L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

I’ve been to good L&L’s all over from California to Las Vegas Nevada, and this has got to be the worst one. Place was empty including the employees no one at the counter, should have took that as a sign but eventually someone came and we ordered. The Chicken katsu tasted old and rubbery, with strips as tough as jerky. You can tell it was previously cooked and they reflashed it in the fryer. Mac salad was ok, but the rice was old and can tell it’s been in the rice cooker too long(starting to smell sour). The bbq chicken was like a practical joke, super tough, old, and can tell it was reheated. I don’t know why it was so dark, looked like it’s been sitting in the marinade for too long, so maybe it pickled the meat. Drink machine was broken, only have Pepsis to drink. Wasted 35$, stopped trying to eat it 1/4 way thru hope we don’t get sick. This is not island food, our food is “broke da mouth”, this is broke my wallet. I guess it’s for people that that are unfamiliar with Hawaiian food.

We came in on a Sunday afternoon, took forever to be able to order, and had to wait more than half an hour for an order of burger combo and bbq combo. In fact, I’m still waiting for my order and in writing this review because I’m bored. Drink machine is broken as well. Overall I’m hungry… and feel they are taking way too long for simple food order.

Pretty average experience for an average restaurant and an average level of value. The katsu and rice was great. Definitely one of their best dishes from what I can tell. My coworkers got a variety of other things. They seem pretty happy. I think as far as the Musubi goes, just know the slice of spam is pretty dang thin. Like.. I don’t know how traditional Musubi is supposed to be, but the amount of rice compared to the slice of spam was at least 90%/10%. Overall, a decent experience. Can’t help but feel like there’s more that could be done.

BBQ Beef Plate ... my 10 year old scarfs this up. It's so good. We have been here twice, ordered to-go, great experience both times.

First time visiting this location/restaurant. Very clean, great staff. Received good suggestions for choices to eat. Tried the Kalua pork and cabbage....also the BBQ mix which consists of combination of beef, chicken, and short ribs. Both dishes came with rice and macaroni salad. Will definitely visit again.

Great food horrible customer service. Chicken was a little dry but not terribly, other than that the food is killer! However service is terrible, I placed a duplicate order by accident and immediately called to cancel. I was told to cancel on the app, which I explained there is no option to do so. Then was told the order was cancelled and I would be refunded. Well the order was but the charge wasn't. Called again and was told I would be refunded and the manager would call me back when he came in. Days later still no refund and no call back from anyone.

I was really looking forward to eating my $20 meal! What a disappointment. And I hate leaving bad reviews but I don't want someone to be disappointed as me. The fish and the shrimp was very dry. And the rib was a small little thin piece. The picture is the the way it was when I opened it to eat at home. I've had L&L in Hawaii and was always so pleased with food and service. Not here in this location. 😪

I’m kinda shocked with these reviews. I felt like getting a misuse real quick. Freshly made, and honestly the best misubi I’ve had. Just thinking about it makes me want to get another one. They have different ingredients for them too. The katsu might actually be my favorite.

Food was great, enjoyed this location more than the one in Katy. Let us know about the specials and was really helpful overall. If you're craving Hawaiian this is the place

The food here hits the spot in that very specific way. I'm very happy to have this local.

Jordan!! You made our dinning in honestly the best!! With your great customer service and attentive, kind and courteous! The way you direct yourself towards customers outside the ordering register desk... it's amazing!! You have the customer service lots of places lack!! Honestly, if the owner is seeing this??!! He deserves a raise and much appreciation because he does put value to your place! Now.... The food was good! We had been looking for a Hawaiian bbq place like Cali and we found that Houston had an L&L so YES YES had to go try it out here in Houston!!! I ordered the katsu plate and the bbq ribs plate and ofcourse had to try the musubi chicken!! The katsu chicken is super crispy and the crunch was really good, dip it in the volcano sauce which I mixed with the sweet sauce..forgot the name lol I also ordered passion fruit drink! They were ok, I would love to see chunks of fruit!! Would be amazing The sauces are always great! And one new one we saw and enjoy a lot!! Was the VOLCANO spicy super spicy sauce but loved it, mix it with other sweet sauces and you got a tasty tangy sauce Ambiance is chill, would love to have some background music!!! That would be great!!

I order catering from here at least once a year so it's definitely a family favorite. To give you all some context I have gone to different L&L around the country and they always taste the same. Lol I walked in here today and a lot of their quality has definitely changed. We orders a bbq chicken mini and a half and half bbq chicken and katsu chicken plate. Both plates were the same size and same amount of food. I wanted to share the plate with my little one. (I did) but I payed extra for a plate that had a similar amount of food as the mini not even full scoops of food. I kinda feel like they are skimpy on the food now. Food it self tasted ok. However the katsu was super dry! As if it's left over chicken refried and served as fresh. It's differently a bummer as this is the closest L&L.

We came in on a Sunday afternoon, took forever to be able to order, and had to wait more than half an hour for an order of burger combo and bbq combo. In fact, I'm still waiting for my order and in writing this review because I'm bored. Drink machine is broken as well. Overall I'm hungry... and feel they are taking way too long for simple food order.

We ordered 1. regular sized salad with BBQ chicken: they definitely give you more than enough chicken, covered the whole bowl, and the meat is well marinated and tender. But the salad itself is just lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes. They could add a little variety to it. 2. Loco Moco is great, great size and very filling. Eggs are perfect, and the patties are juicy and delicious. Quick and easy place to dine in or take out.

Really enjoyed my meal! Jordan was able to recommend me the daily special. I didn't know what to order since it was my first time there. He was patient and knowledgeable about each food item. Will be back for sure!

Very similar to the experience I had in Hawaii in terms of consistency, chain restaurant with fast service and awesome to see they have locations in Houston! Ambiance is quiet on a Friday evening with plenty of to go orders. Quick to order, got to try the Katsu chicken curry plate and the seafood plate: Good flavors and crispy for the chicken, always like their mac salad. They offer very generous portions of rice if you like that too. The fish and shrimp i was a bit disappointed on. Overall, the portions are very satisfactory and that's nice to see in a fast-food type place. It is a bit pricey in terms of value, I wouldn't get the seafood again but having now tried their BBQ/Chicken/KaluaPork/Seafood I would rank the chicken the best. Good place to checkout if you're craving some Island flavors!

Jordan took our orders and had thee most gracious character. He and his cook Jose made sure our orders were correct and piping hot. The customer service here is impeccable!!! I'm here visiting and I will definitely be back!

My partner and I were craving Hawaiian food so we came to L and L. This place is really not worth the trip. I am sure there are better Hawaiian places in Houston. The restaurant and service are fine, the dining room is clean and fairly empty. I ordered a bbq beef bowl with veggies and it was not good at all. The normal veggies were not in it. This bowl had soggy cauliflower and soggy broccoli, I couldn't finish it because it had an odd sour taste. The sauce on the beef was weirdly peppery (not what I've had before from other L and L) and over salted. The beef was also overcooked. I was pretty disappointed by this already and tried the spam musubi but it was also not what I expected. Normally, L&L wraps their spam musubi in Saran Wrap but these musubis were just in the open. They also had a really thick nori wrapping and the sauce wasn't distributed in the spam, it was just squished under the spam and leaking out. The sauce just didn't taste right. I was super disappointed by this experience, it just wasn't similar to the Hawaiian flavor I was looking for, and I am surprised by the lack of consistency since this is a chain. The one bright side to this restaurant was the cream soda, so good and I rarely see cream sodas at soda fountains. My partners chicken katsu and fries was pretty decent, though they did not provide any katsu sauce and there seemed to be too much thick breading on the chicken.

There was an insect in my Mac salad. Embedded in it. Absolutely disgusting. We are never coming back.

Absolutely terrible! I had been looking for Hawaiian bbq in the Houston area and found this spot to try. As soon as we walk in no great from the guy behind the counter, as we are reading the menu the guy behind the counter leaves. We wait for another worker to arrive and were able to order,doesnt give us any recommendations or ask if we have been there before. We ordered an ice tea he says oh I dont know if we have any, okay we will get a fountain drink then, we pay and he hands us our cups we go to get soda and all of their sodas are flat! Food took nearly 20 minutes and was not worth the wait, definitely wont be back!

Looking for a taste of Hawaii... but cannot afford a plane ticket... why not stop by L&L? Service was friendly and helpful. Family atmosphere but limited table space. Today decided to order Chicken Katsu plate (very crispy and not dry.. I enjoyed the chicken) comes with rice and mac salad (I order double Mac salad... light and refreshing ). Also ordered the Kalua Pork with Cabbage (comfort food over rice, tender savory pork with cabbage absorbed the flavor of the pork... so good) also comes with rice and Mac salad. Did you know they have daily specials? Yay!

Ordered Uber eats. Let's face it some times ordering food through food app delivery doesn't always guarantee you the best quality of food from the places you order. Sometimes you get no condiments and or utensils. We have grown to accept certain aspects of it. But this place I have been wanting to try and it didn't live up to my expectations. I ordered bbq plate with shrimp. The short ribs and bbq beef seemed over cooked. I mean high heat smashing on the grill trying to cook it faster type of over cooked. The shrimp were the best tasting. The macaroni salad was not as good as your local market version. I tried it. Spent almost $30 dollars and that will probably be all the money you receive from me. lol! I really wanted to like it!!!

This was a great spot to stop by and get something quick. This bowl was about $10 with tax and was the perfect amount for me. The chicken was tender and juicy and I enjoyed the Mac salad and cabbage. I wish there was a bit more rice and I asked for hot sauce to which they said they don't have any. I would get it again but I can't speak to the rest of the menu.

Some of the worst customer service I've ever experienced! The cashier would not even acknowledge my greeting, and the place was filthy. Dirty floor and disgusting bathroom in addition to what I could see in the kitchen will definitely keep me away forever. How can businesses survive with such rude customer service and nasty surroundings?! Certainly not recommended.

The service was good, the short rib delicious, and so was the musubi with BBQ chicken. The fish and shrimp were fried way to hard and lacked flavor. They ran out of Kalua pork. The place was clean but the bathroom light would not stay on. The timer to go off is literally seconds. Not to get into too much details but I had to turn the light back on 5 times. I turned it on to wash my hands and it went off mid wash to give an example of how fast it shut off. I told the cashier and she confirmed there is timer and didn't seem too concerned that it was too short of a time. Anyway, I was not woohed by this place and will probably not return.

Whenever you get to enjoy HAWAIIAN food. You should. This will be a 5 Star with some suggestions to improve. Pork and chicken is outstanding. Flavor was great and meat very nicely done. The rice was moist and had a very fresh taste. The pineapple sauce hit the spot. However the macaroni salad did not represent HAWAII in any good light. Had no seasoning or flavor. Macaroni was hard need to cook it a little longer, strain and season (mix your mayo with the seasoning together before mixing everything before sitting in fridge covered for 30 minutes. Remove mix and then serve. I will order here again but avoid the macaroni!

I come here all the time for their Musubi! My favorites are the Spam Musubi and BBQ Chicken Musubi! I haven't tried much else yet but anytime I order in person or online it's always Musubi!

Rude customer service, like wow. I ordered the seafood & bbq combo and made a note that I would like to remove the fish filet and sub for more shrimp or chicken and tipped extra to account for that. When I arrived, neither substitution was done and when I politely asked why and explained it was my first time visiting their establishment, the employee snapped that that's how they do things...like okay. Unnecessarily harsh and unprofessional but not the end of the world, obviously. But then to make matters worse, I was eating the kalua pork that was also ordered and there was a LEAF! Like a leaf from a tree that bugs crawl on and bite!! How on Earth did that end up in my food. I had already eaten more than half of it before I noticed. Instantly made me sick to think about. The only reason why I'm not giving ONE star is because the pork was juicy and tasty.

Most disgusting meal. I ordered the mixed bbq, breakfast plate, and loco. EVERYTHING IS OVERCOOKED. Couldn't chew into anything. Meats were super tough. Rice was overcooked and dry that it just gets stuck in your teeth. The bbq was the worst. EVERYTHING was burnt AF. Even trying to scrape off the outside, the meat was just so cooked. Everything tasted just burnt with no other flavor. Mac salad was super heavy on mayo, you can't even taste the noodles or anything, it was just spoons of mayo. Cannot recommend this to anyone. Not even the possum outside. Don't go. This was so expensive to not be able to eat a single thing.

Reviewing chains like L&L is like reviewing a McD's. It's a chain, so you sorta know what you're getting so everything else depends on how the location is ran. Stopped by here for a quick lunch. My wife and I shared the 3-meat plate and a spam musubi. They always give big portions and this plate was definitely too much for one person in my opinion. The meats were marinated well and we got plenty of food as expected. The musubi was pricey for $3.50. Service was friendly, although I felt the stress that the cashier was going through. The place was getting a lot of pick up orders and I could tell that she was overwhelmed. Overall, there's not that many fast food Hawaiian places on this side of Houston so I'm sure I'll be back when I feel like stuffing my face with some aloha munchies!

This is a fast casual dining space with indoor seating and friendly service. I came here wanting to try something different from the typical fast food experience and that's exactly what I got. I had a delicious bowl of katsu pork loco moco and it was delicious. I wasn't expecting the home cooked flavor. It was quite a large serving so I had leftovers. Super yummy.

The food was awesome, I have ordered multiple times the Musubi wraps and added an egg to it, and it was the best I've had since Hawaii. Called today 07-30-2024 to order this once again and was told by the manager at the Heights location and was told that he could not make it for me because it was not on the menu. I'm not completely understanding why. Sad to lose a customer to such pedeness.

First time eating here with the family. I'm born and raised in Hawaii so seeing this any place that sells Hawaiian food is always exciting. We ordered the Loco Moco (it was borderline ok, my eggs was overcooked as well), spam musubis (a little stingy on the rice and it had a weird brown goo sauce), cheeseburger and fries (nothing special), BBQ Mix Plate (probably the only best tasting dish out of all our order, mac salad was just like home), and spam saimin (probably the worst dish ever and it was half oil (see pics). I was bummed to not see any local drinks or other famous dishes such as laulau plates. I was overall a bit disappointed. This order was $74 so it is also crazy expensive considering Texas is decently cheap. The staff are friendly and fast. Lots of tables and chairs and clean restroom. There's a lot of parking available.

Really enjoyed the food! Place had a great selection of different options to choose from and all very affordable for the quality of food you are getting. Will be back and great service from the employees:)

Ordered their seafood platter, fish was obviously frozen and severely under cooked, still pink and chewy for FRIED fish. This place is super inconsistent with their food, wouldn't suggest trying it.

This similar menu item as the Aloha place and they are just as great. We gave it a try so we can compare an to our surprise there was no difference in the taste I have a feeling they are sister company They are just as great Give it a try

What a gem of a find! Stumbled upon them on Groupon and now counting down the minutes until I can dig into their grub. The spot was tidy and roomy - the anticipation is killing me!

Rude customer service from both a manager (or owner?) and employee. Hours are different then google map, their new sign is on the door. I also called to ask if they have pineapple whip (there's a huge advertisement on the store front) and employee was rudely said no.

Been here a few times and decided to try their original boba tea on 5.28.24 around 5PM. To-go order. I come home and see a baby roach inside the sealed tea. Tossed everything in the trash. Yuck. Not returning.

Very slow service Out of stock on drink and silverware Fault advisement for SAIMIN RAMEN (it's a bag noodle). Disappointment for this visit

The food was delicious and the service was fast. The Spam Musubi and the BBQ mixed plate reminded my husband of the many years his family lived in Hawaii. We will definitely be back!

Looking for "authentic" Hawaiian-style plate lunch? Aside from the name, this is "almost" the real thing. Sticky rice and mac salad? Absolutely. Limited choices of protein (beef, chicken or seafood). Check out the weekday specials for a break on the high prices.

Great taste and big portions. The waiter was very nice and polite. He was really kno about the food and sauces.

Why 4 stars? Because this hit the spot of reminding us of Hawaii eats. --- --- --- My wife and I got married in Hawaii and have been back a couple of times. One of our favorite things about Hawaii is the food, so when we find a Hawaiian restaurant, we tend to very quickly patronize it. L&L is about an hour from our house, but when we were in Houston to visit the zoo, I scouted this place out to eat afterward. Unfortunately, I did not realize it was a large chain until we arrived, but we still enjoyed ourselves. I ordered the short ribs and a side of macaroni salad. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the short ribs came with some macaroni salad (and rice) so I ended up having a lot more mac salad than I needed. The short ribs weren't cut up into small pieces like they usually would be. Instead they were long pieces and a little difficult to eat, but they were still tasty. The sauce that came to dump on top of the rice was great. Every serving of rice should be accompanied by this at every restaurant in America. My wife ordered the BBQ chicken and chicken katsu and I thought both were really enjoyable. I would have loved to eat even more of it but I was stuffed from all the other food. I also ordered a spam musubi that was probably the biggest I have ever seen, so I didn't have anymore room to eat what the wife couldn't. Two knocks were that the guy working at the front could not have been less friendly. He seemed miserable the entire time we were here. And our food took an inordinately long amount of time to come out. And it wasn't busy, so they may have been short staffed. Next time we are in the Heights, we will probably opt for one of the other great options, but this was not a bad place for a post-zoo lunch.

Horrible place, I can't even imagine someone messing up meat..it was sooo burnt!!! Such a bad place for Hawaiian food..

Please update hours. Website states open till 8:30pm, but I have been multiple times and they have been closed by 7:45.

Let me start off by saying the food tasted really good. We ordered the bbq chicken and chicken Katsu plate; large portions served with rice, cabbage, and macaroni. My only complaint about this place was that everything we originally wanted to order wasn't available. I attempted to order 2 order things before placing an order on the bbq chicken but they were out. Hopefully the next time I come back I can actually order something different than just chicken..

Born and raised in Hawaii. This food is BOMB.com and reminded me of back home. It was such a breathe of fresh air and I wanna come back every week. I loooveee the BBQ chicken and the Mac salad. Tastes just like back home. L&L HACK: add black pepper to your Mac salad for enhanced flavor !!! The rice was a little on the dry side but that's ok. They even offer Hawaiian Sun drinks !!!!! It's a classic takeout spot so nothing fancy but good quality food, a lot of it, and a great price. People were complaining about the prices but it's a good deal since you get so much. I've def seen dry Texas BBQ go for $15-$30 for a plate. I'll be back for the chicken katsu curry !!!!

I had been craving L&L for a while until I discovered one here in Texas. I literally thought they only existed in California. Needless to say, I am ONE HAPPY MAN!!! I stop and grab dinner there at least one per week now. I love their BBQ chicken plate (all mac). I also most recently tried their new volcano chicken and I found a whole new reason to fall in love with this place! The service is great! Everyone is always smiling. The music as you walk in sets the vibe. If they had a bar, I'd never leave lol!!

I was so excited when this place opened a few years ago as I love L&L in Hawaii. Unfortunately the food has declined a bit in the past few years. My usual go to is spam musubi, chicken katsu, and the short ribs. The spam musubi is delicious but the amount of rice they put it in is a bit much. I find myself taking out half the rice portion. The chicken katsu is my favorite. I've ordered delivery from here multiple times and unfortunately they never deliver the katsu sauce anymore, so that's been disappointing. The last time I ordered short ribs, they were a bit tough so not sure if I would recommend them. I've also tried their loco moco and the flavor was pretty bland. My most favorite thing here is their macaroni salad- it is so good and I can eat a bowl of it all day if I could. Overall, it's not the same as the L&L I'm used to in Hawaii but still a good fix when I'm craving Hawaiian food.

I don't know, I hate to give this place a bad review because the BBQ beef plate is so good and the macaroni salad is really good. But the place is dingy. They are always out of half the different flavors of drinks and I have seen iced tea available. (It's Texas people). The portion sizes are good..wish there was more salad with the plate. Bathrooms are nasty. The service is horrible. The girl we usually see is ok with us because she recognizes us when we walk in, but with other customers OMG. And if your new to the place and have questions....I pity you, it's almost embarrassing to see it happen. Considering she can be nice...maybe it's just a lack of supervision on the management or owners . 3 Stars is really pushing it for me but there you go. Was so hungry for the plate I forgot to take a picture sorry.

Don't believe all the inflated reviews. This location has been mediocre since it first opened up. My last three visits were going to be my "last time" given the serious decline in food quality. Why did I continue to return? 1) Pandemic Empathy 2) Additional menu items that aren't part of the L&L corporate items (lumpia, dumplings, etc) 3) Glutton for punishment Second to last visit had me walking out the door after the counter help found it necessary to correct my pronunciation on "gyoza". Mine was right but she felt necessary to correct me to how she thought they should be pronounced. Funniest thing was they were out of them anyway. Last visit was truly my last. They've been out of sriracha for ages. That I get. But they no longer have the L&L terriyaki sauce. 98% sure they're no longer an official L&L franchise. Their katsu sauce and curry sauce are different too. Owner was explaining to the employees how the "payroll company" made a mistake and how he was going to "make it right" by paying them with a personal check. Honestly I can't believe they've managed to stay in business as long as they can but the food has been awful for at least a year. Like I said, I'm a glutton for punishment. Even though they're close by and should be a slam-dunk for some grilled terriyaki chicken and rice... Portions are tiny. The katsu chicken has been old/refried when order it so it's rock hard (and paper thin). Hanging on by a thread. Attitude of the kitchen and employees has that death hallows vibe. Oh, and the insult to injury? Prices keep getting raised. A small bowl is like $12.99 these days. Full size "lunch plate" is $17-$19 If you want to throw away $20 on horrible food, I can think of a lot better places to do it.

I love Hawaiian food, and I'd love nothing more than to leave a great review, but this location seems to have gone downhill. First, it seems to be very hit and miss as far as what's available. I've lost count of the times I've been told that they were out of one or another key ingredient, so what I wanted wasn't available. Is there some huge Spam shortage I haven't heard about? Second, service is usually a bit on the slow side, but today was the worst I've had. It took close to twenty-five minutes to get my order of loco moco and a Spam musubi. And they weren't busy at all. Third, the place was a mess. The trash can in the men's room was overflowing, with paper towels all over the floor. All of it just added up to a lousy experience and even though the food was good, I didn't even enjoy it after all of the annoyances. I want this place to be good and I'd like to go there once in a while, so I hope the restaurant owners and/or the franchise see this review.

The plan was for Poke until we walked by this place. I absolutely love other similar L&L establishments when we lived on the West Coast. Parking for a weekday lunch time was pretty limited and chaotic with the various delivery service folks parked out-of-space with their flashers on. There were plenty of seating and the service was fast and friendly. Portions were hefty for $13+ a plate. The beef was real fatty, dry, and kinda bland. Good thing for the side sauces and siracha. The chicken Katsu was hardened and more batter than chicken. Lastly, the BBQ chicken was good but dry. May give it another shot at another time...enjoy!

At first I was happy to know they were still around...then I was wondering how is it possible they are still open. Was so happy when they first opened. I worked nearby and came at least once a month. Then covid came and I no longer worked in the area. Fast forward to now, was in the area and thought what should I eat since it's been so long. Let's do L&L. What a mistake. Got the chicken curry katsu and wow, my favorite dish of all time and it was just bad. The chicken was dry and overcooked. The curry was just wrong. I couldn't tell what color it was. Was it brown? Was it yellow? Whatever it was, it had zero flavor, maybe a slight sour flavor? I don't know how they could serve this? It gives Hawaiin food a bad name. And the macaroni, it was doused in the curry sauce because the container that the dish was served in had no compartments. At least the mac was edible even with the curry because of the lack of flavor. I also got a chicken katsu musubi. Ugh. The katsu again was dry and overcooked. Honestly, I love my Hawaiian food but this place can gladly go away and stop taking people's money. Harsh, I know. I was even being kind.

It's good mainland food. But don't come here if u go to Hawaii... it's where the visitors go. Here's the menu and pricing, the website only shows for catering! Thank me later

Serves leftover rice which is hard and cold. Chicken Katsu is not fresh and tasty like it has been refried... Spam Musubi only has a very thin sliver of spam...They are going to cut corners right out of business.. I thought this was going to be a treat since I am from Hawaii but it was a big dissapointment.