L&L Hawaiian Barbecue — Restaurant in Chesapeake

I used to eat at the L&L Hawaiian Barbeque in Arizona 15 years ago and we were talking about it the day before yesterday because we both like Hawaiian BBQ, so I Googled the one in Arizona then searched their website for locations in Virginia and found this one in Chesapeake. We drove from Virginia Beach today (Saturday) looking forward to it for 2 days. When we got to the restaurant s was and walked inside, the place was overflowing PACKED and I commented that’s proof the food is as good as I remember. 15 years is a looooooong time to have your mouth water craving a certain meal! Well, lemme tell ya.... It’s even BETTER than I remember!!!!!! We spent $66 on 5 meals (for 2 people so we could both try each other’s favorites and have leftovers) of yumminess. We are super full off less then 1 meal each because the servings are big and we both talked about how excited we are to eat dinner already even though we’re so full! LOL I would give L&L Hawaiian BBQ 25 stars if I could give them more. What we ordered and our comments on each: BBQ beef plate (my fav for 16 years) - heavenly bliss of sweet tender perfection that melts in my mouth and the macaroni salad is oh my goodness the PERFECT complement of flavor and texture to the beef ribs. Mine was all Mac no rice and each order came with 3 ribs, plenty of food in 1 serving plus having some for leftovers. He ordered: Loco Moco which is 2 hamburger patties with 2 friend eggs, macaroni salad and white rice. He ordered a side order of spam Musubi and he is still commenting about it being the best food in Virginia and I said the best food in 5 states I’ve live in! He said it’s even better than all the authentic Hawaiian same meals that he had when he lived in Hawaii. The bbq chicken we ordered to share and try: (our least favorite of all the things we ordered.) Extremely moist and tender. It could use a little salt to bring out more flavor. It tastes very good, but it’s a little boring on the palate in comparison to the other items that are soooooo unbelievably delicious they are mouth blowing. ;) The restaurant and staff: Great, friendly service, very clean, packed busy - they should add a loft and a 2nd side of seats to the counter seating area for more seating. They are easily busy enough to have twice as much seating. A loft 2nd left without the lights and fans hanging down as low would accomplish providing more seating. Our recommended request for more seating is that they open a second location in near Town Center and where we live! :) We eat out for lunch at least once a week and we would definitely eat there often if they were in our area. I’m sure we will eat there monthly where we went today because it’s totally worth the drive. Leftovers: Neither of us are all of 1 of anything because the servings are large if we had ordered 1 meal each, it would been plenty of food for us. We brought home 4 containers. We didn’t even touch 1 entire beef bbq meal. We still have 1/3rd if the other same meal left for leftovers too! He only ate half his Loco Moco and he’s talking about it still saying I can say “how much willpower it took to keep some for later - best LM he ever had” :) We kept 2/3rds of the chicken for late. “Portion size for the price is ridiculous” he said. Perfect serving sizes, in our opinion, for $8.95 per plate it’s enough to feel full and satiated and have a nibble later that night when you are wishing you could go back again! Hehe SUUUUUPER HAPPY YOU ARE HERE...

If I could leave one star I would have.. didn't even get to taste the food. Called in for a pick up order around 2 o'clock while driving..phone rang longer then normal before anyone answered.that is expected no issue. After I got ahold of someone I was told they only do pick up orders with credit cards over the phone. Quit odd and weird. But since I was driving I said "no thank you" and drove up there anyways. After arriving 10-15 minutes after previous call in. I walked into an empty establishment. Not one customer inside eating or picking up. I was inside atleast 2-3 minutes before the two employees greeted me after they finished there private conversation. The front windows stickers was advertising karaoke I think .. it was so overwhelming and tacky for a food place I thought I was In the wrong place.. so I proceeded to make an order. I asked " is there any lunch specials" . Her answer was "our rice is cheap but everything else is expensive on the menu" .I was blown away by the words that came out this adult helping me. Is she calling me cheap? I said "have a nice day and went to Moe's next door ". These employees should walk next door and see what hospitality is. I felt like family at Moe's in the first two steeps walking into the door. I have never eating at Moe's before but will go back again. Thanks l and l Hawaiian BBQ for turning me away to a great Mexican place. Would have loved to taste your food. I am not one to leave reviews but this was a little over the top. I see and now know why no one was inside or picking up food.. The employees here ran off there customer and I don't see yhis establishment lasting long. When I looked into the kitchen from what could be seen. It looked like a buffet hot table back there with lids I could be wrong.. So why is there a need to pay on pick up orders before...

Aloha in the restaurant business starts as soon as yoh walk in and ends when you step out the door and the kitchen must prepare these dishes with that...ALOHA! I was so happy to stumble accross this location since enjoying L&L regularly when was stationed in Hawaii. I had great expectations upon arrival but the experience kind of fizzled. The young lady at the front counter was the best part of the service experience as she had a lot of positive energy and truly wanted to do a great job between the front counter and dining room. The food was a bit slow but the flavors were reminiscent of what I remembered but missing the Aloha. Big disappointments include dry beef and seafood fried too long and no Shoyu in the entire restaurant for the dishes...this would NEVER happen in Hawaii. Fountain machine needs brixing; our drinks were super sweet UPDATE JUN 19 2024...responded to managements request and nothing. Management/Owners MUST get re-engaged and recommit to their business and never stop pursuing excellence UPDATE JUL 4 2024...DONT WASTE YOUR TIME...if you enjoyed L&L in the islands, this location will NOT meet your expectations...senior leadership responded and apologized and offered free plate lunch (2 week expiration)...was told at counter limited to three plates, explained i wanted to my choice as suggested by the coupon and email, permitted to select Mix BBQ...front counter person seemed new and untrained, went back to ask question from apparent shift leader and I was informed they are out of beef...are you kidding me? I left and I will not waste my time here again. Advise to senior leaders...fire the manager and or whoever ran the lunch shift today...they are useless and are destroying a...