Sibling franchise team Henry and Sephra Engel are in the process of opening a series of locations for L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. They just opened a spot on the Lower East Side at 201 Allen Street — though it will not have a grand opening until Dec. 7.
Now, they are teeing up a spot in East Harlem at 2128 Second Avenue, which is slated to open in November, and they have a third location in the pipeline that will open in December at 902 Broadway in Bushwick.
Henry told What Now New York that he and his sister are from Hawaii, which drew them to franchising with the brand. L&L started in Hawaii more than 50 years ago and has since grown to more than 200 locations.
“I grew up eating the food after school, after going to the beach, at family gatherings. When I lived away from Hawaii, I would try to find the closest one near me so I had the closest reach to comfort food back home,” Henry said. “Being from Hawaii, food is at the very core of culture and community there — it’s always been attached.”
Henry is also the chief revenue officer at restaurant technology company Superorder, which provides AI for restaurant chains. Henry worked with L&L through the company, and he eventually decided he wanted to get involved with the restaurant operation side.
The locations will be consistent with the brand design and menu. L&L serves Hawaiian comfort food, with menu items like barbecue chicken with tangy Hawaiian barbecue sauce, Kalua pork and chicken katsu.
However, the team has had to navigate the small spaces offered in New York City.
“Given that we are in New York City, we are taking on spaces that are generally smaller than the average L&L,” Henry said. “We’re leaning into how we build out well-operated facilities, how we leverage technology as best we can [and] how we have the right people and team in place so that we can maximize the spaces we are operating in and provide different types of community.”
Henry said they are strategically choosing locations so they can bring the concept to different neighborhoods and areas of the city.
“They are three uniquely different areas,” Henry said. “We want to be in these places that are a melting pot between these different communities.”
Following the opening of these three initial locations, he and Sephra plan to continue to expand their footprint in the market with additional locations.
“I think there’s a lack of Hawaiian barbecue options across New York City and the Northeast as a whole, so we [aim to] provide that to the communities who are craving it or possibly don’t know about it yet and will hopefully try it soon,” Henry said. “Since opening [the first location], it’s been great to see people who are familiar with it, but also those who are trying it for the first time.”
