L&L Hawaiian Barbecue - Hawaii's Favorite Plate Lunch (2024)

FAQs

What is in a Hawaiian plate lunch? ›

The plate lunch is as Hawaiian as it gets. You can find them all over the place, and they always have the same formula: a meat, two scoops of rice, and one scoop of macaroni salad.

Examples of Popular Plate Lunch Combinations

Some of Hawaii's most popular plate lunch combinations include the Loco Moco, a hearty meal consisting of rice, a hamburger patty, fried eggs, and brown gravy. Another favorite is Kalua Pork with cabbage and macaroni salad on the side.

The L&L itself stood for Lee & Lee — in the 1950s, mother and son Ida and Robert Lee had a dairy farm over in Waimanalo and once they got a bottling plant in Honolulu, they sold the bottled milk at L&L Dairy on Liliha Street in Kalihi. They started offering plate lunches, too.

Founded in Honolulu as L&L Dairy in 1952, L&L became a popular eatery in Hawaii. The iconic L&L Hawai'i brand was established in 1976 by Eddie Flores, Jr., who with partner Johnson Kam grew the company into the most popular international restaurant franchise specializing in Hawaii cuisine.

Standard plate lunches consist of two scoops of white rice, macaroni salad (in an American style), and an entrée (usually in a Japanese style such as chicken katsu or teriyaki). A plate lunch with more than one entrée is often called a "mixed plate".

By the 1930s, lunch wagons popped up. These were mobile meal services that catered to drive-ins and laborers. The food was very similar to what workers on plantations used to eat and what Moyo Iwamoto served, but, instead of bento boxes, paper plates were used. So, this is how the name “plate lunch” appeared.

Serving Aloha Worldwide

In late 1999, our founders – Johnson Kam and Eddie Flores, Jr. – introduced their signature, Asian and American fusion take on the classic plate lunch to the residents of California.

Yes, they do.

Block of white rice with your choice of meat wrapped in flavored, dried, seaweed, and our special sauce. We use sesame oil on all menu items.

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue - Kōʻala means to barbecue or broil. Learn more Hawaiian words with Lūʻau & Learn!

What is the difference between Hawaiian BBQ and BBQ? ›

Hawaiian

In Hawaii, you're not getting the traditional ribs, pulled pork, and brisket. On the island they do it a little different. Typically ordering BBQ here means you get a large platter of grilled meat or chicken, sweet-and-tangy from a marinade of shoyu (soy sauce), sugar, and fresh garlic and ginger.

Feasts of poi, kalua pig, lomi salmon and haupia are the culinary soul of Hawaii, as much a part of island life as shaka signs, surf sessions and windward and mauka showers.

Like most Hawaiian dishes, Loco Moco consists of just a few ingredients: rice covered with two hamburger patties, submerged with brown gravy, and topped with over-easy eggs. This plate lunch is sometimes served with grilled onions and almost always with some macaroni salad.

A lūʻau (Hawaiian: lūʻau, also anglicized as "luau") is a traditional Hawaiian party or feast that is usually accompanied by entertainment.