Hawaiian BBQ

Amazing food! The gentleman running the place was as friendly and informative as could be. Massive amount of Chicken Katsu served with rice and macaroni salad, 2nd meal and a snack amount. Also had Spam Musubi for an appetizer, amazingly delicious as well. If you are in La Jolla, stop in and give L&L a try.

What could be said. This place is absolutely delicious and tasty. Food is freshly made. Not sitting on the counter getting cold. Has a wonderful taste. The Garlic Chicken and the Barbecue Chicken is my favorite already. You won't leave hungry, if you do you better grab some more for leftovers later on.

Staff was friendly and it was easy to order, chicken katsu was crispy and delicious, good portion of chicken too! Mac salad was refreshing and overall good first experience.

I feel like the Mac salad had a little less flavor than normal but I personally know that the Mac salad is amazing usually, musubi was perfect and the chicken katsu is my go to! Service was fast and practiced usual covid precautions

I am so happy this place has a high protein option in their menu, it saved my day! They served a Atkins plate with a good amount of protein

Steven Graham

Amazing food! The gentleman running the place was as friendly and informative as could be. Massive amount of Chicken Katsu served with rice and macaroni salad, 2nd meal and a snack amount. Also had Spam Musubi for an appetizer, amazingly delicious as well. If you are in La Jolla, stop in and give L&L a try.

Robert Herrera

What could be said. This place is absolutely delicious and tasty. Food is freshly made. Not sitting on the counter getting cold. Has a wonderful taste. The Garlic Chicken and the Barbecue Chicken is my favorite already. You won't leave hungry, if you do you better grab some more for leftovers later on.

Carly Gehm

Staff was friendly and it was easy to order, chicken katsu was crispy and delicious, good portion of chicken too! Mac salad was refreshing and overall good first experience.

brandon laguatan

I feel like the Mac salad had a little less flavor than normal but I personally know that the Mac salad is amazing usually, musubi was perfect and the chicken katsu is my go to! Service was fast and practiced usual covid precautions

Betsy Alanis

I am so happy this place has a high protein option in their menu, it saved my day! They served a Atkins plate with a good amount of protein

BEST L an L I have ever been to. I didn’t catch her name but there was a lady at the cashier today that has the aura of an angel!! if I were management I would promote that efficient, ray of sunshine in a heart beat💕 Very clean bathrooms and separated my curry from my chicken without being asked (nobody likes soggy katsu) 10/10

I eat at a couple locations of L&L and this one is the best, overall. It’s right by my work, so I order through the app often. The food is always consistently good, great portions that make the price/value well worth it (I get at least 2-3 lunches from a regular plate). The service is always fast and friendly. I never eat in, but it’s cute and clean and welcoming. Usually some people eating in during lunch and always tons of to go orders being processed. Highly reccomend

Chloe Axas

BEST L an L I have ever been to. I didn’t catch her name but there was a lady at the cashier today that has the aura of an angel!! if I were management I would promote that efficient, ray of sunshine in a heart beat💕 Very clean bathrooms and separated my curry from my chicken without being asked (nobody likes soggy katsu) 10/10

Katy Ford

I eat at a couple locations of L&L and this one is the best, overall. It’s right by my work, so I order through the app often. The food is always consistently good, great portions that make the price/value well worth it (I get at least 2-3 lunches from a regular plate). The service is always fast and friendly. I never eat in, but it’s cute and clean and welcoming. Usually some people eating in during lunch and always tons of to go orders being processed. Highly reccomend

Chicken katsu was deliciously crunchy and the serving size was generous. Will definitely be returning for more!😋

Food is delicious here. The people that work here are nice, and the portions are very good for the price. This is a decent chain spot for food, and they have a heart for broke students so I support them. Try their grilled chicken, it's awesome if you're a fan of dark meat!

Countered dude suggested the BBQ chicken when asked what they did best. I was in no way dissapointed, the food came out in a reasonable amount of time and the portions were large. Chicken was yummy. One of the kids from our team got the Mocho Loco (two patties and two fried eggs) and absolutly loved it. Never seen that before! My kid got a burger/Fries combo and was happy.

The place to get chicken katsu (fried chicken over steamed rice and macaroni salad). It’s always made to order, fried just right, crispy, and flavorful! The other thing I would get is the hot spam masubi (a slice of spam over steamed rice cube tied up by dried seaweed, aka nori)

Chen Dow

The place to get chicken katsu (fried chicken over steamed rice and macaroni salad). It’s always made to order, fried just right, crispy, and flavorful! The other thing I would get is the hot spam masubi (a slice of spam over steamed rice cube tied up by dried seaweed, aka nori)

The food at this location is always good. We've tried it at other locations and they are not as good. Even though it's the same food the other lopatients seem to have a lot of fat/too greasy and doesn't taste as good.

Maly Burke

The food at this location is always good. We've tried it at other locations and they are not as good. Even though it's the same food the other lopatients seem to have a lot of fat/too greasy and doesn't taste as good.

Had bbq beef before from this location (la jolla), was pretty good, just hard to separate meat from bone. Second time I had bbq chicken and my friend had loco moco. Both were very dry, and apparently sauce is not provided for free for the bbq chicken even though it's completely necessary considering how dry/hard it was. I much liked it at another location, cupertino, where it was cheaper and sauce was provided. Oh, and the spam musubi was good but it's like a sliver of spam and a huge chunk of rice which is funny in a bad way.

I ordered a chicken katsu but was surprised on the taste and texture of the katsu sauce… unlike other branches that are stickier and sweet, the one I received was quite watery and is missing that sweet savory taste 🥲 But the chicken and mac salad is good 👍

Service is usually pretty slow. Small paid parking lot, so spots are scarce but business is usually booming. Food is okay here. Sometimes they get my order wrong, but I assume it's because of the sheer volume of people that pass through here. Small location: not many tables. Plan to sit outside or stand while waiting on your order.

Food was just alright this time. The chicken in my plate was dry and left on the hot plate too long. For the price they charge, I would've liked to have eaten chicken that wasn't so tough.

Not bad. I've been getting the number one: beef short ribs, beef, and chicken. They come with macaroni salad, and a scoop of white rice and some cabbage. I add two sunnyside eggs on top and substitute the white rice with brown. Either one is good.

Ordered delivery through grubhub so this review does not depict an in-house experience. The food was decent,a bit of spillage from the saimin soup due to subpar container. They did not send any napkins or forks or spices with the order. The musubi had good proportions and decent sauce. Macaroni salad was simple but very cheap so no complaints. I would order from them again, simply due to the fact that they are one of the few Hawaiian places in the area and it is convenient and fast.

Pros: had the shrimp , which was very good! We Had ordered the seafood combo with brown rice and veggies, but we were hungry so let it pass. Unfortunately we got very bad macaroni salad (out of a jar or can?). Service was fast, which we appreciated. Would go back, but wish we had tried the BBQ.

Haven’t never been to this establishment ever. Super helpful staff. Large menu. BBQ chicken plate was huge. Three giant fresh BBQ chicken thighs. Amazing.

Large size BBQ with rice. Ideal for the hungry. Price goes up sharply after COVID. $17 for a regular plate after tax. Friendly reminder: do not order anything with chicken katsu, as unremoved feathers on the skin of chicken

Garlic shrimp were cooked well but there was like no garlic on there unfortunately. They also put a bunch of cabbage at the bottom maybe to fill it out to make it look like you’re getting more?

food_from_the_usa

Haven’t never been to this establishment ever. Super helpful staff. Large menu. BBQ chicken plate was huge. Three giant fresh BBQ chicken thighs. Amazing.

Zhengran Shang

Large size BBQ with rice. Ideal for the hungry. Price goes up sharply after COVID. $17 for a regular plate after tax. Friendly reminder: do not order anything with chicken katsu, as unremoved feathers on the skin of chicken

Kristina Bolt

Garlic shrimp were cooked well but there was like no garlic on there unfortunately. They also put a bunch of cabbage at the bottom maybe to fill it out to make it look like you’re getting more?

Access to this location sucked. Paid parking or if you’re lucky get a stall in front at the loading zone. Lady at the front counter was really nice. Food sucked. Chicken katsu was raw. Mac salad sucked. Bbq chicken tasted like straight grill. We took food to go and ate at the hotel. If we ate there I would’ve gotten a refund. Horrible.

Lance Moran

Access to this location sucked. Paid parking or if you’re lucky get a stall in front at the loading zone. Lady at the front counter was really nice. Food sucked. Chicken katsu was raw. Mac salad sucked. Bbq chicken tasted like straight grill. We took food to go and ate at the hotel. If we ate there I would’ve gotten a refund. Horrible.

Had chicken plates with rice and macaroni salad. Chicken was moist, but the rest of the stuff was blah. Not coming back to this place. Dine-in food was served in to-go container with a flimsy plastic fork and knife that can barely sliced the meat. The cashier wasn't the most friendly server either.

They had trouble finding my order and it was right in front of them I gave them my name but they still wanted the order number and proof. The chicken katsu was very sloppy shows they Don't really Care how to cook it. They skipped the cabbage all together.

Dave

They had trouble finding my order and it was right in front of them I gave them my name but they still wanted the order number and proof. The chicken katsu was very sloppy shows they Don't really Care how to cook it. They skipped the cabbage all together.

I ordered the bbq mix plate and the food was undercooked the chicken had a terrible taste and the beef had so much fat and was also undercooked I never had this issue in any other brach I thought la jolla location would be fine but never coming back I don't know how there feeding this to the public

I was waiting for the order but he didn’t even start until I got there and I don’t mind waiting. I checked on it and it’s still not ready given the time I was given. Then I was called by the person at the counter, I thought it was ready, it turns out he’s giving me another time to wait. I waited in my car right in front of the restaurant and the guy was trying to get my attention and I look at him and I got out of my car to ask if he can meet me halfway and give me the food because he went back inside already. He said he doesn’t want to come out to give me the food.

Ordered my food after a hard day and of course something goes wrong. Chicken Katsu regular They forgot to add the standard Katsu sauce to the chicken Katsu plate. What am I suppose to eat crunchy chicken. SMH. I even put in a note saying don’t forget the sauce please. Bottled soft drink They provided two fountain drinks and a can of soda. First off the sizes are different so it’s not the full soda. Second of all it’s not even consistent. At least have all three be cans or all three be fountain drinks. Nonetheless it’s still all wrong Disappointment it’s not hard to just follow instructions.

The chicken Katsu and Mac salad were disgusting. The chicken was oily as if they didn't have hot enough oil when they deep fried it, and the Mac salad tasted like watered down mayonnaise with some nasty overcooked macaroni. Total waste of money.

I rarely write reviews on google.However, my experience today was ABSOLUTELY APPALLING AND HORRIBLE.If I could give this store a negative rating, I would gladly do it. This review is towards the older gentlemen that was at the counter today. Sincerely, work on your attitude and customer service. His attitude towards me was just dehumanizing and he just threw my bag at me. I watched as his demeanor changed when another customer walked in. He greeted the man and acted very nicely. If you are to run a business, treat everyone equally and with respect. I also tried to buy a drink but I watched as the workers looked at me and ignored my presence. I am definitely not coming back here again. I will spend my money where I will be treated with some form of respect and decency.

Chicken katsu gave me a stomach ache… chicken and curry felt off; rice and mac and cheese were cold - for the high price of $16/mini portion

They got my pickup order wrong. I got the seafood combo with BBQ short ribs but they were missing.

What a joke. This is not a meal. It is individual items packed together in a box. Salad is not even mixed, most of the non-lettuce vegetables are on the bottom. Why is meat tossed ON the salad? The food quality and flavor is meh (if its done in 3 min, you can bet it is most certainly not freshly made) and comparable to the chain restaurants on campus, and worth, at best, maybe $6. Avoid at all cost. Overpriced af.

Save yourself the disappointment and take the extra time to go to the Mira Mesa location because the La Jolla location food quality and service is terrible. My pork was too salty to eat. My bbq beef was so flat and fatty and didn’t appear to be the correct cut of meat and it tasted weird and grossed me out and I couldn’t eat it. The chicken used for the katsu seemed like poor quality and tasted funky. The macaroni salad was watery and had no flavor. They were stingy and mean when asking for those tiny teriyaki sauces for the 3 plates of food I ordered. When I called to complain the person on the phone demanded I return my half eaten portions of food to the restaurant before he would issue me a refund. I would rather throw the food away myself and report that offense to the public so they know this location is asking for people to return half eaten portions of food to their restaurant in the middle of a pandemic. I would be severely cautious if choosing to eat food from the La Jolla L&L BBQ because I now wonder if I received other other peoples’ returned food for my order...? They demand food to be returned to their location to issue a refund. To me, that is an unacceptable practice during this pandemic and people need to know!

I don’t know how to explain this, but I’ve tried the El Cajon L&L Location, and that is surprisingly more barbecue flavor and texture of meat. Then this La Jolla location this meat kinda taste like it belongs in a Carne Asada burrito with a little bit of that Hawaiian barbecue flavor very little and it’s very light so I find that odd in a location where it should be even better than El Cajon. El Cajon is even better than this expensive environment. Next time I go to the one in El Cajon I’ll do review of that one and I’m willing to try out almost all the other locations here in San Diego area just to see how different each one is and which place is the best.

Bad and tasteless. No other seasoning than bad barbecue sauce. Dry chicken Expensive for a lunch

Derringer Smith

I don’t know how to explain this, but I’ve tried the El Cajon L&L Location, and that is surprisingly more barbecue flavor and texture of meat. Then this La Jolla location this meat kinda taste like it belongs in a Carne Asada burrito with a little bit of that Hawaiian barbecue flavor very little and it’s very light so I find that odd in a location where it should be even better than El Cajon. El Cajon is even better than this expensive environment. Next time I go to the one in El Cajon I’ll do review of that one and I’m willing to try out almost all the other locations here in San Diego area just to see how different each one is and which place is the best.

amy chen

Bad and tasteless. No other seasoning than bad barbecue sauce. Dry chicken Expensive for a lunch

I ordered a french fries and waited for it for more than 20 minutes!!! They literally called every other who ordered after me but me!!! I told them and they said there are orders ahead of me!!! So disrespectful and such an awful behavior!!! Finally they threw the fries on the desk, but i did not took it Won’t recommend at all!! Zero stars!!!

My company recently moved here, was happy to see an L&L right next to our new office. I tried it about 3 weeks ago, and something was off about the bbq beef. I've had several other locations, it's great every time, so I wanted to give this a second chance and got it today. Unfortunately got the same experience. It's not even close in quality, and it isn't limited to the beef, Mac salad was off too. But the beef was by far worse, super fatty, super chewy. I really didn't want to bash this place because I love L&L, but I have to leave a 1 star for this one. It truly is that far off from the usual experience. I don’t leave reviews hardly ever, but I want this location to be on par so I can come back someday. For now, I can't eat here, it was so bad both times.

I hate to write this review, but I just had an experience here (1/20/2026 @ 5:45pm) that I have never experienced at any L&L location in over 15 years. I genuinely don't want to visit this location again. I initially made my order directly through the L&Ls Hawaiian BBQ app for x2 Protein Regular plates with the All Short Rib option for $41.90 and a $6.00 upcharge for all short ribs before tax. After placing the order, I started receiving calls from the restaurant, but I was unable to pick up the calls since I was driving. After parking and going in to pick up my order, I immediately was asked details about my order after the man at the register heard my name. The conversation basically started around how I didn't pay the upcharge for requesting all short ribs for the plates. I was completely confused by the comments because I knew I paid what was asked for, however he proceeded to tell me that he'll fulfill the order "just this once" even though I didn't pay the right price. After a couple attempts by me asking what exactly the issue was and further getting confused, he eventually said he'll get the correct order and took the bag of food back to the kitchen. While he proceeded to take the food back to the kitchen to redo the order, I looked at my order in the app and my e-mail and located an itemized receipt with the exact charges I paid. Once he came back with the food, I made to sure to show him EXACTLY what I paid and showed him my receipt with the upcharge. He proceeds to check through the POS terminal and became confused and claimed something along the lines that "the charge wasn't there before." He briefly apologized and offered free rice and mac salad, which I accepted. And while he did apologize, I didn't enjoy the tone of the conversation or how he made me feel - it felt like I was getting gaslit for paying what I was asked for and being told I didn't pay it. And offering rice and mac salad for the experience didn't even make me feel better. I just wanted to leave. I've had previous good interactions with the same man previously, but after this one, I won't be coming back. If I wanted to be verbally accosted for something, I don't need to pay for the experience.

Yikes. I eat at L&L in Hawaii all the time, so was excited to see one when driving past while visiting San Diego. 1. The chicken was literally pink and undercooked. I didn't notice until halfway through, so I'm really hoping I don't get food poisoning tonight. Had to throw the rest of it away. 2. The "beef" is stringy, fatty, and honestly not edible. 3. The meats and mac salad had ZERO seasoning. I know a lot of people exaggerate when leaving a bad review, but I'm honestly guessing they just threw chicken thighs and the "beef" thing on the grill with no sauce or seasonings. 4. Complete shock on price. I got a basic chicken/beef combo plate, and the before tax price was like $21, so like $23+ after tax. I had an Uber coming to take me to my hotel so I had no choice. But seriously? Almost $25 for a basic combo plate? The guy running the counter was nice enough, but I've got to warn people so they don't make the same mistake. Rough!

Brian Cuison

I hate to write this review, but I just had an experience here (1/20/2026 @ 5:45pm) that I have never experienced at any L&L location in over 15 years. I genuinely don't want to visit this location again. I initially made my order directly through the L&Ls Hawaiian BBQ app for x2 Protein Regular plates with the All Short Rib option for $41.90 and a $6.00 upcharge for all short ribs before tax. After placing the order, I started receiving calls from the restaurant, but I was unable to pick up the calls since I was driving. After parking and going in to pick up my order, I immediately was asked details about my order after the man at the register heard my name. The conversation basically started around how I didn't pay the upcharge for requesting all short ribs for the plates. I was completely confused by the comments because I knew I paid what was asked for, however he proceeded to tell me that he'll fulfill the order "just this once" even though I didn't pay the right price. After a couple attempts by me asking what exactly the issue was and further getting confused, he eventually said he'll get the correct order and took the bag of food back to the kitchen. While he proceeded to take the food back to the kitchen to redo the order, I looked at my order in the app and my e-mail and located an itemized receipt with the exact charges I paid. Once he came back with the food, I made to sure to show him EXACTLY what I paid and showed him my receipt with the upcharge. He proceeds to check through the POS terminal and became confused and claimed something along the lines that "the charge wasn't there before." He briefly apologized and offered free rice and mac salad, which I accepted. And while he did apologize, I didn't enjoy the tone of the conversation or how he made me feel - it felt like I was getting gaslit for paying what I was asked for and being told I didn't pay it. And offering rice and mac salad for the experience didn't even make me feel better. I just wanted to leave. I've had previous good interactions with the same man previously, but after this one, I won't be coming back. If I wanted to be verbally accosted for something, I don't need to pay for the experience.

Matthew

I ordered a french fries and waited for it for more than 20 minutes!!! They literally called every other who ordered after me but me!!! I told them and they said there are orders ahead of me!!! So disrespectful and such an awful behavior!!! Finally they threw the fries on the desk, but i did not took it Won’t recommend at all!! Zero stars!!!

Brady Harris

Yikes. I eat at L&L in Hawaii all the time, so was excited to see one when driving past while visiting San Diego. 1. The chicken was literally pink and undercooked. I didn't notice until halfway through, so I'm really hoping I don't get food poisoning tonight. Had to throw the rest of it away. 2. The "beef" is stringy, fatty, and honestly not edible. 3. The meats and mac salad had ZERO seasoning. I know a lot of people exaggerate when leaving a bad review, but I'm honestly guessing they just threw chicken thighs and the "beef" thing on the grill with no sauce or seasonings. 4. Complete shock on price. I got a basic chicken/beef combo plate, and the before tax price was like $21, so like $23+ after tax. I had an Uber coming to take me to my hotel so I had no choice. But seriously? Almost $25 for a basic combo plate? The guy running the counter was nice enough, but I've got to warn people so they don't make the same mistake. Rough!

Kyle Schmidt

My company recently moved here, was happy to see an L&L right next to our new office. I tried it about 3 weeks ago, and something was off about the bbq beef. I've had several other locations, it's great every time, so I wanted to give this a second chance and got it today. Unfortunately got the same experience. It's not even close in quality, and it isn't limited to the beef, Mac salad was off too. But the beef was by far worse, super fatty, super chewy. I really didn't want to bash this place because I love L&L, but I have to leave a 1 star for this one. It truly is that far off from the usual experience. I don’t leave reviews hardly ever, but I want this location to be on par so I can come back someday. For now, I can't eat here, it was so bad both times.