L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

Glad this placed closed, horrible customer service and bad food. Went in, ordered for my husband and I and didn’t realize until I got home that they had screwed up our order. FRUSTRATING! Luckily we live literally RIGHT around the corner so I reluctantly made the trip BACK to get our correct order that I PAID for. Unfortunately they refused to correct or refund me and I was LIVID. I vowed to never come back and I’m glad they’re closed. Ohana BBQ next to Kohl’s is way better. Service isn’t great but the food is.

closed

I saw the not-​so-​great reviews for this L&L and thought, how could and L&L possibly be that bad? Well, the Unilocal barometer was spot on. The food was great and the cashier was smiley and polite, but MAN, we waited a half an hour after placing our order before we got our food! How much time could Kalua pork possibly take to prepare? I could not believe I had to wait so long on my lunch break to eat.

My wife and I attempt to try a new restaurant at least once a month. Last night we chose this place. We arrived there around 8:00 pm. They close at 9:00 pm. We both ordered the seafood combo plates. I wanted scallops, but they were out of them. OK, it was towards the end of the day. The wait was a little long, but they do prepare the food as it is ordered, so that was OK. At 8:30 they turned off the «open» sign and started putting the chairs on the tables.
Next we were told they were out of white rice. WHAT, the cheapest thing there and they don’t make enough for the evening? I received brown rice which tasted like it was cooked with chalk and paper mache’.
The rest of the food was just OK. The prices are OK. But neither are OK enough to bring me back again.

Worst L&L ever!!!
The food is burnt for all 4 of our dishes. We were served out of order. We witnessed them wipe down the tables with the same cloth that they wiped down the trays and garbage rim.
Never coming back!!!

The place is ok.
Got my food to go. Wasn’t great or bad but I wasn’t picky that day as I was just hungry.
Note to anyone who enters, you can only PUSH not pull the door open. It is not a push/​pull door.

Seafood Combo! It doesn’t matter where the L & L Hawaiian Barbeque location is –the food is always consistent tasting very good.

Man, chill out with the salt, will ya?
Everything here is too salty! Do you guys even know how to make rice properly? Buy some better quality rice at least. And I know there are young employees working here, but please teach them some mannerism and ways of improving their customer service. I’ve been to fast food burger places that have 3x better customer service.
Every L&L is different, thankfully. This one is definitely one of the WORST I’ve been to. They give decent size food portion, but after half of it, I threw the rest away, and i rarely ever throw away food. It’s just not worth saving for later.
And instead of just standing there, go clean the restaurant, will you? So unprofessional, do you not see how dirty the restaurant is? Please someone restore this place to bring up the good name of L&L…

Inconsistent. Some days I think this place fulfills my craving but today is not one of those days.
First and foremost get a new cashier! At least greet me when I say hello and not give me a blank stare like you hate your job.
Spam musubi: dry rice… really? It’s not that hard to make rice.
BBQ chicken rice plate:
BBQ chicken was really salty!
Macaroni salad was watery.
Rice was dry as well.

Their «Healthier» Garlic Mahi Mahi plate was anything but healthy. Not only was the fish covered in greasy, heavy buttered garlic sauce and encrusted in an overwhelming amount of minced, pickled garlic bits. The thin soggy 2 ounce piece of Mahi was barely enough to feed a newborn kitten. It was sitting on a bed of white rice, salad greens, a few wedges of tomato, and bitter cucumber slices. My mouth reeked of garlic, dehydrated with salt and butter. I got stomach cramps after this meal.

My sister and I came for some grub. My sister and I both ordered from the healthy menu. We ordered the healthy garlic shrimp. When the guy brought us our food it was all the way wrong! The guy brought us teriyaki chicken from the regular menu. When we brought this to his attention he became very irate and basically tried to stick us with the wrong food. He told us to just eat the food and that there were many people in africa who would kill us for our food. wth??! We just and what we paid for. After 5 mins of arguing back and fourth our orders we fixed. With all this said I can deal with the attitude if the food were
but since the food was just blah and when we did get our food the shrimp was not properly cleaned. The waiters attitide is all way on stink mode. I wouldn’t even recommend this place to my worst enemy. Customer service should always be top priority. P. S clean your restaurant up! It’s a hot ass mess!

I’ve been coming to L&L for years and years and every once in a while I get a craving for the katsu that I just can’t ignore. Stopped in to this location as it is the closest location to San Ramon… and I was happy with the food. It was fresh, and delicious as usual… however — the cleanliness (or lack there of) was enough to bring my review to two stars.
The place was filthy. While I waited for my food, I went to use the restroom. When entering, I immediately turned around and left. There was dirt, ALL OVER THE DOOR FRAME like it’s never been wiped down before. Of all places, a restaurant? I mean, the place is super tiny and is practically on Pleasant Hill’s downtown strip, so I would assume they get a bit of traffic in there, but shouldn’t that be all the more reason to keep the place clean? More importantly, if they can’t even keep their bathroom clean, I can’t even imagine the cleanliness of the kitchen.
Anyway, I hope it’s cleaner the next time I get my undeniable craving.

HORRENDOUS! How do you screw up L&L, seriously? It’s a chain restaurant, there is no guess work, the franchise does well, JUST FOLLOW THE RECIPE to success!
First the place is completely filthy. Note to the health inspectors, please inspect on a random day and time, and proceed to shut it down. The tables are not wiped down, the floor is sticky, you see dirt and grime every where. This would be Chef Irvine’s nightmare on Restaurant Impossible.
The food was gross. The chicken katsu was pounded so thin that it had more breading than ever. It left this gross slimy feeling on the inside of the mouth. Please dont’ eat here people.

Guy was go nice gave me a custom combo plate with curry on top of the rice.
All I can say is that I come here way too often. It’s a fast food chain restaurant that specializes in Hawaiian style food. It might seem pricey but the portions are generous, even the mini sizes. It’s greasier than what I’d generally like, but I guess that’s what you get most times ordering katsu or fried mahi mahi at a fast food restaurant. Service is generally quite quick and the place is relatively clean. Seating at this particular location is a little odd since they only have a couple of high chairs for the oddly-​spaced table and counter. The food will not taste homemade and will most certainly not mentally whisk you away to Hawaii because of its deliciousness. But it’s fast, easy, and will do the job if you need fast Hawaiian style food in the area.

When I moved to this area 2 years ago, L&L averaged 3.5 stars. Like the housing market, its Unilocal ranking has depreciated; down a full star. Usually, it isn’t so bad so I can’t give it a single star but I seriously considered it after today’s experience. It’ll be a long time before I return.
Today’s afternoon crew (2 man crew)…the worst. In this economy, people are looking for jobs. These guys act like they don’t want to be there. I suggest employing 2 people who want to work and provide friendly, conscientious service.
I called to place a take out order for the landscapers who were working in my backyard. Growing up in Hawaii, I wanted to show them the Aloha spirit and give them some ono plate lunch. After several phone calls and no answer, I drove there to place my order. I asked them if there was a problem with their phone. The answer, if I read between the lines, was human error (i.e., too lazy to take phone orders). Now, maybe because they were too busy since it was only 2 of them working. Oh wait, there was just 1 other customer when I arrived.
Maybe the owner’s of this franchise haven’t heard, but Sam Wo’s closed because of public health hazards. They may want to review sanitation procedures, like requiring their employee with the long ponytail to put his hair in a hair net or hat.
Now, the food wasn’t so bad, if you don’t mind the musubi falling apart after one bite, and the carry out bag having grease over it. But at least they got the order right! I was worried because they didn’t review my order for 5 people, like they would in McDonald’s. So, my suggestion to the franchise owner, hire some employees who want to work and understand why customer service translates to return business.

I actually go to the L&L in Antioch. It’s always empty and I’m wondering why because the food is great! The service is super fast (probably because it’s empty) and the food is hot and delicious. I order the BBQ mix (with chicken, beef, and short ribs)…it’s more than enough, for a good 2 people I think. Please don’t be swayed by the L&L in Pleasant Hill. Try other locations… because the food is honestly good.

If you’ve never had Hawaiian BBQ before, i beg you, PLEASE DO NOT make this place your first experience.
L&L usually isn’t a bad chain but for some reason, this particular one is just not up to par.
As other Unilocalers had already pointed out, the surface of the tables are usually a little sticky and it always feels ultra gloomy in that restaurant.
Compared to the other few hawaiian bbq restaurants near by, this L&L’s price is higher, the portion is smaller, and the food quality is lower.
The staff in the store are very friendly however, the food is not good enough for me to continously go back there for a meal.

If I could put 0 stars, I would. I think the workers or managers have read my review. Every time I go, another disappointment in food and service.
If you guys are purposely effing up my food cause of my review, then you guys are idiots. I am never coming back there again. Oh and eff your $ 5 card limit, I have always used my card and no one has ever said anything till my last visit last week.

I’m normally a fan of hole-​in-​the wall type restaurants, but I’m sorry, L&L in the PH is just plain gross. And that’s a little odd, considering «Downtown Pleasant Hill» isn’t that old of an establishment and all of the other shops and restaurants are really well kept.
A quarter of the the items on the fluorescent menu overhead were permanently blacked out, floors grungy, tables dirty, kitchen area looked grimy. This place could really use a thorough deep cleaning.
The food itself: Overpriced for fast food. Lau lau and kalua pork combo with two scoops of rice and one of macaroni salad: $ 9.95. Pretty small portion size for the pricing, though it actually tasted decent. But honestly, after a few minutes in the restaurant, I really wasn’t feeling hungry anymore.

I must admit that this was my first experience with Hawaiian Barbecue. That said, I was rather disappointed.
Based on the photos of the food, I knew finding something leaning on the healthy side might be difficult. They have many plate options. Mini or regular. The mini includes one scoop of rice and once scoop of macaroni salad. I ordered the mini garlic shrimp plate. The shrimp were oily and had a weird coating on them. I dipped them in BBQ sauce but they were still not all that enjoyable. The macaroni salad was more like mayo salad with a bit of macaroni. The rice was fine. I covered it in siracha.
Overall, the amount of food was what I expected for $ 5.50. (The regular was $ 7.50.) I do wonder why it is $ 0.50 to replace one of the sides with brown rice OR cole slaw when the brown rice is only listed as $ 0.40 more than the white rice and the cole slaw is only listed as $ 0.10 more that the macaroni salad.
As I was leaving I noticed a «healthy options» menu. It was on the side of the wall so it wasn’t very noticeable. Garlic shrimp was listed. It looked like the main difference between what I ordered and the «healthy option» was a green salad instead of macaroni salad.
I don’t think this place has much to offer me. Perhaps I need to go with someone who knows what they are doing?
I was also tempted to knock off another star because one of the employees was smoking right outside their door as I was leaving. Bleh.