L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, known also asL&L Drive-Innor colloquially asL&L,is the only Hawaii-origin, Hawaii-themedfranchiserestaurant franchise from Honolulu,Hawaii, centered on theplate lunch.
Eddie Flores Jr. and Johnson Kam purchased the original L&L Drive-Inn in 1976, later starting their expansion and introducing Hawaiian Plate Lunch, Spam Musubi, Loco Moco, Katsu Chicken and Korean Beef Short Ribs - Kalbi to Mainland markets in 1999. There are now more than 200 locations across the United States,including locations inAlaska,Arizona,Colorado,California,Hawaii,Nevada,New York City,North Carolina,Oregon,Texas,Florida,Utah,Washington,Georgia,South Carolina, andVirginia. Internationally, the company also has locations inJapan.
In 1976, Eddie Flores, Jr. bought L&L Drive-Inn at 1711 Liliha St.,Oahu, Hawaii for his mother, Margaret Flores.He kept the name L&L, even while there was no relation to the current business, and remodeled the building as a small walk-up restaurant for his mother to operate.Johnson Kam joined Margaret as a partner.  In 1977, Margaret sold all her shares to Johnson.
After this single restaurant became a success, it expanded into multiple locations across the island, Eddie Flores returned as a partner with Kam and helped him with the franchising of L&L in Hawaii in 1988.By 1997, there were 30 locations throughout the state.
In early June 1999 Kam and Flores noticed that a former employee was doing fairly well selling Hawaiian-style plate lunches in the San Francisco Bay Area, in spite of their restaurant's less than ideal location. Since he realized that it was possible to sell this cuisine in California, Kam and Flores obtained a location in October of the same year inside thePuente Hills Mallin theCity of Industry, Californiato open the first mainland L&L location.Due to differing expectations of the types of food usually served atdrive-ins, Flores decided to change the name on the mainland to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue to strengthen the chain's association to Hawaiian cuisine.
There were 49 L&L locations in Hawaii when the first California L&L location opened in October 1999.After opening at the Puente Hills Mall, the chain opened other locations throughoutLos Angeles County. In September 2000, L&L opened its first location inOrange County.
The first L&L in the Western United States outside of California was opened inHillsboro, Oregonin August 2001.Soon after, a location opened in July 2002 inHenderson, Nevada2002.A number of other locations started opening up, includingLynnwood, Washingtonin March 2003,Mesa, Arizonain June 2004,Provo, Utahin August 2004,Aurora, Coloradoin August 2004,andAnchorage, Alaskain November 2009.
L&L opened its first location in this region in May 2003, located inManchester,Connecticut.This location has since closed.
As for New York, the first L&L location was opened on Fulton Street inNew York Cityin November 2004.The New York City location has since closed.L&L's only current New York location is near the Canadian border inEvans Mills,though three locations are planned to open inEast Harlem,theLower East SideandBushwick.
In Florida, L&L opened inJacksonvillein April 2017.
As of 2022, there are several locations in the Central region.  ThePlano, Texas, location opened in November 2008.Other Texas locations are in San Antonio, Houston, Katy and Waco.Previously operating locations includedChampaign, Illinois, near theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaigncampus in October 2004,East Lansing. Michiganin June 2005,Lewisville, Texas, which opened in April 2008.andFranklin, Tennesseein June 2015.
The company previously had locations in the American territories in the Western Pacific. The first expansion westward of Hawaii occurred when L&L opened inAmerican Samoain June 2008,though the franchise closed sometime between September 2012and March 2013.
A location in Guam was opened in October 2014,but later closed in January 2018.
L&L's first international location was opened inAuckland, New Zealand, in February 2009.In Japan, the first location was opened in theShibuyasection ofTokyoin June 2010, and a second location nearEnoshima,Fujisawa, Kanagawa, in December 2017.InChina, the first location was opened in June 2013.
The first L&L location in Malaysia was opened inKuala Lumpurin December 2014.In 2015, the first L&L location in Indonesia was opened inJakartain June 2015,followed by the first L&L location in thePhilippines, which opened inManilain October 2015.
The company closed their sole Indonesian location in January 2017.
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue's menu is centered around the Hawaiianplate lunch– two scoops of rice, a scoop ofmacaroni salad, and a meat or seafood entrée.Many of the menu items include nods to Asian and Polynesian heritage, likechicken katsuandkaluapork.The menu also encompasses popular Hawaiian dishes, such as theLoco mocoandsaimin.The restaurant chain is also known for theirspam musubi, introducing it as a part of their menu in 1999.
In 2021, L&L established August 8th as National SPAM Musubi Day to mark the growing popularity of the snack.
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue's success has earned the company many awards and continued rankings in various local and national magazines. In 2002, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue was named one of the “50 Regional Powerhouse Chains” byNation's Restaurant News.The July 2005 issue ofRestaurant & Institutions Magazineranked L&L as the 314th out of America's top 400 restaurant chains.Additionally,Restaurant Businessmagazine ranked L&L as number 15 out of 50 for Top Growth Chains in the Nation in 2005.Entrepreneur magazinehas also ranked L&L's parent company, L&L Franchise, Inc. at number 165 out of 500 for the top franchises in 2005.
In 2012, the company published a cookbook entitled, "$266 Million Winning Lottery Recipes: L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Cookbook" written by Eddie Flores, Jr. and illustrated by Jon J. Murakami.  The book features several of the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue recipes that made the restaurant famous.