L&L Hawaiian Barbecue — Restaurant in Hawaii

We stopped in here multiple times during our stay in Waimea because they had a lot of options and were cheaper than most places to eat.

First, if you have celiac or are gluten sensitive, be very wary here. Almost everything you can order comes with macaroni salad and/or has soy sauce in it, so there are limited options for those of us with this issue.

That being said, the first time I went in, I had an excellent ham & cheese omelette served on top of rice. It was a huge omelette, so was definitely worth the price.

The next time, I tried to order a "healthier plate." If you have a gluten allergy, make sure you specify the "healthier plate" part. I neglected to do this, and ended up with battered shrimp with macaroni salad and rice, so I couldn't eat ANY of it. I would ask every time you order whether or not there is any soy sauce or breading in the dish.

I eventually decided that my favorite dish was Kalua Pig with cabbage (the Kalua refers to the cooking method, not to be confused with Kahlua). You can ask that they leave out the macaroni salad or give you rice instead. At some locations, you can order a "bowl" instead, which is just Kalua Pig on rice.

Overall, a great option for keeping things a little cheaper, even if it is a little limited in gluten...

First off, my husband & I purchase at least once or twice a week. Haven't been upset until this last order. This week I ordered two bowls of beef stew and one plate of beef stew. To say I was disappointed in what we received is being nice. I ordered BEEF STEW, I did NOT order RICE with a few pieces of beef (they were really CHUNKS) which is EXACTLY what we received. The bowls themselves were loaded to at least 3/4 of the bowl with rice and that's NOT an exaggeration..IF I wanted RICE I would've ordered such. In each bowl there were three, yes three chunks of beef stew that really should've been cooked a bit longer; it was tough, used a knife to make them bite size. Oh yea, one small potato and one slice of carrots...wow! L&L can do one hell of a lot better. The service on the most part is pretty good although it can be taxing to understand them being they are foreign with heavy accents...somehow we make it work. Atmosphere...the walls sure can use a paint job especially where we sit; to ask your clientele to wipe their tables is preposterous. Since when is it the patron's place to wipe the dang tables, I'm surely not doing it, that's what you have...

On July 1, 2023, three of us embarked on a journey to visit all 12 L&L locations on Big Island in one day. This was our 6th stop of the day. We arrived close to lunchtime and the place was busy. The seating area is limited and there is nowhere to really sit and wait for your food if all the tables are taken.

Service was bad and the place felt dirty, which was perfect. Truly an authentic L&L experience. The musubi was not that great. I don't think they fried the SPAM and the smell of the nori literally made two of us gag. We forced the musubi down so that we could claim victory over this location and carry on with our journey.

I have a strong feeling that if we had ordered anything but musubi that we would have been very satisfied. Would I go back again? Probably. Just not for the...