Hawaiian fast food chain to celebrate Spam Musubi Day 

The Tumwater branch of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is hosting its fourth annual Spam Musubi Day on Thursday, August 8, starting at 4 p.m.

Spam musubi is a rice and spam snack that originated in Hawaii. It is easily made by wrapping a block of rice and grilled spam with nori. 

Spam musubi is a rice and spam snack that originated in Hawaii.

The festivities for Spam Musubi Day will start at 4 p.m. at the L&L Hawaiian Barbeque restaurant at 5312 Littlerock Rd. SW. L&L stated in a press release that the event will be a great opportunity to enjoy Hawaiian-style flavors and immerse in the Hawaiian community spirit. 

Performers at the event include the Moku'āina A Wakinekona Hawaiian Civic Club, the Olympia Aloha Ukulele Pu’ukani, Ke Liko A'e O Lei Lehua E Kapuaokalani, and hula dancer Shay from Saint Martin's University Hui muO Hawaii Club.  

Attendees will receive a free order of Spam Musubi through the L&L mobile app. Other giveaways include musubi-making kits and L&L merchandise. One lucky guest will also receive a pair of Alaska Airlines tickets to Honolulu, Hawaii and free Spam musubi for a year.  

Other vendors joining L&L include Keli’s Hawaiian Sauces, Cakes of Paradise Bakery, and SeeKatDraw. The event will include a food drive in support of the Thurston County Food Bank. 

Hormel Foods’ mascot, Spammy (a larger-than-life, walking Spam can character), will also make an appearance during a cake-cutting ceremony. 

Louis and Donetta Matautia opened the Tumwater branch of L&L in October 2018. The local branch features a rotating menu of food items that are unique to Tumwater, such as Mochiko chicken, available on Mondays, and spicy Korean chicken on Thursdays.  

The couple’s daughters, Tia and Nalani, operate the restaurant with their parents. Tia told The JOLT that the celebration of Spam Musubi Day coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Lahaina wildfires in Maui County, Hawaii.  

Tia said they have been committing 1% of their sales to wildfire relief funds and have since collected around $41,000, which includes donations from customers. 

L&L was founded in Honolulu in 1952 as L&L Dairy and was introduced to the continental United States in 1999 after rebranding as L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. The fast-food chain now has around 230 locations in the U.S. and Japan.