Despite working in a Hawaiian barbecue restaurant for nearly 25 years, Erwin Corpuz said he will never get tired of the traditional plate lunch.
Corpuz, a franchise owner of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, has been bringing Hawaiian flavors to San Diego since 2001, and will hold the grand opening for his new location in Escondido next month.
The new Vineyard Square location will offer the big portions and affordable prices for which Corpuz said L&L is known.
“For the people who can’t go to Hawaii, you can come to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and experience Hawaii there,” he said. “We bring the aloha to the people of Escondido, and we embrace them.”
Corpuz said the idea to expand to Escondido came from his co-owner Alix Soto, who was born and raised in San Diego and lives only a few minutes from the new location.
“Alix saw the booming of Escondido with all the growth with apartment buildings popping up. He saw the potential,” Corpuz said.
Corpuz and Soto own locations in San Marcos and Carmel Mountain Ranch, and thought it made sense to open a location between the two, they said.
Soto said once he had the idea in December for the expansion, the two worked quickly to make their idea come to life.
“I was actually just shopping at Home Depot right there, and I saw that Rubio’s was closed, so we called our broker and within a couple weeks we had the lease,” Soto said.
The co-owners said they have worked together for 16 years and own six L&L locations between the two of them.
The fresh food and variety of options are what keep customers coming back, Soto said.
“Everything is made from scratch in the kitchen.”
The grand opening on March 8 includes custom tote bags with merchandise for the first 100 customers, Soto said, and will feature a Chinese dragon dance, hula dancers and a live band.
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, 1485 East Valley Pkwy., Suite G, Escondido. Hours, Sunday-Wednesday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
