- 41 minutes ago
Eddie Flores Jr., co-founder of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, built a 235-location restaurant brand by staying rooted in Hawaiian culture. As an entrepreneur and franchise pioneer, he turned one restaurant into a national concept through authenticity and community.
Watch now to learn about the power of Hawaiian identity, creating opportunity through franchising, and leading through family.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn about the power of Hawaiian identity, creating opportunity through franchising, and leading through family.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00What have you learned in this process now that your daughter is the CEO running the company for the last
00:05five years?
00:06Well, I learned to keep my mouth shut.
00:08Damn!
00:10Every year we're making money.
00:12Every year the sales went up.
00:13So I have no choice but shut my mouth and walk away.
00:18Emotional damage!
00:26Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:29I'm your host, Sean Walcheff.
00:30This is a Cali BBQ Media production.
00:33We are coming to you live from the Coronado Lowe's Resort in San Diego.
00:38We are at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit.
00:41And I have the keynote speaker.
00:42He just published his book.
00:44It is Franchising the American Dream, the story of Eddie Flores Jr. and L&L BBQ.
00:51Eddie, welcome to the show.
00:52Thanks a lot, Sean.
00:53L&L Hawaiian BBQ.
00:56Oh, Brandy.
00:57That is the key.
00:58That is the key.
01:00Hawaiian, let's start there.
01:02Branding matters to the show.
01:03We have an audience of entrepreneurs, restaurant owners from all over the globe.
01:08You just gave a phenomenal keynote about branding.
01:11Can you bring us to the Hawaiian story?
01:14Well, it's very simple.
01:15You know, if you're from Hawaii, you have to sell Hawaii.
01:22And Hawaii is a big draw.
01:24And I did mention during my presentation, you know, when I was in the Army, I went down to the
01:31USO Club in New York.
01:32And being the only Asian in 1968, nobody wanted to dance with me.
01:39Why not?
01:40Well, I don't know.
01:42You know, maybe my skin is too yellow.
01:45But my friend told one of the girls that I am from Hawaii.
01:51I'm a Hawaiian.
01:51I don't look like a Hawaiian.
01:53He said, he's a Hawaiian.
01:54Before I know, I got about 20 girls jumping over me.
01:58So that was it.
01:59I'm telling you, from then on, I said, Hawaiian is the draw.
02:02Hawaiian is the draw.
02:03I want to know the word Hawaiian because it's a magic word.
02:07Everybody wanted to be in Hawaii.
02:11Aloha to you.
02:12Aloha to you.
02:13Well, we have something in common because I have a barbecue brand and I called it Cali for California Barbecue.
02:21Oh, okay.
02:22Cali, not too many people would understand that.
02:24Not too many people.
02:26Yeah, you should be.
02:27I should go with the whole California.
02:29We were California.
02:30I actually shortened it.
02:31Yeah, I know.
02:32Because it was too long.
02:33I know.
02:34Maybe Cali, you know, C-A-L-I-F, Cali.
02:37Cali?
02:37Yeah.
02:38Cali Barbecue.
02:39Yeah, because I said, well, look at Cali.
02:40I don't know what that is.
02:41You don't know what that is.
02:42Yeah, so Hawaiian barbecue.
02:45And then, you know, like I said, when I have to pick another word, not Hawaiian what, Hawaiian restaurant, fast
02:54food.
02:54And I thought, well, Hawaiian barbecue would be great.
02:58Barbecue is great.
02:58It's so common in the United States.
03:03I was going to pick grill.
03:04Grill is too healthy.
03:05Grill is too healthy.
03:07You know, barbecue.
03:08Everybody loves barbecue.
03:10So you have 235 stores.
03:13You started with one store.
03:15Yes, I started.
03:16And you didn't even want to be in the restaurant business.
03:18I didn't want to be in a restaurant.
03:19And I did mention that I bought the restaurant for my mother as a gift.
03:23How much did you spend for that restaurant?
03:2522,000.
03:2622,000.
03:27In fact, I went to the bank to borrow 10,000 and it turned me down.
03:30I couldn't believe that.
03:32Was your mother happy with this gift?
03:34Oh, she was so happy.
03:35She was so thankful.
03:35She told everyone, my son bought me a restaurant.
03:39I have a great son.
03:40But as soon as she started to make money, I got rid of her.
03:45Why did you get rid of her?
03:46No, she didn't want to run it, actually.
03:49I don't do things like that.
03:51But, you know, I got a partner whose name is Johnson Cam.
03:55One of the most generous men I have ever met.
03:59You know, I sold it to him.
04:03Everything.
04:04But 10 years later, because he kept giving away his recipe, his restaurant, and help everyone.
04:10And I said, let me franchise for you.
04:12But let me warn you, I don't know anything about franchising.
04:17So we became partners.
04:19How did you find him?
04:21Well, I was a coach in a soccer team.
04:24And he came down, and I met him.
04:27And mind you, we became friends for over 50 years.
04:31Wow.
04:32You know, all our business arrangement is basically a handshake.
04:36We don't do anything, just handshake.
04:38What has he taught you about friendship?
04:40Oh, friendship is very important.
04:42And he knows exactly what he should and shouldn't do.
04:46And I know exactly what I should and shouldn't do.
04:49I run the whole operation.
04:51He doesn't tell me what to do.
04:52And he opened up a lot of restaurants.
04:55In fact, I think he must have opened at least 100 restaurants.
04:59Wow.
04:59In turn, he would give it or sell it to a lot of Chinese immigrants.
05:06And all these people all became millionaires because of him.
05:09It's amazing.
05:10He's an amazing man.
05:11You know, I mean, he doesn't like to say a lot of words.
05:14You know, but he would help a lot of people.
05:17In the beginning, before you came stateside to the mainland, you were Hawaii.
05:22How many stores before you actually came?
05:24Well, we got about 40 stores in Hawaii.
05:2640 stores.
05:27And we decided to come to California because, you know, my partner Johnson told me that one of the former
05:33employees opened up a Hawaiian drive-in down at Mission Street in San Francisco.
05:40And he said he's doing well.
05:41So we came down, did some research, and I said, hey, with our name, we'll do better.
05:47About six months later, I opened another one.
05:50I opened a new one in West Covina in L.A.
05:53Before you know, he opened another one, another one, and another one.
05:57He opened over 100.
05:59Corporate stores or franchise or both?
06:01Well, you see, it's funny the way we operate.
06:04Every store he opened is an individual store.
06:07He owned it.
06:08Okay.
06:09100%.
06:09And eventually, he would sell it to the employees, and it became a franchisee.
06:16That's how we grow.
06:18That's amazing.
06:20What have you learned in this process now that your daughter is the CEO running the company for the last
06:26five years?
06:27Well, I learned to keep my mouth shut.
06:31Oh, yeah.
06:32Every time I tell her something, you tell me that that's not the right way of doing it.
06:37How many kids do you have?
06:38I have two girls.
06:39Two girls.
06:39Are they both in the business?
06:40She owns one now.
06:42The youngest one used to be, but she has babies now.
06:45She stays home.
06:46But my daughter is doing a really great job.
06:49She knows what she's doing.
06:51She came from General Electric as a corporate auditor.
06:54She knows the corporate world.
06:56Me, I'm just an entrepreneur.
06:58I do anything I want.
06:59I throw the dots, and that's it.
07:02And she tried to build up the system, and I want to say she's doing great.
07:06And I have told you the story because I complained to her.
07:11I said, when I ran the business, I only got two, three people.
07:14Now we got 25.
07:16And she said, Dad, I want you to look at the profit and loss statement for the past five years.
07:21And she showed to me every year we're making money.
07:24Every year the sales went up.
07:26So I have no choice but shut my mouth and walk away.
07:30From then on, I never challenged her.
07:32Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada, and UK?
07:40It's an incredible company.
07:41I am on the Toast customer advisory board.
07:43They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
07:46We couldn't do it without their support.
07:48They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
07:51If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your primary technology partner at
07:58your restaurants, please reach out to me.
08:00I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
08:03You can reach me at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
08:07Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling, the power of
08:13hospitality.
08:14Back to the show.
08:15I remember you talking on stage about impact marketing, that you didn't have any money in the beginning when you
08:21were lean and mean operating your stores.
08:24What is impact marketing?
08:26People have to understand impact marketing.
08:29I've been explaining to people the news media is interested in story that's interesting, something that's different.
08:38So we create things that are different all the time.
08:43You know, like we have a spam musubi eating contest, not a plate lunch, spam musubi, because the media from
08:50the States will cover that.
08:52So what the hell is spam musubi?
08:54You know, and we draw so many people.
08:57The news media will show up.
08:59One of the promotion with that almost like 20, 30 years ago was an Atkins diet.
09:05As you know, when you eat a lot of meat, you will actually lose weight.
09:08Yeah.
09:09And it's unbelievable.
09:10You would do that.
09:11So we created a Hawaiian Atkins plate with about, I think, four or five pieces of meat, eggs, a lot
09:19of stuff.
09:20And we call that Atkins.
09:21And I tell them, look at me, you know, how skinny I am.
09:25People didn't know that I'm always skinny.
09:27I never gained weight.
09:28Yeah.
09:28You know, so every TV station came down and, you know, we gave the interviewers in the press or the
09:35national news.
09:37And what was really funny, too, you know, we say impact, look for the opportunity.
09:41Yeah.
09:42I was in New York City opening a store and I saw Spamalot.
09:51I said, Spamalot?
09:52Yes.
09:53I called up New York Times and they sent someone down to actually wrote an article about L&L Hawaii
10:00barbecue selling Spam Moosey Bee.
10:03Come on.
10:04I couldn't believe that.
10:05That's amazing.
10:05We were in New York Times.
10:07Can you imagine how much it costs to be a New York Times?
10:09That's what we call impact.
10:10Look for the opportunity.
10:11If you don't have it, you create it.
10:14Tell me about the process of writing a book.
10:17Oh, writing a book is, well, actually, it's pretty difficult for me.
10:22It is.
10:23Because I flung English in college.
10:26Honest to God, I got an F as a freshman.
10:28And this is my fifth book, by the way.
10:30Okay.
10:31I wrote several books, including a cookbook that I can cook.
10:35Don't tell people that now.
10:37I won't tell anyone.
10:38Well, I wrote a book on Chinese history, travel.
10:42You know, I'm not really Chinese, you know.
10:44But this book is really interesting because my daughter actually reviewed it many times.
10:50Okay.
10:50And makes sure it's accurate and up to date.
10:53It's about the story of L&L, how we started, and a story about myself.
10:58You said, you've got to talk about yourself, too, where you came from.
11:01And I did that.
11:02So it's really a fun book to read.
11:05I can't wait to read it.
11:06I spent three years with my grandfather.
11:08I'm researching his life, going to writers' conferences.
11:12And I remember doing the work helped him start telling stories in a different way.
11:19It starts to force you to be uncomfortable, to remember the things that, as an entrepreneur
11:24and a business owner, we forget.
11:26Yes.
11:27Because we have to move forward.
11:28We have to persist.
11:29There's no way you get to 235 stores without falling down.
11:32Can you share a little bit about the process of going through some of those uncomfortable
11:36memories?
11:36Well, the most difficult part was opening in foreign countries.
11:41I was so excited, you know, when Japan called.
11:45Yeah.
11:45And we went there.
11:46Japan was okay.
11:47Then we opened up in China.
11:50Yeah.
11:50Oh, that didn't last long.
11:52Yeah.
11:53We opened the Philippines.
11:54It didn't last.
11:56Malaysia, Indonesia, you name it.
11:59Why do you think that was?
12:00It's just a different culture, different taste.
12:04And I think the pricing, too.
12:06Yeah.
12:06And I finally figured out the pricing.
12:08Because like in the Philippines, they're selling a mule for about $1.50.
12:14And we're selling at $3.
12:16Yeah.
12:16And we're hitting maybe the 5% of the market, not the 95% of market.
12:21If I have to go back to the Philippines today, I'll be selling it at $1.50.
12:25Interesting.
12:26You know, so instead of three pieces of chicken, a lot of rice, it will be just half a piece
12:33of chicken, a lot of gravy, some vegetable, and I'll sell it for $1.50.
12:37And we'll make it.
12:39What have you learned about hospitality, being in the restaurant business for as long
12:42as you have been?
12:43Well, you know, you have to be nice to people.
12:45Yeah.
12:46Your customer, they are kings and queens.
12:49Be nice to them.
12:50You have to treat them like human beings, bend over, and take care of them.
12:55If you take care of them, they'll come back.
12:58That's why we preach aloha spirit.
13:02We say aloha to all customers.
13:04They're supposed to.
13:05They don't tell me.
13:07Okay.
13:07We say aloha because Hawaii is aloha.
13:11It's very important for us.
13:12And for our employees, we call it ohana, part of the family.
13:16All the franchisees are ohana.
13:18We take care of them.
13:20What does it mean to you knowing that a part of Hawaii is now all over the United States
13:25in your food, in your stores, in the culture?
13:30It's unbelievable.
13:32I'm telling you, I never expected that.
13:34When I did my research, I came over and I look at a lot of restaurants.
13:39In fact, I saw one that's called Hawaiian barbecue.
13:41But actually, it's not Hawaiian barbecue.
13:43It's a Korean food.
13:44Oh, really?
13:45Yeah.
13:45You know, they call it Hawaiian barbecue.
13:46Look, well, it's not Hawaiian.
13:48There's no Hawaiian food in there.
13:49But what we did is really amazing.
13:51If you look back about 30, 40 years ago, there is really no Hawaiian food segment, you know,
14:00per se.
14:00You know, you got Chinese, you got Korean, you got Asian, but no Hawaiian food.
14:05Today, we must have, what, 235 restaurants, and there must be about 5,000 to 1,000 of copycats.
14:14Restaurants that call Hawaiian barbecue or Hawaiian or whatever.
14:17And then what's amazing is we also see polki.
14:22Back in the old days, there's no polki restaurant.
14:25Because we started to sell polki in Ellendale, and people saw that, and they opened polki restaurant.
14:32Because it's easy to open.
14:34You don't need a kitchen.
14:35You don't need grease trap.
14:36You don't need anything.
14:37Yeah.
14:38So you can see a privilege.
14:39You see a lot of polki restaurants spread out all over the United States, including the Midwest.
14:45Anywhere you go, it's polki restaurant.
14:47It's almost like the bubble tea, you know, easy because you don't need a kitchen.
14:51How important are quality ingredients?
14:53You talked about the mayonnaise.
14:55Oh, yeah.
14:56Spend extra money on the mayonnaise.
14:58I'm telling you, the ingredients are so important.
15:00You know, we use the best, especially our macaroni salad.
15:04We are known for our macaroni salad.
15:06And we use a Hellman or Best Food Mayonnaise because they really taste good.
15:12And I have many comments, oh, why does it taste so good?
15:15And the other competition tastes different.
15:18Well, it's not Best Food or Hellman's.
15:20And that's why we've been using that.
15:22We pay more for it.
15:23We want to deliver quality.
15:26By the way, you know, our food is cooked to order.
15:28Yeah.
15:28It is very important for people to know that because we don't have a central kitchen.
15:33We cut the kitchen chicken every morning and then we cook it and fry it right there.
15:40Can you tell me, with your real estate background, what did you learn about site selection?
15:44Well, site selection is very important.
15:47And we found out that if you have a good location, you'll make more money.
15:52Your sales are going to be much higher.
15:54If you pick a terrible location, it's not going to work.
15:57For us, this has got to be close by the freeway.
16:00Okay.
16:01Not freeway, but, you know, central people can get to, especially in places like Dallas, Idaho, Indiana, you know, in
16:09the places way past the other side.
16:11Because people would drive, the Hawaiian would drive two, three hours just to eat our food.
16:18I don't know if you believe that.
16:19I do believe it.
16:20I'm telling you, we opened the first one in Plano, Texas.
16:24Yeah.
16:25And I told them not to do any advertising because they're brand new, right?
16:30Yeah.
16:30I mean, you don't want people to come in.
16:32You don't know how to cook.
16:33So what I did was I called up the radio station in Hawaii, just one radio station.
16:38And I mentioned, hey, we're going to open up tomorrow in Dallas.
16:42Tell your friends.
16:43The next day, there were 100 people standing in line.
16:46Wow.
16:46Because the radio station made the announcement and the family called their family back in Texas.
16:54In fact, I got one from Oklahoma City, five-hour drive.
16:58What have you learned about partnerships and vendors?
17:01Oh, partnerships is very important.
17:03Like I said, you know, my partner, Johnson Camp, is one of the best partners I have.
17:07We've been together for 50 years, all in handshake.
17:11I mean handshake.
17:12He knows his strong point and his weak point, and I know myself too.
17:18So I never interfere what he's doing.
17:20This is operation.
17:21He's doing his own restaurant, getting more franchises for us, and mine is running the
17:27company, and he knows that.
17:29It's very difficult for entrepreneurs to pass on their legacy to the next generation.
17:35Can you share a little bit about what it means to have your daughter working?
17:39Do you think that she's working because she went to General Dynamics and she wasn't, you
17:42know, working with L&L her entire life?
17:45Well, you know, she graduated from USC.
17:49Yep.
17:50And then went to UCLA, MBA, and worked with General Electric for almost like eight years
17:55as a corporate auditor.
17:56She flew all over the world.
17:58But I told her, hey, look, you're a woman.
18:00You see a glass ceiling one day.
18:03And one day it happened.
18:05Yeah.
18:05And she said, Dad, I'm coming home.
18:06I said, yeah, come home.
18:08I'll give you five years.
18:10If you do good, you'll be the president and CEO.
18:15In three years, she did better than I expected.
18:18And she became the CEO when she was 35 years old.
18:23It's amazing.
18:24And right now, she tells me that she's going to open 30 restaurants every year.
18:29It's amazing.
18:30It's amazing because we don't have a big staff.
18:33We'll have less than 25 people, maybe not even 25, 20 people working in the office.
18:39What's your hope for the legacy moving on?
18:43Well, the legacy is we're like, she wanted to open 500.
18:47Yeah.
18:48You know, I think there'll be a real legacy for someone from Hawaii.
18:53Because if you're from Hawaii, there's no company from Hawaii ever franchised successfully.
19:00L&L is the only company from Hawaii to franchise successfully.
19:05And if we can open 500, I'll be so proud of her because we are promoting Hawaii.
19:11Hawaii is our state, is our, you know, our family.
19:16And we want to make sure we spread the name and make sure people know that we are the real
19:22Hawaiian barbecue.
19:23We are the original.
19:24We started it.
19:26We are still in Hawaii.
19:27A lot of people ask me, why don't you come to California?
19:30Have your operation in California?
19:31We can't.
19:32Because I have to stay close to the culture in Hawaii.
19:35I have to know what's happening there.
19:37If there's any changes in the food, I would know immediately.
19:42And I do have the support of the community in Hawaii, you know.
19:47I may be joking around.
19:49Anywhere I go, they will stop me for my autograph.
19:53We have a lot of entrepreneurs, business owners that watch this program.
19:58They listen to this podcast and we're grateful.
20:01If they're considering becoming an L&L franchisee, why should they consider becoming an L&L franchisee?
20:09Well, you know, I've been telling people, you got to work hard.
20:12Yeah.
20:13You know, you don't need to be in a restaurant business, but you got to work hard and you got
20:17to work in the kitchen.
20:19And why you should be an L&L?
20:21Because we have a brand name.
20:22Yeah.
20:23Okay.
20:23L&L.
20:24You wear an L&L t-shirt.
20:26Everyone will stop by and say hi to you.
20:27I'm telling you, in the airport, anywhere you go, we have one of the lowest franchise fee in California.
20:36The West Coast is 3%.
20:37And then 1% marketing, 4%.
20:39It's unheard of.
20:41And we have one of the lowest failure rate, you know, in the United States.
20:48You know, one of the lowest.
20:49So very few restaurants will fail.
20:52And we'll treat everyone what we call Ohana, family.
20:56When you join us, you are part of the family.
20:59You got to call me anytime you want.
21:02You can call my daughter, Alicia.
21:04Anytime you want, we will answer your phone call.
21:08If there's a restaurant, if there's an entrepreneur that's listening to this, what advice would you have for them about
21:14getting into the business of restaurants?
21:15Well, the most important thing you have to remember is, is 24-7.
21:223-65.
21:23You got to work hard.
21:25If you work hard, you know, because when I look at in Hawaii, we got about 60 restaurants.
21:32And 57 are owned by immigrants.
21:35The whole family worked there.
21:38And every one of them, they became, to me, they became a millionaire.
21:42They all become very rich.
21:44I don't know if they are or not.
21:46They all dress like rags.
21:47They still have rags and so on.
21:48The clothes are not designers.
21:50But, you know, I know I can see that because all the kids went to a private school.
21:55That's $30,000, $40,000 per person.
21:58You know, they all went to private school.
22:01So, if you work hard, the whole key is, are you willing to work hard?
22:05Yeah.
22:05And there's no guarantee.
22:07In any restaurant business, there is no guarantee.
22:09Because if you pick the wrong location, hey, you're not going to make money.
22:14Oh, we appreciate you guys watching.
22:16We appreciate you listening.
22:17You can always reach out to me.
22:18I'm available at Sean P. Walchef.
22:20Instagram is the fastest.
22:21You can email me, sean at calibbq.media.
22:24We tell the best stories in the restaurant business.
22:28This has been a true honor for me, Eddie.
22:30I have so much respect for what you've built.
22:33I'm grateful that you put it into a book so that you can share it with future generations.
22:37Grateful that you took the time.
22:38And thank you to the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit.
22:42This is a phenomenal conference.
22:43We have lots of restauranteurs.
22:44My grandfather taught me to always stay curious, to get involved, and to ask for help.
22:49If you're watching this, if you're listening to this, you've got to get outside of your restaurant and come to
22:54conferences like this so that you can sit down and learn from people like Eddie and all the amazing people
22:58that are here at this show.
22:59Eddie, thank you so much for taking the time.
23:01Hey, thank you very much.
23:01If you want more information about LNL, just look at our website, hawaiianbarbecue.com.
23:08Amazing.
23:09hawaiianbarbecue.com.
23:10Very simple.
23:11For the book, if you want to buy it, well, amazon.com.
23:15Just type my name in there, amazon.com, Eddie Flores.
23:19You'll find the book.
23:20There it is.
23:21Eddie, it's been a true honor.
23:22Thank you so much.
23:23Thanks a lot, Don.
23:24It was fun, man.
23:25It's fun.
23:26We love it.
23:27It's been fun.
23:27Beautiful San Diego.
23:28Beautiful San Diego.
23:29Hawaii's better.
23:29Hawaii's better.
23:30Hawaii's better.
23:31California's better.
23:33Hawaii's better.
23:34Forget about the stumps.
23:36There's no stumps there.
23:38Come on.
23:40Thank you for listening.
23:41If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
23:44You're part of the tribe.
23:45We can't do this alone.
23:47We started.
23:47No one was listening.
23:48Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
23:52Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
23:56It's a Substack newsletter.
23:58It's free.
23:58It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
24:02Also, go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali BBQ Media.
24:06Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
24:08We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
24:10Hopefully, you guys like that content.
24:12If you want to work with us, go to betheshow.media.
24:15We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
24:18We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
24:22You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
24:26I'm weirdly available.
24:27Stay curious.
24:28Get involved.
24:29Don't be afraid to ask for help.
24:31We'll catch you next episode.
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