L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, or simply L&L and known as L&L Drive-Inn in Hawaii, is a Hawaiian-themed franchise restaurant chain based in Honolulu, Hawaii, centered on the Hawaiian plate lunch (Hawaiian: p? mea ?ai).
Johnson Kam and Eddie Flores, Jr., purchased the original L&L Drive-In in 1976. The company expanded from its original base of Hawaii in 1999 into Californian markets. There are approximately 200 locations in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Guam. Outside the United States, the company also has locations in New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Video L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
History
In 1976, Eddie Flores bought a small building that formerly housed a retail outlet for L&L Dairy on Honolulu's Liliha Street. He kept the L&L part of the name and remodeled the building as a small walk-up restaurant for his mother to operate. This business was the first location of the growing L&L Drive-Inn chain that specialized in the plate lunch. After this single building business became a success, Johnson Kam joined Flores in the expanding the business to other locations within the state of Hawaii. To help in the expansion, Flores and Kam began to offer franchises, mostly to successful employees, in 1988 By 1997, there were 30 locations through Hawaii.
Expanding beyond the islands
California
In early June of 1999, Flores noticed that a former employee was doing fairly well selling Hawaiian-style plate lunches in the San Francisco area despite the fact the restaurant was not in an ideal location. Since he realize that it was possible to sell Hawaiian-style plate lunches in California, Flores obtained a location inside the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, California to open the first L&L location on mainland just a few months later in October. Since Californians had different expectations on the type of foods that are usually served at an eating establishment that are called "drive-ins" (i.e., restaurants with carhop service like the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California that sells burgers and fries) to that which most Hawaiians would expect to receive at an L&L Drive-Inn on the islands, Flores decided to change the name of the L&L locations on the mainland to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue to strengthen the chain's association to Hawaiian cuisine.
At the time of the opening of the first location in the state of California in October 1999, there were 49 L&L locations in Hawaii. After opening at the Puente Hills Mall, chain open other locations through Los Angeles County. In September 2000, L&L opened its first location in Orange County.
Other western states
The first L&L location in the state of Oregon was opened in Hillsboro in August 2001.
The first L&L location in the state of Nevada was opened in Henderson in July 2002.
The first L&L location in the state of Washington was opened in Lynnwood in March 2003.
The first L&L location in the state of Arizona was opened in Mesa in June 2004.
The first L&L location in the state of Utah was opened in Provo in August 2004.
The first L&L location in the state of Colorado was opened in Aurora in August 2004.
The first L&L location in the state of Texas was opened in Lewisville in April 2008.
The first L&L location in the state of Alaska was opened inside the Dimond Center in Anchorage in November 2009.
Eastern states
Moving east of the Rockies, the first L&L location on the East Coast and in the state of Connecticut was opened in Manchester in May 2003. This location never did very well and the company quickly withdrew from this state.
Advancing into the state of New York, the first L&L location was opened on Fulton Street in New York City in November 2004. After struggling a bit in an extremely high rent location, the New York City location had closed by mid-2013. The only L&L location that have appeared to have survived in the state of New York is located near the Canadian border at Evans Mills.
Central states
The first L&L location in the Midwest and in the state of Illinois was opened in Champaign near the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in October 2004. This location never did very well and the company quickly withdrew from this state.
The first L&L location in the state of Michigan was opened in East Lansing in June 2005. Although this restaurant was located near the campus of Michigan State University, this Midwestern location never did very well and the company quickly withdrew from this state.
The first L&L location in the state of Tennessee was opened in Franklin in June 2015. At the time of the opening in Franklin, that location was the only location in between Texas and New York.
American pacific territories
The first expansion move to the west of Hawaii occurred when the first L&L location in the territory of American Samoa was opened in June 2008. The franchise had closed sometime between September 2012 and March 2013.
Later, the first L&L location in the territory of Guam was opened in October 2014.
International
The first location outside the United States was opened in Otahuhu in New Zealand in February 2009. In Japan, the first location was opened in the Shibuya section of Tokyo in June 2010, and the second location near Enoshima, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, in December 2017. In China, the first location was opened in June 2013. As of late 2016, no definite evidence can be found if any location in China still currently exists.
Moving into Maritime Southeast Asia, the first L&L location in Malaysia was opened in Kuala Lumpur in December 2014. In 2015, the first L&L location in Indonesia was opened in Jakarta in June 2015, followed by the first L&L location in the Philippines was opened in Manila in October 2015.
Maps L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
Accolades
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue's success has earned the company many awards and continued rankings in various local and national magazines. In 2002, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue was named one of the "50 Regional Powerhouse Chains" by Nation's Restaurant News. The July 2005 issue of Restaurant & Institutions Magazine ranked L&L #314 out of America's top 400 restaurant chains. Additionally, Restaurant Business magazine ranked L&L #15 of its 50 Top Growth Chains in the Nation in 2005. Entrepreneur magazine has also ranked L&L's parent company, L&L Franchise, Inc. at #165 out of the top 500 franchises in 2005.
See also
- List of barbecue restaurants
- List of restaurants in Hawaii
- Food portal
- Hawaii portal
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments