California Pizza Kitchen

CPK use to be my family’s favorite spot to eat, but over the years it has faded into a distant memory because of their declining performance. Despite our disappointment with them, we decided to give them another shot because we were feeling nostalgic. We decided to order two pizzas from there hoping that with their renovations came revitalized dishes.
We ordered the california veggie pizza and the thai chicken pizza online and were given an estimated ready time. I arrived a few minutes early and parked in the designated pick-​up parking spot as instructed. I’m pretty patient so I waited until 10 minutes after the estimated ready time before getting anxious. I texted my mom and asked her if I was supposed to go inside. She assured me that I was just supposed to wait in the parking spot. I waited another five minutes and then another car pulled up next to me. I decided I would watch them and see if they went inside. They didn’t; so the wait continued. Finally after another 10 minutes, a worker came outside, but he only went to the other man’s car. He didn’t even stop by my car. This really made me angry. Then after disappearing for another five minutes, he came out with the other guy’s pizza and a receipt for me to sign. He went inside right after and I continued to wait another 5 minutes for him to reappear. This time he thankfully had my pizza, which I presumed would be fresh out of the oven since they made me wait 35 minutes.
When I got home (I live 2 minutes away) we were disappointed to find that the pizza was not even warm. We had to heat up our pizza in the toaster oven. As for the flavors, they were sub par. The thai chicken had a bit of a kick, but there was barely any chicken on it. The veggie pizza was decent, but once again nothing special. Definitely not worth the struggle with them.

Had a great meal and excellent service at the Grapevine TX location. Shout out to Lupe and the young man who was the host. Well done team

California Pizza Kitchen can either be really good, or very mediocre so read as 3.5 stars since it’s not always consistent. I can’t remember the last time I went to one, but I know it was at least 2 years ago. We were running errands in the area when our stomachs both growled yesterday, so we caved and figured why not?
It appears as though they may be trying to revamp the menu a bit. They were advertising new mojitos sweetened with agave and fresh mint that sounded yummy. They still have a lengthy list of wines as well which always pair nicely with Italian fare.
My husband ordered a beer and we started with their white bean hummus. It’s served with your choice of traditional or whole wheat pita bread which they brought us piping hot out of the pizza oven. It was delicious! The only thing I didn’t care for were the chunks of tomatos on top. Roasted red peppers I would understand but the combo of hummus and tomatoes didn’t make sense to me.
They bring out complimentary bread and oil to the table also with herbs mixed in like rosemary, parsley, and red chili flakes for a subtle kick of heat. The bread was a tad crunchy for me because of recent dental work, but I hollowed out a slice and took the soft center to dunk which I enjoyed.
You have to get pizza at a pizza kitchen yes? So we shared the pepperoni because my husband wanted something with meat. My favorite is their white pie personally, but pepperoni is a classic so I couldn’t argue. They have a roasted chicken and garlic pizza right now as well, but I’m weird about chicken and would lose my appetite if even the slightest piece of gristle made it to my plate so we didn’t risk it. (this is why I stopped eating chicken at chipotle years ago too).
The pizza was good this time, albeit very oily from the pepperoni. Bonus points to our server though who refilled our waters at lightening speed and brought us things like extra napkins without having to ask.
While it’s not the greatest pizza in the world, it will do in a pinch. I’m sure we will be back again, even if it is in another two years.

Love California Pizza Kitchen! One of the original fresh Pizza restaurants in town.
Sure authentic Italian pizza is available in the area but at California Pizza Kitchen you get a yummy pizza with a crispy crust for less than$ 11.
Order the California Club Pizza; you will not be sorry. At first I thought lettuce on top with avocado and the mix of bacon and chicken is a nice flavor mix.
If you are planning on taking some of the pizza home them ask them to put the lettuce be avocados on the side. They will give you extra to take home with you.
The ambiance is nice and clean and has a zen like feel; so California.
If you have not visited California Pizza Kitchen in awhile then give them another try. They are now one of my top 5 restaurants to eat at.

I am not a fancy pizza place kinda person but they do have a lot of variety. I had the california club which is basically a an arula avacado tomatoes salad on top of a chicken pizza. I prefer hand toss over thin crust. The pizza itself is bland and they did not have siracha or hot sauce. We shared a red velvet cake which is really good. It has a thin layer of vanilla bean. Surprisingly it was not overly sweet or that rich. I may just stick with the Original bbq chicken pizza since that is what they are known for… Or red velvet cheesecake. My favorite is red velvet cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.

My family loves the food at CPK especially the split pea and ham soup. But the disappointing thing for us is the service. The simple act of clearing dirty dishes off the table once the guests are finished should be ALWAYS taught to every server.
Had to ask a couple of servers to clear the plates and even then they didn’t bother to take ALL the dirty plates through desserts and paying bill. Terrible that a big organization like CPK would not provide adequate training to those who interact with customers.

This is your typical over hyped restaurant. I’m not sure why people love this place so much. Maybe it’s because it makes them «feel special» for eating at an over hyped below average pizza place. I would gladly go with the cheaper and better pizza option somewhere else.

This was the first time we have been there in several years. Of course, we are expected the menu to be updated, but I was disappointed that it no longer included portobello mushroom ravioli. The drink menu was also updated. I decided to try the strawberry mojito to, which was good. I ordered the mushroom pizza and my husband ordered the pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza, both on a thin and crispy crust. Both were very good.
These are the things that earned the 3 stars awarded. Now for the problems that cost them the other two stars: when I ordered the mojito, my husband ordered a beer. They brought me 2 mojitos and him no beer. After returning one of mojitos his beer arrived. While waiting for our pizza, the waitress asked if I’d like another mojito and I said, «yes.» That mojito never arrived. When the pizzas arrived, my husband’s was not thin and crispy, but he didn’t complain. Shortly thereafter, a gentleman from the kitchen showed up to offer the thin and crispy pizza, which had apparently been sitting there all along. He switched pizzas. Finally, we asked for a to go box and we needed to remind the waitress to get that after we paid the bill. For whatever reason, they did not appear to have their act together tonight.

Go try the strawberry mojito before summer ends! The drink is quite pricey for a chain but incredibly delicious!
I’ve never had a bad meal at CPK and love their Asian chop salad!

Do not use the delivery service. It is a third party delivery service,
. We ordered a pizza at 6:35pm, at 7:30 I called California Pizza. I was told they pizza had been boxed and was waiting on the delivery person to pick it up. Called again at 8pm as we less the 10 minutes away and was told the pizza had been picked up. The pizza was delivered at 8:35, stone cold. California Pizza has a good product but their delivery service is terrible. I contacted the manager and was told the service will make it right, the delivery service said the restaurant was responsible. Never again!

Last week we took a group of seven people here for a late lunch (1:00 pm) to celebrate a co-​workers birthday. It had been a long time since I had been to this location so I did not remember what to expect. Our waiter was Alberto and he did a great job taking care of the group, luckily there were not a lot of tables still left from the lunch crowd.
I arrived later than the rest of the group because of meeting that had already been scheduled, so when I arrived with one additional person in the party they got us caught up with the rest of the group right away. Alberto brought the two of us a fresh plate of bread and olive oil and go our order in right away.
I had the Thai chicken pizza which was very tasty. The thin crust is very light and has a great crunch or snap to it. The flavors are full and spicy which makes this relatively simple pizza a real winner.
Everyone in our party seemed very pleased with their choice of food and we had a great time.
Enjoy.

I had the «spicy» chipotle chicken pizza. It was good but wasn’t spicy enough for me. I had them bring some of the habanero salsa they use on the carnitas pizza. It helped but I question how much habanero is actually in that salsa.
Service was good. The pizza dough is good and overall was a good experience. If your not in mood for pizza but everyone else in your party is then they have a good selection of over things that all sounded very tasty.

Came here with the wife and baby on a rainy Sunday afternoon after church. The place was pretty empty so we were promptly seated.
We got the spinach dip as an appetizer which came with tortilla chips. We usually love spinach dip as it is a ubiquitous appetizer that is hard to mess up. That being said we were pretty disappointed with the watery tasting dip.
I got the Hawaiian pizza with bacon substituted for ham and my wife got the tequila lime chicken pasta. The pizza was nothing great, and the pineapples clearly came out of the can and were in huge slices on the pizza. My wife didn’t enjoy her pasta, and it did seem dry without enough Alfredo sauce.
The butter cake dessert with a scoop of ice cream was pretty good and our server was nice, but those were the only upsides of our meal.

The bartender was friendly with all his regulars and paid not attention to anyone else. Not a good experience. I won’t be back.

this was my 2^nd time here & it’s always with my co-workers…I ordered the hawaiian bbq chicken pizza (thin crust)…even though i’m not a huge fans of onion slices on my pizza… this was actually pretty dayum good. we also had the spinach artichoke dip… it needed a little more flavor but for the most part it was decent.

My first time eating at a California Pizza Kitchen. The staff was super friendly.
The guacamole was delicious! I ordered the chicken flat bread pizza, it was okay nothing special. We also shared egg rolls which were freaking awesome!
They have a point system like almost any business. The more you buy the more points you get and then you are able to redeem them for free food.

We’ve been going to this CPK for a couple of years, and always had a nice experience. Until the latest trip a couple of days ago.
Mid afternoon. Very light customer traffic. Were greeted by the smiling and friendly seating host who quickly put us in our favorite booth.
Then nothing.
Seriously — nothing. At least three waiters walked past us a couple of times, not even acknowledging our existence. Then the manager walked by us. Twice. We had suddenly become invisible. Lots of visiting other tables by the waiters and the manager; lots of laughter at those tables. Crickets at ours.
I tried to get the attention of the waiters a couple of times. No. After nearly 15 minutes, I finally walked back to the seating host, who acted surprised that I was visible. He seemed genuinely shocked at my presence — didn’t remember us at all.
So the seating host walked up to one of the wait staff, who then began to argue with him about serving us. What the hell? So far as we could tell, we didn’t stink and we could see each other, so why did all this happen?
After much arguing, she came to our table and I tried to ask her about a discount coupon we had. She took our drink order and said she’d take care of the discount.
Then more nothing. No drinks, no bread, no nothing.
Just as I reached for my phone to leave, another waiter showed up. He had just arrived and seemed to be able to see us. At last! We weren’t invisible any more!
He took care of everything in a friendly, but cautious manner. Apparently he’d been told we were trolls and he had drawn the short straw to be our server. But, honestly, he did his best. There was one strange interaction when he asked us if we wanted fresh bread. We said yes (of course). Then no bread. When we asked him about it, he said that the kitchen had decided not to bake any bread.
Finally, the manager came to our table to open our discount card. But, despite appearing to be the same manager who was friendly and laughing with other customers, he was stone-​faced and very unfriendly with us.
Strangest encounter with a restaurant in my life. I’ve had worse encounters, but this one took the cake for weirdness.

A co-​worker picked CPK for his birthday lunch last week, and upon walking in, I realized that it has probably been (literally) 20 years since I’ve been in the place. For better or worse, the interior, though clean, looks like it may not have changed much in that 20 years. I was almost getting a coffee shop/​diner vibe from it (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Upon being seated, our server brought out some small bread pieces with a tiny dish of herb infused oil; it was good, but the oil dish needs to be about twice as big as it was.
Browsing the menu, I almost went with my standby from the ‘90s, Thai chicken pizza,. but I decided to go with the Jamaican jerk chicken pizza. Upon delivery, I was a bit surprised to find that it was cut into five (!) unequally sized pieces (I didn’t try to do the math). It featured chicken, bacon, red and yellow bell pepper, green onion and possibly some other veggies. The sauce, although vaguely «jerk-​y», almost seemed more like a sweet and sour. It was an OK taste, but I’ve had decently authentic jerk chicken, and this wasn’t it. Most of the heat seemed to come from my self-​applied crushed red pepper flake.
The crust was a tiny bit tough (and much more so when I ate the rest for dinner), bit was otherwise OK.
All in all, it was a decent meal, and the menu has enough variety to where everyone can find something to eat, but it wouldn’t be my first choice for the best and/​or most authentic pizza.

For an older chain restaurant, this one remains quite good. I’ve always liked their salad and pizza offerings. They continually update their menu to keep up with the times.
A recent return reinforced prior memories. Only negative is that it is a bit pricey for some of the small, but tasty, plates that we tried.

Décor: ³⁄₅
–Typical CPK layout with tables and booths. The booths had tears in them though
Service: ⁴⁄₅
–Food was prepped and served pretty quickly. We were seated, served and billed in about 30 minutes. We’re also an efficient couple :)
Food: ³⁄₅
–Avocado Egg Rolls were tasty and rich yet heavy. I was getting full after eating 3 pieces
–BBQ Chicken tasted different than their other location but was good with crushed red peppers