 ]

The guys are poppin' up all over da place!

We even got one near work in The 909 (Upland).

On 2004-03-04 08:36, Tiki Chris wrote:
there used to be a couple of L&L's in connecticut. apparently, they didn't do so hot.

... but are they tiki?

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2004-03-04 08:38 ]

I went to the opening last Saturday (I'm sorry that I didn't post it to Events, but I found out about it Friday afternoon & my OS was scrambled 'til Sunday), & they had 3 Tikis outside, dancers & musicians, drawings for free T-Shirts, & a drawing for a trip to Hawaii. Does that sound Tiki enough?

3/4 of the people working & eating there seemed to be cousins, everyone was friendly, the food was good (even though they sold over 500 plate lunches by 5 PM), and there was certainly a strong Hawaiian vibe.

On 2004-03-04 14:18, freddiefreelance wrote:

... they had 3 Tikis outside, dancers & musicians, drawings for free T-Shirts, & a drawing for a trip to Hawaii. Does that sound Tiki enough?

3/4 of the people working & eating there seemed to be cousins, everyone was friendly, the food was good (even though they sold over 500 plate lunches by 5 PM), and there was certainly a strong Hawaiian vibe.

no! i want more more MORE tikis!

sorry if i upset you. the L&Ls i visited & saw in hawaii were yummy but had no trace of tikis. your original description didn't mention tikis or polynesian pop decor. i was just wondering.

i'd love to hear more about the decor & the tikis.

the 3 Tikis & possibly the dancers & musicians sound tiki to me, but the free T-Shirts, the trip to Hawaii, the cousins, the friendliness, the good food & the strong Hawaiian vibe don't necessarily.

however, it does sound like you had a blast.

I wish i had an L&L near me! or anywhere (tiki or not) that served a good hawaiian style plate lunch.

take care,
tiki chris

I wish you had 1 near you, too! :D All the Tikis, dancers, etc. were for the grand opening, I'll have to go back to see if they kept any of the Tikis. I don't think they keep the dancers around, they took up alot of the parking lot.

I'm not just a lover of Tikis, I also love Hawaiiana & Hawaiian pop culture. There are 3 places close to me in Mira Mesa that sell Chicken Katsu, Spam Musubi, etc., but L & L is an institution. It's like going out for a hot dog as opposed to going out to Pink's.

just last weekend, or so they opened the 3rd l&l here in las vegas. i tryed one of their mini meal and it was too filling. but dam it was good.

Gotta love any place that considers "mac & cheese" as a vegetable.

I know of two in my area, one in cypress & one in cerritos.

On 2004-03-04 08:36, Tiki Chris wrote:
there used to be a couple of L&L's in connecticut. apparently, they didn't do so hot.

... but are they tiki?

[ Edited by: Tiki Chris on 2004-03-04 08:38 ]

There is an L&L in Manchester CT. Stopped there about a year ago. Ditto on the portion sizes and the existence of tiki.

Link to current locations
http://www.hawaiianbarbecue.com/hawaiian_bbq_loc.html

Yep, the one in CT no longer in operation. Called the phone number and it's disconnected. Well, I got to try it once anyway!

Hello Strangers
Im so far behind in my reading...about 5000 more messages to catch up...The one in Manchester was in a real crummy area..its been a sushi place and now a chinese/mexican place ...don't know why they opened there...I don't think us easterners are quite ready for it anyway...anyway hello I am still around...btw one of those buffets just opened in the plaza behind where L&L was and they have a full liquor bar with tropical drinks...i must check it out soon..even tho I don't like buffets or watching the people who eat there

... but are they tiki?

I'm one of the only few decendents of the originators of mainland tiki( Eli Hedley the Original Beachcomber and so much more was my Grandfather in case anyone did not know that) that has carried on the tradition. I think I can call myself tiki. So, my point is, if I Bamboo Ben does Bamboo work at L&L's, then they are tiki!

L&L Pasadena

Will try to find pic of Gardena L&L when they were taping a Hawaiian Live show. You Hawaiians will recognize the show.

Really: do most people like the macaroni salad? Obviously they do, or else they wouldn't serve it. But it seems too much carbs! TWO scoops of rice, and ONE macaroni salad....YIPE!:D
Do people in the islands themselves like it? Is it served at lots of Hawaiian meals?

We catered my daughter's graduation party from L&L Hawaiian BBQ this weekend (BBQ Chicken, Sticky Rice & Mac Salad). I love their food, but ain't that crazy about the mac salad (too much mayo for me). My wife tells me the way to eat "Hawaiian plate lunch" is to let the juices from all the portions (soy sauce, katsu, bbq sauce, etc.) flow together and eat it as one big meal and not separate items. I'll try it that way next time.

Shipfix, did you see the L&L ad in the SD Weekly? There's now a Mira Mesa & a La Jolla/Golden Triangle branch. I know where I'm going for Lunch today! There's now Six plate lunch joints in the Mira Mesa/Sorrento Mesa/Golden Triangle area, we must have a ton of Hawaiians around here somewhere...

On 2005-06-19 19:06, EmpressDR wrote:
Really: do most people like the macaroni salad? Obviously they do, or else they wouldn't serve it. But it seems too much carbs! TWO scoops of rice, and ONE macaroni salad....YIPE!:D
Do people in the islands themselves like it? Is it served at lots of Hawaiian meals?

LOL. EmpressDR, it isn't a plate lunch or even a real luau without macaroni salad.

As for the serving size, Hawaiians don't eat until they're full. They eat until they're tired!

For those of you who are interested, L&L has plans for expansion across the mainland. See this cached article:

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:3pFue0uFfAgJ:www.foodservice411.com/clmag/archives/2004/09/ll.asp

DC, Atlanta, Boston, Florida. I don't know about those last three, but the DC area does have a surprisingly large number of Hawaiian expats, military formerly posted there, and hungry Chamorros who might make it a success. I hope so cuz I could sure do without the bills accrued by having lau laus shipped out here.

Speaking of hawaiian plate lunch places, how can anyone NOT know of Teri Hawaii on Artesia blvd and Normandie in Gardena? Not in its original location (which was on Redondo Beach Blvd in the former Meiji Plaza) it was the first place not in Hawaii that served Shave Ice, back in the 1970's. Also sells some nice Hawaiian CDs.

Or Kings Hawaiian Restaurant and Bakery, and the Local Place, both in Torrance. Kings was an institution in Hawaii (since the 1950's) before the entire family moved out here to grow the business. Still damn good, and heck, the family is real nice.

Sumu - You must be a local Torrance-boy. You know all the good spots! An L&L Barbecue opened 2 years ago within walking distance of my house on Sepulveda Blvd in Carson. Makes life easy for me.

Sabu

yup, local, and gal.

Grew up in Gardena, now live in Torrance. I know the L and L your talking about. There's a new one in Torrance in the Crossroads shopping center off Lomita and Crenshaw - I'm a spam musubi fan myself, cuz I'm too lazy to make 'em, in spite of the fact that I have a musubi maker.

Excellent, sumu.

Sorry for the gender-assumption on my part. I grew up in North Redondo, lived in Gardena for a few years and now live in Carson.

Gardena is Japanese-food heaven! All night sake' bars and tatami rooms in every restaurant. Love eating at Fu Rai Bo at the corner of Western and Redondo Beach Blvd.

Did you ever visit the gorgeous Islander apts. on 255th St in Gardena? They still have running waterfall and tikis.

Sabu

I haven't been by those apartments in years; a friend of mine lived there in college. I'll have to swing by there again when I visit my parents...

...although I think they're on 155th street.

We had a L&L open here in T.O. in the Janss Mall (Marketplace) and I did not hear about it for almost a year, People kept saying just L&L never plate lunch or Hawaiian BBQ. Now I cannot stay away! Man if they only served Mai Tai's or at least beer! I finaly got my wife to eat poi there, she thought it was spinich.

There is so many better places to grind than L&L.
The foods okay but you might get sick.

For local grinds this place is my favorite. if ever on maui they are the best. Aloha Mixed Plate

http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/oll_menuAlohaMixedPlate.html

Aloha E

didn't want to start a new thread but L&L has a pretty decent branch on Fulton Street in Manhattan (check their website hawaiianbbq.com i believe). Been going there since they opened about 3-4 years ago. Used to have a midtown location as well which thankfully has closed (was horrible). the fulton street branch is even better than some of the hawaii branches! they have the standard teriyaki style meats. the musubis are ono!

They also make a mean steamed keoki's Laulau shipped frozen from Hawaii, and the kalua pork is awesome too.

been to old lahaina luau in maui, it's pretty good, they get their luau leaves from a traditional taro farm owned by acquaintances of ours, but da kitchen in kihei has got them beat by a mile, their chicken long rice is to die for!

[ Edited by: tikiauction 2008-09-17 15:23 ]