FranchiseVerdict
L & L Hawaiian Barbecue logo
FV-01443·MODERATEExcellent81

L & L Hawaiian Barbecue

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1991Website
Investment
$254K – $838K
27th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
1.5%
1st pct Full Service
Units
227
90th pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $254K – $838K including a $35K franchise fee, 1.5% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100.
  • No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
L & L Franchise, Inc.
Incorporated in
Hawaii
HQ
2138 Algaroba Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
Auditor
KKDLY LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$8.8M
vs $9.8M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one L & L Hawaiian Barbecue unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $254K–$838K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$36K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$146K
EBITDA margin
19.5%
Total invested
$574K
Payback
47 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue franchisees operate quick-service casual dining restaurants focused on Hawaiian-style grilled meats, plate lunches, and local cuisine. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, staffing, customer service, and maintaining brand standards across dine-in, takeout, and potentially delivery channels.

CEO
Elisia Flores
Founded
1991
FDD year
2025
States available
16

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$254K – $838K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $36K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
1.5%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
3.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
227
Opened
8
Last reporting year
Closed
6
Turnover rate
2.6%
Company-owned
7
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
97%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.9%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+6.8%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
220+2
Franchised units
2024
218
Franchised units
2025
206
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 3 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 3 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue presents significant caution-level risk due to stagnant unit growth, missing financial disclosure, unprotected territories, documented litigation, and undisclosed going concern issues that obscure true profitability and franchisor viability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORVirtually flat unit growth (0.9% YoY) suggests stagnant or declining system health despite 227 locations
  2. 02MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income (missing Item 19) prevents accurate ROI assessment and suggests franchisor may be hiding underperformance
  3. 03MINORThree documented arbitration actions against franchisees within recent period indicate compliance issues and potential franchisor-franchisee relationship strain
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk; new franchisees could cannibalize sales from nearby units
  5. 05MINORWide investment range ($253,950–$838,460) indicates unclear startup costs and potential hidden expenses
  6. 06HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, raising questions about corporate financial stability and long-term franchisor support
  7. 07MINORRoyalty structure (1.5%–4%) variance suggests inconsistent deal terms or performance-based penalties that aren't transparent

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
3
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
5 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Hawaii

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
13 hrs
On-the-job training
121 hrs
POS system
Clover
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

100 numbers

Locked
(408) 227-••••
CA
(520) 989-••••
AZ
(714) 990-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

L & L Hawaiian Barbecue · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above