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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
New territory for
L&L -- WaikikiThe first L&L Hawaiian Barbecue in Hawaii opened in Waikiki yesterday; it bears the mainland name of the ubiquitous eatery better known here as L&L Drive-Inn.
The first woman governor in Hawaii was in attendance and spoke to the crowd of the founders' families and friends.
The first Chinese-American woman mayor of Monterey Park, Calif., Lily Lee Chen, was also there.
The first customer was Raymond Takai, who ordered a barbecue chicken plate and a chicken katsu plate, one for his friend at Starbucks. Just in from the beach, he echoed what L&L folks had been hearing leading up to yesterday's opening, "It's about time they came to Waikiki, yeah?" After all, Connecticut is about to get its second L&L.
A little less than an hour earlier the dozens of attendees mingled outside. Then came the Hawaiian chant, blessing and untying of the maile lei cordoning off Eddie Flores' and Johnson Kam's 68th quick-service restaurant.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
L&L Drive-Inn co-founder Eddie Flores talked with performers yesterday before the opening of the company's 68th restaurant, this one in Waikiki and known by its mainland name, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.
The 40- to 50-seat restaurant, at 2280 Kuhio Ave. on the ground floor of the Ohana Surf Hotel, has an entrance on Kuhio and another set of doors into the hotel lobby. It is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
After a hula performance, Flores beckoned his guests to enjoy the kau kau that had been prepared for them but then paused and corrected himself, "OK, the governor wants to say a few words."
Gov. Linda Lingle praised Flores and Kam for providing hundreds of jobs in Hawaii and on the mainland. On the mainland she said, the team has spread the aloha spirit as well as the words "Hawaii" and "Hawaiian." She presented the businessmen with a congratulatory letter in a blue portfolio.
Guests then bellied up to the counter for plates of chicken katsu, barbecue chicken, cold ginger chicken and stir-fried garlic shrimp the yellow-shirted cooks had prepared during the festivities.
Everybody associated with L&L snapped in to service mode, carrying trays of small plates, serving bottled water, juice and fountain drinks.
Flores, a Lingle supporter, was recently appointed by the governor to the East-West Center board of governors for a three-year term. He's excited about the opportunity to serve and believes he can make a contribution.
"I was born in Hong Kong, I'm half Filipino and half Chinese and I know the cultural aspects of China and Hong Kong and I do business in the Orient," Flores said.
Fellow board member Lilly Lee Chen said that on the mainland L&L is a good representative of the Asia-Pacific region and Hawaii. She hopes her colleague will open an L&L in her hometown of Glendale, Calif.
Still on the expansion path, Flores believes there may be room in Waikiki for two or three L&L's.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com
