by Rose Cruz Churma
This book is a memoir and business self-improvement book penned by Eddie himself, and the fifth book that he has written and published to date.
The book consists of two parts.
Part I, titled “The Eddie Flores, Jr. Story,” is his 14-chapter memoir that traces his roots in Hong Kong, the son of a Filipino musician father and a Hawaii-born Chinese mother.
Most of the chapters in the memoir focus on how L&L Hawaiian Barbecue evolved from a purchase he made in 1976 as a gift to his mother and how it expanded to a chain of over 238 stores in 15 states in the USA and two other countries.
In the second part, titled “So You Want to Be a Franchisee,” Eddie shares his views on how to be a successful franchisee.
L&L restaurants have grown to become the leading Hawai’i-based restaurant franchise and have held the number one position in the Entrepreneur Magazine for Asian food franchises for many years.
This is due in part to the high satisfaction rating it has received from its franchisees. For one, L&L restaurants have the lowest costs for royalty and marketing fees. The L&L office staff treats the franchisees as family members—a spill-over of the aloha spirit that pervades this Hawai’i-based chain.
As Eddie himself says in the book:
“As a franchisee owner, you become part of the L&L ‘ohana. Families in Hawai’i take good care of each other and every person. Many of our franchisees describe the feeling of being part of the L&L family as their top reason to be part of the L&L restaurants.”
Eddie credits L&L’s franchisees as the real ambassadors who spread the aloha spirit—and the “big boss” who pays their salaries. It is not surprising that the restaurant chain has also been the conduit for many immigrants in making the American dream come true.
Eddie and his business partner, Johnson Kam, of the L&L chain, note that “…we are happy to see many of our immigrant franchisees making the American dream happen, just like us.”
Eddie’s immigration story, as excerpted from this book, is one of the narratives in an anthology called “From Memory to Meaning,” where he shares his roots and notes that his Filipino grandfather moved to Hong Kong with his family from Manila to play in a band at nightclubs.
Eddie explained that his grandfather was probably one of the very first overseas workers from the Philippines. He had four sons and four daughters who were musical. He explained:
“My grandfather and his oldest son played bass while my dad and his other two brothers played the drums. None of them knew how to read music and had only a sixth-grade education. Ten years ago, I finally met my Filipino aunt and cousins in the Philippines.”
His Chinese mother was born in Hawai’i, but she went back to China when she was a young girl. She could have brought her family to the USA earlier, but his parents had no money. He adds:
“My Chinese grandfather visited us in 1959 and decided to pay for our boat fares. Since my dad couldn’t find a job, I was sent to live with my uncle, along with my oldest sister, in San Francisco for two and a half years.”
Eddie admits that he has a very short attention span and repeated a grade four times. A certified C student, he still managed to graduate from college and earn a master’s degree. He also flunked English 101 at the University of Hawai‘i, although that didn’t stop him from writing and publishing five books.
Nowadays, he keeps the four report cards that show that he flunked and keeps them side by side with the 100% score from a Federal Civil Service test he took (where he competed with adults as a high school kid) as a memento.
“It keeps me grounded,” he explains.
In 1991, he decided to make a change and be active in the Filipino community by joining the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawai’i.
“I was surprised that I was accepted immediately into the group. They only joked occasionally that I am part-Chinese and that I was tight with money,” he recalled.
It became his advocacy to be of service to the Filipino community by working tirelessly as a part of the Filipino Chamber.
“It was through service that I earned their respect as a community activist and businessman,” he explained, so that when Lito Alcantra was president of the Filipino Chamber in 1993, he asked Roland Casamina and Eddie to start a team to build the Filipino center.
“Roland and I knew that building the center would be almost impossible. However, the Filipino community wanted it. We felt that the center would bring pride to the Filipino community,” he explained.
He considers building the Filipino Community Center as one of the most time-consuming and difficult projects that he has ever worked on.
But he confesses that, “It is my pride and joy. It took almost 10 years of hard work, commitment, and luck to make that dream come true.”
He has told friends many times that building the Filipino Community Center was a bigger accomplishment for him than growing L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.
“This work allowed me to become very close to the Filipino community. It gave me the opportunity to know where my roots are from, and to understand Filipino culture,” he says.
Those who have attended any of Eddie’s continuing education classes in real estate will recall his rollicking anecdotes and tall stories, and jokes.
There is a chapter in his book titled “Hana Hou,” which is a compilation of his escapades as an emerging entrepreneur. This series of anecdotes is also a source of information on what it was to live in Hawai’i during the heady post-statehood days.
In one anecdote where he describes his experiences as a young manager trainee at Bank of Hawai’i, he recalls being mentored by a tough lady executive, the first woman vice president of the bank, Madelyn Dunham, whose grandson would visit her at her office.
That grandson would be the country’s 44th president, Barack Obama.
In another anecdote, he recalls the time he gave a speech at Malacanang Palace when he received the Presidential Award for an Outstanding Overseas Filipino.
The president then was Joseph Estrada, who was seated next to him at the presidential table. Eddie usually starts his speeches with a joke to break the ice.
The joke he chose to share was about the time he bought L&L Drive Inn for his mother (which is true) and then fired her (which was made up as a joke). Nobody laughed, and it made him speechless for 30 seconds.
Visibly shaken, he went back to his seat and was congratulated by the president “for giving a great speech.” And then the president asked Eddie if he really fired his mother! It was a hideous experience he never forgot. Lesson learned: know your audience.
He recalls the first prime rib that he ever tasted. He was 20 years old and working as a waiter at South Sea Restaurant, which was part of the Spencecliff chain, whose owners were the brothers Spencer and Clifton.
One night when Eddie was on duty, Clifton and his wife came in for dinner. The chef prepared the best prime rib for them.
Eddie recalls, “When they were done, I took the leftover food back to the kitchen. I cut a piece and ate it… and I hid the rest of the prime rib from the waiters.”
He had a scrumptious dinner the next day and shared some with his dog, Sammy.
There are two appendices to the book.
Appendix I is a brief history of how a Korean immigrant, Robert Lee, Sr., started a new venture called L&L Dairy. How it ended up as L&L Drive Inn and how Eddie purchased it for his mother is a novel in itself.
Appendix II is devoted to the evolution of the L&L menu. He explains why he chose to re-name the US mainland restaurants as L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and discard the “plate lunch” term, which evolved from the plantation days.
One of the photos used in this appendix was a photo of former president Corazon Aquino eating a L&L Hawaiian barbecue meal.
The photos used in the publication further enliven the text, which in itself is free-flowing and easy to read.
I must admit, I approached reading the book with hesitation since Eddie is known as a pro at promotion in all its forms.
But I ended up enjoying the book and laughing out loud in the middle of the night while I read it.
We can’t wait for the next book!
ROSE CRUZ CHURMA established Kalamansi Books & Things three decades ago. It has evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an online advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the Philippines and those written by Filipinos in the Diaspora. We can be reached at kalamansibooks@gmail.com.
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