{"id":97676,"date":"2022-04-06T08:05:30","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T18:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?p=97676"},"modified":"2022-04-06T09:16:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T19:16:07","slug":"ll-hawaiian-barbecue-elisia-flores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/ll-hawaiian-barbecue-elisia-flores\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropping in on L & L"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Elisia Flores and her father, Eddie Flores Jr., are all smiles as L&L Hawai\u2018i prepares for its upcoming anniversary convention in Waik\u012bk\u012b. PHOTO BY ANTHONY CONSILLIO<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is not only surviving, but also thriving under the swell leadership of Elisia Flores.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Why is the leader of the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue empire, Elisia Flores, smiling so much these days? It probably has to do with a couple of momentous and grin-worthy occasions that just occurred or are right around the corner.<\/p>\n

Coming up is the much-anticipated L&L convention, scheduled for April 15-16 at Royal Hawaiian Resort and Sheraton Waik\u012bk\u012b. The event, which will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the popular restaurant chain, is expected to draw more than 200 L&L Hawaiian Barbecue franchisees from more than 10 states and Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super excited about the future,\u201d says Flores, who serves as CEO and vice chair of the company. \u201cWe\u2019re at 211 stores right now, so I\u2019m hoping to double our store count in the next 10 years, and really, really celebrate Hawaiian barbecue across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The original L&L Drive Inn on Liliha Street was purchased in 1976. PHOTO COURTESY ELISIA FLORES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

But her biggest smile nowadays is reserved for her first child \u2014a boy \u2014 who was born on April 1. Equally exciting is that younger sister Ellice is pregnant, too \u2014 all of which means the Flores \u2018ohana is hitting a growth spurt, and that\u2019s a bit of long-awaited good news for the matriarch of the family, Elaine, and its patriarch, co-founder of the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue franchise, Eddie Jr.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents are both very excited. I think they\u2019ve been wanting to have grandchildren for a while, and I guess we\u2019ve just taken our time \u2026 My wife (Megan) and I have been trying for a while, so we\u2019re definitely excited to welcome our baby,\u201d says Flores, adding that bringing a child into the world can be both an \u201cawesome and terrifying\u201d experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The business is sometimes viewed as the fifth member of the Flores family, which consists of dad Eddie Jr., mom Elaine, and daughters Elisia and Ellice. PHOTO COURTESY ELISIA FLORES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

The same could be said about helping to lead an iconic fast-food company that\u2019s viewed as a member of the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cL&L was created before I was created, so it\u2019s been a part of our family my entire life. But it definitely wasn\u2019t as big as it is today when I was growing up \u2026 it wasn\u2019t a huge part of our lives at that point,\u201d she explains. \u201cThat said, I consider it my older sibling. My parents put time, money, energy, love into the business, just like they did to me and my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

What makes L&L such a beloved eatery is that its food really hits the spot with diners, she notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud that almost everything we serve to customers we make from scratch in-house \u2026 Everything is cooked fresh to order and because of that, the taste is on another level,\u201d Flores emphasizes. \u201cBeyond that, we give really, really big portions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Elisia and Eddie Jr. share some family time at the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Liliha location. PHOTO COURTESY ELISIA FLORES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMy absolute favorite is our chicken katsu,\u201d she adds, noting that \u201cthe crunchiness of the panko that we use and the tartness of the sauce\u201d are what she most enjoys about the popular dish.<\/p>\n

Although the 37-year-old Flores now holds a leading position at the company, her business life previously took her on quite a different path.<\/p>\n

She graduated from Punahou School and earned her executive MBA from University of California, Los Angeles, and her bachelor\u2019s in finance from University of Southern California. Flores also went to work for General Electric. For more than eight years, she served within the company\u2019s finance management program before assuming the role of corporate auditor, a position that allowed her to travel the world and perform auditing and consulting work across multiple GE firms. Eventually, she was promoted to a senior finance manager position, where she oversaw a portfolio of assets with annual revenue in excess of $750 million.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Father and daughter make an appearance at the Ke\u2019eaumoku Street restaurant. PHOTO COURTESY ELISIA FLORES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Yet even after she left Hawai\u2018i to attend college and work for GE, Flores always knew that she\u2019d eventually return and work for L&L.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there was no real expectation of when, and my parents did not give me a lot of pressure to come back and join the family business right away. So, I ended up working at GE and to my surprise, I guess I actually ended up really enjoying it. I loved being on the mainland, I loved traveling to different parts of the country for work,\u201d Flores shares. \u201cAt GE, I was in a couple of different leadership roles, so I got to work in different business groups and see different industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2014, Flores was named chief financial officer for L&L. Five years later, she was promoted to her current positions, succeeding her father who founded the iconic brand after purchasing the original restaurant on Liliha Street in 1976.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest transition coming back was I had a very corporate background, versus my dad who is super entrepreneurial. So, coming into the business and working with him has been my greatest joy, but I will have to also say, it\u2019s one of my biggest frustrations, in that we think about business in totally opposite ways,\u201d Flores says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that initial frustration settled, I began to see that it was actually really wonderful because my dad and I work really well together. So, even though we saw things from very different viewpoints, we could talk about it. We could have conversations. I could share with him what I was looking at and how I was thinking<\/p>\n

about things, and he could share with me how he looked at things. And so, we would have a broader perspective on what the problem or issue was and come up to a better decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six months after taking the reins, however, the pandemic hit and Flores had to quickly figure out how to keep the company afloat in a fast-changing landscape. Much like other businesses, she was forced to navigate her way around the daily changes to rules regarding masks, barriers, customers\u2019 temperatures, what items to serve and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully, after the first couple months, things leveled off,\u201d she explains. \u201cOur stores and our franchisees are so fantastic and we really understood then how we had to operate in this COVID environment. Once we got the hang of it, and we got the hang of it very quickly, the stores were able to bounce back and have good sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were lucky that we were a takeout restaurant before and we just amped up that takeout business, added third-party delivery, added online and app ordering,\u201d she continues. \u201cAnd so many of our stores in 2020 and 2021 actually ended up with higher sales than they had in 2019, because they were able to adjust really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the world is adjusting to a new normal and Flores is thankful that the company has not just survived, but thrived as well.<\/p>\n

Currently, there are L&L Hawaiian Barbecue franchises in 14 states across the U.S. There are even two eateries finding success in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re expanding into regions that we typically haven\u2019t gone into. So, previously we were heavily based on the West Coast and actually we have most of our stores in California, more than we do here in Hawai\u2018i,\u201d says Flores. \u201cBut this year, we\u2019re expanding into South Carolina and into Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the franchisees are operated by first- or second-generation immigrants from across Asia. Some decided to open L&L eateries to control their own destinies in the wake of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our stores are franchised and it is so important in terms of having a good relationship with our franchisees. We\u2019re partners in this together \u2026 I think it\u2019s such a privilege to be able to help our franchisees with that \u2014 to help them create their American dream, to help them create their family legacies,\u201d Flores shares.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so privileged to be part of a family business in Hawai\u2018i \u2026 As kind of a second-generation person coming in, I just feel very privileged and lucky to take what my dad and his business partner created and carry it forward,\u201d Flores says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is not only surviving, but also thriving under the swell leadership of Elisia Flores. 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