"Their spam musubi is one of my favorite things to get there."
(in 8 reviews)
"The mac salad has a perfect creamy consistency."
(in 13 reviews)
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- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- None
35 reviews for L & L Hawaiian Barbeque
Review Highlights
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This is the first L&L ate at, the first time being years ago. It's also the one I've been back to the most often. It's cheap, good, and fast. Fast food or not, their mac salad recipe is the best of any Hawaiian joint around the greater Seattle area.
My fav was once the chicken cutlet with gravy and later changed to the katsu. These days it's probably the BBQ mix, especially the beef! I still scarf it down, but usually I order the mini plate now instead of the regular like I always used to. It's still plenty of food for one person. Other stuff like the spam musubi, hulu hulu chicken and kalua pork are great too.
Arrrgh quality has gone down.... why can't you be like Hawaii?!?!?!
Loco Moco was way too salty even by Local standards. but the worst was the mac salad why so stale brah? shoots ets like it ben stayin in da fridg fa 2 weeks. Eggs was swimmin in grease. Mac was all hard. Kalua pig was ok.
When can we get some real local grinds? how come in HI I can get it cheaper and with curry AT L&L... oh well gives me an excuse to go back to the Islands.
OMFG!! This place should not be associated with "L&L" and I'm embarrassed that it bares the same name!
I'm basing this on the two times I've been here, the first being in 2004 and the last being in late 2007, and going off that, I'd give this place a negative 10 out of five if I could. Why you ask? Follow me into the land of disappointment.
Being from Hawai'i, and a FREQUENT L&L customer growing up, I was psyched to hear about an L&L in the Seattle area when I moved up for college. So in late 2004 I decided to check the place out. Upon entering, I couldn't help but get thrown off by the added "Hawai'ian" to the name and the incredibly generic, commercial, straight out of a bad Hollywood movie "Hawai'ian" instrumental they had playing in the background. Not to mention the place was decorated like a bad company party with a luau theme. But, no biggie, whatever brings the mainland customers in right?
So I happily saunter up to the counter, where I look at the personnel on hand and, again, I was thrown off cause it was a new experience going to an L&L and not seeing any local people. But again, no biggie, it's a franchise so it shouldn't matter right? So I get to the counter and without looking at the menu I order what I always order, "Can I get regular katsu-kalbi plate?"
She looked back at me like I was a retarded alien, "Uhhh..we don't do that here?"
"Do what?"
"You can only pick one thing."
WTF?! Why don't you just rip my heart out and stomp on it!
So the moke comes out of me, "Foreal?! What kine L&L is this?! OK, whatever. Just gimme a regular katsu and a large fruit punch."
She hands me a cup and tells me that the drinks are self serve. Like a little school girl about to get a new doll, I hurry over looking to get some of L&L's good ole fruit punch that I miss so much, but to my dismay, what do I see? Soda, soda, soda, HI-C?! HI-fricken-C?!?! Really?! Ok, whatever, no biggie, I grab a sprite instead and think, "This food better be frickin bomb!"
I get my order and as I'm walking to my table I can't help but think how light the plate is. I sit down, open the plate lunch and...WTF?! ONE SCOOP RICE?! ONE SCOOP MAC SALAD made with MUSTARD?! And ONE little peice of katsu that looked more like a chicken tender from McDonalds than anything else! L&L is known for their portions! When you open your plate, your food should be overflowing over the sides! The portions here were soooo small that NOTHING TOUCHED ANYTHING ELSE!!
I was piiiissssed! And to top it off, it cost over $9!!
The second time I went there, my friend Moku (also from Hawai'i) told me he hadn't eaten there and wanted to try it. Despite my efforts to steer him in another direction, we found ourselves standing in front of their counter. ACTUAL local music was being played but other than that, the experience was so far the same as before.
So against everything that my mind was telling me, I decide to go with the katsu again.
"OOOH!", I hear Moku at the cashier next to me, "Lau lau!"
"For only a dollar more you can add kalua pig and cabbage!", the cashier tells him. Then with a huge smile, Moku replies, "Shoots!"
So we get our food and dig in. The katsu was actually a little better and as far as the portions, there were now two scoops rice, the mac salad was made with mayo, and the food was actually touching each other now.
I look over at Moku and see him digging through his food like he's looking for a prize. "Where the hell is the meat in this lau lau?! It's just a ball of dry unseasoned spinach! And the kalua pig and cabbage is pretty much just cabbage! WTF!" He took out his reciept and looked at it for the first time, "I paid over $18 for this crap?!?!"
LOL! I couldn't help but laugh at how this lady bamboozled Moku into thinking that it was cheap by saying "for only one more dollar".
Moku couldn't finish his spinach and cabbage plate and threw it away and ordered some haupia, which was actually pretty good.
I know it's too much to ask for this to be nearly as good as the ones in Hawai'i but come on! Needless to say, despite people assuring that this place has "gotten better", I'm never setting foot in that establishment again...unless someone pays for me...then MAYBE I'll give it another go. But definitely NOT on my own dollar.
Can someone please tell me what the hell they put in that macaroni salad? That alone earns 4-5 stars. Whatever else they have there is fine, great, whatever. I'm just a little preoccupied with the macaroni...
WoW! They serve your food on a real bonafide plate now, and give you real utensils! GOOD JOB!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/31/2009
This place is nummmm yummerson. I'm not an expert on Hawaiian cuisine, but this stuff is GOOOOOOD!!… Read more »
Spam Masubi is what keeps me going there
Oh my god, I will never ever find a chicken katsu as juicy, crunchy and scrumptious as the one they have in L&L! It is perfection.
And the macaroni salad, I don't care if you are lathered in 10 pounds of mayo, but you are absolutely terrific...
Spam musubi... Just orgasmic, nuff said.
Cheap & delicious goodness
Long time ago when I was still in college, I went to my first L&L. Why did I never go to L&L when I lived in Hawaii? Who knows. Well, the menu is full of ono grinds. I pretty much always get their katsu: regular, curry, and gravy. If you want leftovers, the extra buck for the regular size over the mini is worth it.
If you remember their old menu, they never had beef stew or lemon chicken. I think they were trying to tease you / give you a false sense of hope that you could get some stew or lemon chicken. I've only had beef stew once from L&L and it was the bestest ever! My last visit, I didn't look for it but next time I'll keep my eyes peeled.
Okay, seems the kitchen help thang has been ironed out, the Chicken katsu has greatly improved and the Mac-salad is still solid.
Plenty of Aloha spirit served up here, thankfully, they move a lot faster here than they do in the Islands....
PS- Veggie-heads stay away, you've been "officially" warned....
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/7/2007
Although I give is 5 stars it does depend on who's cooking. More often than not these guys are fast… Read more »
Ok, so D.J. Y Wrote an update on the L&L saying that the problems in the kitchen had been fixed, so i decided, on his insistance, to give it one more try.
Happy i did, surprisingly.
First thing i noticed: Big hawaiian guy and hawaiian mama in the back cooking. GREAT sign compared to the previous experience.
I tried a mini Chicken Katsu to go this time.
Mac salad no longer has a dirty water flavor, it is creamy, sweet, and tasty.
The scoop o rice-perfectly cooked.
Chicken Katsu- It is pretty good. A little salty and oily but come on, it is fried chicken after all. I guess im biased because i make a pretty great katsu-style porkchop. Its always better when you make something yourself.
I am bumping them up *one* star for now, but i will be going back again in the very near future to re-test the seafood combo. If they pass a 2nd time, they will get bumped up. Todays lunch was pretty satisfying.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/1/2008
I was very dissapointed with the quality of food here. I was really excited to try this place after… Read more »
Awesome cheap grub! Always clean and you can always get a table. The BBQ chicken is awesome, the pork lau-lau is awesome, and the sausage and egg is awesome. After a couple dozen visits, I can't break my cravings for any of those things to try anything else.
You order at the counter, and your drink options are pretty much the standard soda fountain, but the prices are super low and the food is so good that it doesn't matter at all. Great place, especially at the price.
Okay, I take back some of my nasty words on poor L&L. I still agree that L&L will always be best in Hawai'i..but then again, isn't everything? I was super hungry today, and just happened to be shopping next door...so I caved and got a spam and egg sandwich. It was so much better than the last few times I had been. Still salty as ever (but that's sorta the point), but wayyyy less greasy. And the sandwich actually stuck together like a sandwich.
I noticed that there seems to be a different crew working now...they look like they know how it's done..or maybe they've been reading their reviews..haha! Either way, things are on the up, so I'll most likely be back again.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/21/2008
This is sorta kinda not my favorite. The spam musubi here is never that great. Too sweet, with too… Read more »
First time I came here was with my not-yet boyfriend. I ordered the garlic shrimp, because I freakin' love garlic shrimp. It was awesomely good and then I was addicted to it. That and the mac salad. (This was 3 years ago..)
Nowadays, there are white guys in the kitchen, when back in the day, there were Pacific Islander women and men I believe. The quality of my garlic shrimp has changed a lot over the last three years and I'm not sure why. Sometimes they batter it, sometimes they leave the damn shells on, sometimes both. I hate it when its both. Anyway. Chicken katsu is good, but sometimes overdone.
Don't know what to say, other than, try it. It's not ALL bad. Just try it if you're in town.
Freakin' Awesome!
I knew this place would be great when I walked in and they had a cute homemade color printer sign stating the Hawaiian word of the week and we were shouted a warm welcome the second we arrived. Island style warmth and service- I like!
Hawaiian fast food- who would of thought! It is comfort food at it's best- Today I learned don't go to McDonald's or Taco Bell to feed a unhealthy naughty craving- Do L & L Hawaiian BBQ! Plus it is decorated more like a theme restaurant vs. a corporate chain. Kinda fun!
We ordered two loco moco- one mini and one regular (mini=large and regular= pretty jumbo). The loco moco seems to be the islander's fav. The dish consists of hamburger patties with eggs and gravy. You can have your eggs any way you want and we went for over easy. It is served as a lunch plate- Hawaiian lunch plates consist of scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, and a main dish like chicken katsu or loco moco. We ate every last bite... yum* I sopped up as much gravy as I could get with the rice- it was a thick non-dairy gravy. Following advice, we also tried a spam musubi (a block of rice with a protein like pork, chicken, or spam on top- wrapped in seaweed). It was flavorful and can be best described as a snack on the run- like a taco vs. a grilled stuffed burrito :) My Hawaiian friend who I texted for advice before going said it is the type of food you grab before going surfing.
As best I can describe L & L Hawaiian BBQ's menu can be described as a cross between Japanese, Korean, and Hawaiian food= it's own awesome developed hybrid.
I was reluctant to go here- I am positive others are too- my advice is just do it!
Great food! It's a little pricey for lunch, but soooo good. If you're a carnivore like myself I suggest trying the BBQ mix plate (BBQ chicken, beef, short ribs, rice and mac salad). Their BBQ chicken is to die for!!!! No seriously.
The SPAM musubi is great and well executed. I dont understand why it costs 2.25 for one little musubi considering I can make 5-10 of them for around that price at home, but whatever... its a Hawaiian delicacy! Heard they have a good Katsu plate, but still haven't tried it. I usually go to my usual teriyaki joint for their Katsu. But as often as I go here for lunch, I'm sure i'll have a chance to try it and I'm sure I'll like it. As I do with everything served at L&L.
Simple, fast, and good sums up my experience here. I usually always order my food to go and I always get the mahi mahi plate so I can't comment on the other dishes. The mac salad has a perfect creamy consistency. I do have to say that I think it depends on who is working in the kitchen in regards to how my mahi mahi will come out. Other times it will come out perfectly fine but sometimes it can be a bit too salty.
The closest I can get to Hawaii! I LOVE local food and plate lunches. There's only a couple L&L's I know that are available in the state of WA, but I am glad one is close by in Lynnwood. My fav's are the Chicken Katsu, Short ribs, Spam Musubi, Roast Pork w/ gravy, and the Mixed plate. Service is always nice, never too crowded...but I suggest to have your orders called in if you're taking it to go. People taking orders are always friendly and they always play the BEST local hawaiian music. :)
The first L&L's I went to in Washington. The first time I ever even TRIED L&L's! I would drive an hour to an hour and a half just to have their Chicken Katsu, Short Ribs or Spam Masubi! I'm all the way from Bremerton so driving the distance just to have my L&L's fix is worth it.
They have other locations for L&L's now too in Washington but Lynnwood's L&L is just my main preference :) Their mac-salad is so yummy, pretty much all of their dishes just hits the right spot for me :) Some L&L's have the chicken cutlet dish and some L&L's don't. I just love EVERYTHING on their menu.
It's a great cheap place to go to and have some good eats :) The atmosphere is awesome and how can you not like Island jams playing in the background with got good Island grub while sippin' on that Hawaiian punch? Hehe!
Definitely one of my favorite places of all time!
L & L is very rare to come along (i.e. you have to go to Hawaii to get it), and I feel that we're blessed to have one in our own backyard. If you want a large, quality meal with savory Hawaiian flavors... GO TO L & L RIGHT NOW!!! (and order the Chicken Katsu)
My friend is in a group called "L&L should be listed as a controlled substance", nuff said
Good eats. Take it from someone who moved here from Hawaii...this is good local food. The difference between this and true plate lunch in Hawaii? PRICE I remember getting a 1/2 a huli chicken with rice and mac salad in Hawaii for $5...here you will pay out the nose. BUT it is good, and I, like many others are willing to pay it. My only beef with them is they stopped making malasadas...and I tell them that everytime I go in.
L & L is pretty decent and does me right when I can't make it to the Kauai Family Restaurant to get my Hawaiian food fix.
And I have to say that the Chicken Katsu and the Loco Moco are top notch here. Do yourself a favor and order the small size unless you don't mind taking home some leftovers.
Check out the Kauai Family Restaurant if you're near Seattle. http://www.yelp.com/us...
Bullet review/comments:
- Sometimes I am scared of the state of the tables and some chairs. Some of them are just sticky, and sitting close to the windows exposes you to dust.. and possibly spiders. (Or that's how MY first-hand experience was.)
- I like the loco moco, but I must remember to order the mini. The regular is expensive.. and HUGE. Unfortunately, the side macaroni salad is only really so-so, at best. I'll take the macaroni salad at Uwajimaya's Aloha Plates over this any day.
- People are nice. I like nice people.
- No qualms over the spam musubi.
- The seafood combo isn't really worth it.
- Poke! I saw poke on the mainland for the first time! It's pretty good, but unfortunately... it does not look at all fresh. Based on the poke I just bought from Costco 3 days ago, the poke I got from L&L must have been at least 5-7 days old.
Conclusion:
- I come for loco moco and spam musubi, when the craving calls (or when I miss my bus home after a craft stop at Joann's and I'm too lazy to walk home), and there's just nobody else willing to go with for some Hawaiian from Northgate on south.
- Oh, and buy to go.
Don't be deceived, they only offer 'regular' and 'half' sized orders... and their regular is just about everyone else's 'glutton' size.
This place is great, I really don't have anything bad to say about them besides, 'why Lynnwood?!'
Oh, and even though they offer kimchi, be warned, I could only finish half of it.
I used to work at a preschool not far from this place, actually within walking distance ---those were good times. I'd go over there for lunch at least twice a week. Besides their mixed plates and staples (like the Katsu with gravy or curry) they also make a good hamburger which is quite cheap. I also recommend their Katsu Saimin (Katsu noodle soup) which is awesome and also cheap.
Since I'm farther away though, usually when I go I just get the Katsu, which is really what this place is about. It's always a dilemma between curry or gravy ---recently gravy has been winning. I need to go on a diet.
Okay so as a transplanted Hawaii-boy I'm all for the local style food. But, I must say this place sort of disappointed. The food was a little salty, the poke seemed pretty old (ie it was stuck in that container for a while), and while my loco moco was great my friends were less than satisfied.
That said, I'm more than willing to say that we maybe caught them on an off day, but I'd at least be a little wary of the Kalbi (that was what my friend thought was a little too salty). In any case, its a great value and definitely worth checking out if you're a little homesick.
Freaking disgusting.
I used to go here quite a bit, and back then it was pretty good. I'm pretty sure that the owner was there when it first opened on a regular basis to make sure things were going smoothly.
About two visits ago, my boyfriend and I were annoyed that it took almost 45 minutes to get our food. At the time, they would have had a 3 maybe 4 star review, even despite the wait. On our last visit, they made our "for here" order "to go," and they gave someone elses order to us. On top of that, the floor was DISGUSTING. It was sticky from spilled soda, and who knows what else because the floor was black from being so dirty. While we were there (and there were about 5 other tables there as well), the employees starting putting chairs up on the table, feet down, and that's when I noticed that the FEET of the chairs were stained black with grime. Gross. I wanted to vomit with how dirty the place was.
If you want good Hawaiian food, try Bobby's Hawaiian Food in Everett. It's a trip for pretty much everyone NOT in Everett, but worth the drive. They were recently visited by Guy Fiari from the Food Network show, "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives."
It's greasy & most definitely not the most healthiest food choice but nonetheless, delicious!
The first one I ever went to was down in San Diego with my best friend, when we came up here and we found out there was one in Lynnwood, we would drive all the way up there just to get some. But there is also one in Renton & I believe also in Federal Way.
I have to say the customer service & the workers at the Lynnwood location is a lot better than the others. They are friendly & acknowledge every one of their customers even if it's busy.
Their spam musubi is one of my favorite things to get there. It's not too pricey & pretty fast service.
Sometimes (no, many times) I need spam and eggs, and there is no better place to get spam and eggs than L&L! Spam is popular in Hawaii, how it got to be I do not know, but I am glad that it is! How they serve it up at L&L, as in most Hawaiian restaurants, is fried with white rice and macaroni salad. My wife thinks this is the oddest combination - she feel that starches should never meet in the same meal - I disagree wholeheartedly!
My son has had the chicken katsu, which is great, and other members of my family have had other items. All have reported favorably!
It's a really basic interior, like a fast food restaurant, but with a twist - there is Hawaiian music playing over the house system!
Experience some Aloha from Lynnwood - visit L&L!
They make delicious beef stew, when they have it as a daily special! Their mac salad is soooo yummy! Quick and friendly service. Their saimin is also very good and their spam musubi tastes as good as homemade!
Y'know... I can't really say too much bad about this place. It's random that there's just one in Seattle (that I know of) and it's way up in Lynnwood. Then again, kind of cool since I live pretty close to it! L & L is not the greatest Hawaiian there is, but it's cool to have! The loco moco is pretty good. Kalua pork is pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of their mac salad. Hoki's Teriyaki in Fremont has my fave mac salad! I don't think that the portions are really overwhelming, but being Tongan and growing up fed by Tongans, maybe my idea of portion-sizing and "single serving" is vastly different, hahaha! Greasy goodness here. Bobby's in Everett is the spot, though, as someone mentioned! I like L & L in Vegas better, too!
I can't talk stink about this place. It's better than Kauai Family Kitchen because they are more consistent in their preparation. Kauai Family is hit and miss for me recently. L&L Kalua Pig is the best. I am so disappointed when there is no more, but the chicken katsu is a good substitute.
Let me start out by saying I am not Hawaiian but love the concept of plate lunches. How can anyone not like two scoop rice, mac salad, and kahlua pork? I have tried the kahlua pork with cabbage, chicken bbq, chicken katsu, galbi, and kimchi here and all have been very good. We recently had a luau at our house and even catered it with the food from here. Compared to an L and L I went to in Maui, definitely a more limited menu but what do you expect, we are in Washington after all.
I love their chicken katsu and chicken katsu curry. I haven't tried much else because when I feel adventurous, the katsu calls me back.
L&L in Hawaii is different at each location also, but this one is pretty bad. I went when they first opened a few times and it was really good then. After that, it depends on what time you go. If the oil is changed or grill is clean, then the food is ok. Not my favorite in the flavor department, but it is ok. But if you go when they are in the lunch rush, the food might be horrible and taste like greasy burnt fat. I have gone back many times oiver the year and it has always been like this. So far I get my best meals between 2 and 5PM.
I come to this restaurant a lot, doesn't matter lunch or dinner, it's one of my favorite place to grab food. Even some of the cashier and the cook knows me. lol. But yes, The thing that I always order is either the Curry Katsu, BBQ Beef, or the Shortribs. The price is okay because the portion is pretty big too. One scoop of macaroni salad and two scoop of rice.
i don't care what anyone says about this place.... it's fab! the NY location doesn't compare to the one in lynnwood, WA!!! the best chicken katsu, bbq platters, and mouth watering spam musubi's. authentic or not, it's still good food. i love all the fruit drinks to choose from! my fav... the strawberry guava! yum. i have like 6 punchcards, too. you get free meals if you get them all punched! it's so addicting. the macaroni salad is to die for. *drooool*
