This Chain Quietly Turned A Local Hawaiian Meal Into A Global Favorite

In 1999, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue changed the culinary scene forever, introducing the world to one of Hawaii's most traditional meals, an iconic trio of macaroni salad, rice, and barbecued meat. In Hawaii, it's known as plate lunch — a meal that originated among workers on sugar cane plantations and is still served on local dinner tables at least once a week. At L&L, you get to build a plate starting with a couple of scoops of rice, a catch of the day (usually battered fish) and a simple, creamy mac salad. Then, add your choice of barbecued chicken or kalua pork to finish off the plate. It's branded as "Hawaii's comfort food," a meal built like it came out of your auntie's kitchen in Honolulu.

If you'd never been to Hawaii before the late '90's, you probably had never heard of "plate lunch," though the rice-macaroni salad-barbecue combo isn't anything new. L&L Hawaiian Barbecue founders Johnson Kam and Eddie Flores, Jr. introduced the phrase in 1999 when they established the first location of their chain restaurant in California. Now, you can get a taste of Hawaiian-style home cooking in more than 230 locations in the United States and Japan — and in 2024, L&L was recognized among Yelp's fastest-growing brands in America.

When you think of Hawaii, exotic fruits come to mind. You might picture an overflowing bowl of poke with furikake and sesame seeds or a Hawaiian-style hamburger, topped with pineapple and bacon. And while fruit and fish are free-flowing and much loved in Hawaii, it's the plate lunch that brings people together for family meals and community gatherings. L&L opened the door to Hawaiian home-style cooking when the chain introduced plate lunches to the world. The introduction was slow, however, especially since the brand was contained to the Hawaiian Islands for a couple of decades before it expanded beyond Hawaii.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue started as the L&L Drive-Inn in Honolulu in 1976, popular for serving plate lunches, Spam musubi, and other local favorites. The drive-up restaurant had been in business since the 1950's, but certainly became more popular under Johnson Kam and Eddie Flores, Jr.'s new management. Food was served in big portions, for an affordable price, and it was delicious — a trio that was as much of a hit as the options for a plate lunch. There were several locations throughout Hawaii before Kam and Flores rebranded as "L&L Hawaiian Barbecue" and expanded to the mainland. The branches throughout the islands remain popular to this day, serving some of the most iconic Hawaiian home cooking for hungry, regular people looking for plenty of delicious, budget-friendly food.