California Pizza Kitchen

Update Review, July 2024

As you know, I can never resist a good freebie, so when T-Mobile had a partnership with CPK offering up $7 off your order (no minimum order, works for takeout), I of course had to take full advantage.

Bread. 2 Orders.
(Complimentary).

When I previously ordered from CPK, the bread also included oil, today it did not.  Each order was two hunks, in a plastic bag that was just hand tied shut.

Last time I had the bread I noted strong sourdough taste, but this time I didn't taste the sourdough as much.  Is it possible I'm starting to tolerate sourdough?  The bread had a good chew to it, and tasted fresh.  Soft baguette style.  I kinda liked it.  ***.

Curly Mac 'N Cheese (CPKids). $6.99.

I went for a kid's meal, to stay within my free $7, but also because kid's meal portions generally I find sufficient.  I had the options of several different personal sized pizzas, pasta with all different sauces (meat, tomato, alfredo, butter), grilled or crispy chicken, or this, the mac and cheese.  I do love mac and cheese, and the CPK mac and cheese recently got a lot of attention due to a mishap made "famous" on TikTok where someone got the sauce and no actual pasta in their order, and CPK decided to use it as a marketing opportunity (which, I applaud them for).  CPK Mac and cheese was going viral, and it was on my mind.  So after seeing CPK mac and cheese raved about on social media the past few weeks, my choice was easy.

The dish didn't look all that great.  It looked ba-sic.  No breadcrumbs on top, no crispy top, not even very creamy.  But it actually really was quite good, particularly once I stirred it up.  The pasta had just the right amount of bite to it, and the shape was both fun and functional, as the sauce really did cling to it well.  The sauce was unnaturally orange, and was instantly recognizable and nostalgic for me: Velveeta!  It was cheesy, it was creamy, it was rich.  I enjoyed it, although I'm not sure how much better than a Velveeta mac and cheese box from the grocery store it really was.

This relatively small child's portion was 820 calories, and a good value at $6.99.  Like all kid's meals, it included a choice of drink.

Interestingly, the adult version is more than double the price ($15.99), but only 40% more calories (1280 calories).  So you could just get 2x kid's version = $6.99 x 2 = $13.98 and get more mac and cheese (820 x 2 = 1640 calories worth) AND get two drinks.  Cheaper, more mac, and bonus drinks.  Just sayin'.  The adult one does allow far more customizations: add chicken, bacon, salmon (several styles), sausage, shrimp, broccolini, mushrooms, tomatoes, burrata, monterey jack (interestingly, not the edamame offered to kids), or swap out the pasta for 5 different choices.  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this, but if I was craving this style of mac and cheese, it certainly did the job.  ***+.

Chocolate Milk (CPKids).
(Included).

All kid's meals come with a choice of drink.  The options are actually fairly extensive, with classic fountain drinks, but even things like a shirley temple or roy rogers, without an upcharge.  I was thrilled to see chocolate milk as an option, and went for that.

It was pretty basic chocolate milk.  I think it was made with thin style chocolate syrup mixed with regular milk, as the chocolate settled out pretty quickly.  It wasn't particularly chocoaltely.  I wanted stronger chocolate flavor, richer flavor, something.  Basically, think Hershey syrup in milk.  I'm sure kids love it, but I wanted something a bit more.  Low ***.

Update Review, August 2021

Another year, another birthday freebie dessert to redeem at CPK.  After the success of last's years Red Velvet Cake a la mode, I was pretty tempted to get it again.  And of course, I toyed with the idea of getting the pudding again, because even though my second year of getting it was mediocre, I sure did love it the first year.   But I decided to go rogue and try another new item ...

Bread & Dipping Oil (Complimentary).

Well, this was amusing.  In the days of "zomg, they charge for bread?!" outrage, CPK included it, sans my asking, in my takeout order ... which was dessert only.  Lol.  I assume they just include it standard and didn't pay any attention to the contents of my order?

The bread was two hunks, that looked hand torn.  The bread was soft, nice chew, but, ugh, sourdough.

The oil was good though, seemed high quality, good flavor to the oil, some herbs.

Sad this was sourdough, otherwise, decent quality.

Key Lime Pie. $7.49.

"On a graham cracker crust with housemade whipped cream."

I didn't ask for the whipped cream on the side, but it came separate.  The crust was broken off (and missing) on one corner.

The pie was ... well, key lime pie.  With graham cracker crust.  If you read my blog frequently, you know that I don't really like lemon nor lime desserts, and I generally call graham cracker crust "throwaway" and liken it to sawdust.

The pie was smooth and creamy, a nicely set custard, that, well tasted like tangy (sweet) lime.  The crust was fairly thick, crumbly, buttery, sweet, but ... yeah, graham cracker crust.  It was a perfectly fine key lime pie.  Probably even a good one.  I liked the slice of lime on top for garnish.  But ... it was still a key lime pie, and just isn't something I'll ever get excited about.  It was also just far too sweet on its own, and needed copious amounts of whipped cream (and, fresh blackberries that I added) to cut the sweet.

The "homemade" whipped cream I'm still skeptical of, it deflated quickly, but, it did have a decent "cream" taste to it, so perhaps it is made with real cream.

I wouldn't get this again, but, I really think this is personal preference, and this was a good key lime pie.  ***.

Update Review, January 2021

Another year, another birthday freebie to redeem at CPK.  After really hating the famous butter cake last year, I almost just went back to the tried and true salted caramel pudding, but, at last minute, I decided to mix it up again, and try something different: the red velvet cake.  I'm not normally a cake person, but, for some reason, I was really in the mood for cake ...

Red Velvet Cake. $7.99. A la Mode. $2.25.

"Frosted with hand-whipped vanilla bean cream cheese and white chocolate curls. Also available with vanilla Häagen Dazs."

Red velvet cake.  So random, I know, as I generally am not all that excited about cake, and red velvet I'm particularly opinionated on.  But ... I dunno, I was craving cake?

My order came with whipped cream (standard garnish?), and I also made it a la mode (because, cake needs ice cream!), each of which came packaged separately for takeout.

The cake was actually decent, a large slice, 3 layers, moist enough cake.  It even had a slight tang to it, like a red velvet should.  Not remarkable, but really not bad.

The frosting was quite heavy, as is often the case with cream cheese frosting, but it almost seemed like a cheesecake more than a frosting.  Very, very rich, very very heavy.  I'm a frosting girl, through and through, but I found I enjoyed this more as just the cake, with either whipped cream or ice cream.

I did like the white chocolate shavings on the backside.

The birthday reward does not normally include ice cream (you can pay extra), but, the lovely staff at my location threw it in for free - thank you!!!  It is just vanilla Häagen Dazs, but, I really do love vanilla Häagen Dazs, I think it is remarkably good, reliable vanilla.

I ended up treating this as two individual desserts - a red velvet cake (without much frosting) with ice cream and a "cheesecake" with whipped cream, basically, the frosting and whip.  I did have some all composed of course, but I enjoyed it the most in my deconstructed form.

As you may expect, this is not a light dessert, clocking in at 960 Calories for just the cake, plus 280 if you get the ice cream, and the whipped cream ... 

I appreciated my dessert, but I am not sure I'd get this one again.

***+.

Update Review, September 2019

I've long known about the "famous" butter cake from CPK.  If you do *any* research at all into what dessert to get at CPK, you will read the accolades.  People go nuts for this cake.  They have created dozens of copycat recipes.  They adore it.

I finally tried it.

I did not adore it.  I did not even like it.  I didn't even ... tolerate it?  This was so far from a winner for me.

But let me start from the beginning.

Every year, I go to CPK around my birthday (read on below for past reviews), to redeem my birthday freebie.  I've always gotten the salted caramel pudding, as, well, I love pudding, I got it once and enjoyed it, and the other menu options really don't sound appealing (key lime pie - I don't like citrus desserts, red velvet cake - kinda eh for me, and something we have often at my office,  chocolate molten cake - always a crowd pleaser, but rarely the thing I really want).

But this year, CPK introduced a strawberry shortcake to the menu, that looked classic, and, gets good reviews.  Shortcake biscuits with beautiful pearl sugar tops, fresh berries, stewed berries, whipped cream ... it sounded, and looked, great to me.  I was very eager to get it, and placed my order for it.

I waited in anticipation.  And then I waited some more.  And some more.  I sent a grumpy txt to a friend about how long I was waiting.  Around the 30 minute mark (!) I was called over and told the news: they no longer have that item.  Seasonal special.  In its place, I could have the new seasonal item: a ice cream sundae with sliced apples and caramel sauce.

Um, thanks.

I was ... let's just say a bit annoyed.  I had waited a long time AND it took them that long to realize they don't have what I ordered?  Sigh.  I turned down the suggested apple sundae (I don't like apples, and it wasn't ice cream weather), and considered my options.  Since I was making a fast decision, I decided to finally try the butter cake, given just how much everyone else seems to like it.

Butter Cake. $7.99.

"Trust us... Just try it. Served warm with housemade whipped cream."

So, here it is.  The butter cake.  The very famous butter cake.

I'll give them one credit: it was served warm.

But ... um ... this cake.  Was one of the most boring desserts I've ever had in my life.

It was ... just a cake.  It was a dense cake.  Not really moist, not really dry.  It just was.  A sweet cake, but it had no real flavor of any kind to it.  The top tiny bit was different from the rest, and it seemed like it *should* taste different, as visually it was a bit different, but ... it all tasted the same.  Plain.  Boring.

I kept thinking I was missing something.  Was there a caramel sauce or something that was forgotten?  Was there something hiding in the center that would come oozing out?  Nope, and nope.

It is just a plain cake.  A plain cake with a high butter content.  So high, that this cake, this actually kinda small, definitely single serving, little cake has ... wait for it ... 1100 calories.  Yeah, what?  How is that even possible (and 73g fat, 64g sugar, but hey, 10g protein)!

I just don't understand.  The whipped cream on the side was standard whipped cream, and really didn't seem housemade, but if they say so.  It deflated immediately.  It didn't really add anything to this cake.

Perhaps this would be better a la mode, which is an option, for $2.25 (and 280 calories) more.  I desperately wanted some kind of crunch element, perhaps some candied buttered pecans?

I wanted anything ... except this.

Update Review, October 2018

I don't often go to California Pizza Kitchen, since I'm not really that into pizza, but last year, when I had a birthday freebie to redeem, I discovered a dessert there that I loved: salted caramel pudding.  It was fabulous, as you read about them.

On this visit, I was inspired to get that pudding again, but almost went off course and opted for another dessert, as my research tells me the butter cake really is a thing of wonder.  Next time ... 

I ordered through the app for the first time, which was quite easy, placing my pickup order when I was a few blocks away.  It was being finished right as I arrived.  Perfect!

Interior.

My visit was to the San Francisco location.

The restaurant is quite large, with bar seating, a huge inside seating area, and large patio.  And at 12:30pm on a Sunday, the restaurant was nearly vacant.  Two guys sat at the bar, and two tables were occupied.  I am not sure if this is normal, but if so, how can they afford the rent in SF?!

I was getting takeout though, as was one person ahead of me with a large catering order.  The open kitchen allowed me to see the action, and they did seem to be making plenty of pizzas, all just getting boxed up.  Maybe everyone just does takeout from here these days?

Salted Caramel Pudding. $6.29.

"Rich caramel pudding, black cocoa cookie crumbs, housemade whipped cream, caramel sauce and natural flaked Maldon sea salt." 

My treat was handed over in the same kind of takeout cup as last time.  However, um, it looked quite a bit different.

Left: 2017. Right: 2018.

The ratios were all off.  Last year, the primary component was the pudding, this year, far less pudding, with an equal amount of whipped cream.  The cup wasn't full.  And where was the caramel sauce on top?

I asked the person handing it over, "isn't it supposed to have caramel sauce on top?"  He confirmed it was, and took it back.  I worried it also didn't have the Maldon sea salt on top, but that was harder to see visually.  I hoped they would fix both.

Salted Caramel Pudding: Fixed?

It came back ... with caramel, yes.  A big glob right in the center.  Clearly, whoever added it was annoyed that I sent it back.  But come on, its supposed to have caramel!

It certainly did not have the salt either, which was sad, as this is a very very sweet dessert without it.

Like last time, I found it extremely frustrating to eat.  The first spoonful, all whipped cream (and caramel glob).  I could work to dig for the pudding, but getting the crumble too, at least while eating the first *half* of the cup, was nearly impossible.  And this is a dessert that really does need all components to work.

But that was all true last time, and I still loved it.  This time however ... my experience was just not as positive.

The whipped cream deflated almost instantly.  It seemed like very light whipped cream from a can, not "housemade" and not able to hold up for even 5 minutes as I ate it.  It was necessary though, to balance the caramel pudding.

The caramel pudding was sweet.  Too sweet.  I noted that last time too, but when it combined with the cookie crumbs and whip it worked last time, although, yes, still quite sweet.  This time I just found it cloying, and one note, certainly not salted, and with just some deflated whipped cream and extra glob of sweet caramel it wasn't enjoyable.

I dug desperately for the cookie crumbs, knowing they were essential and would make a difference.  And they did.  But ... cookie crumbs tasted stale this time, all clumped together, and even almost freezer burned tasting.  Not very good.  But again, necessary, both for the texture, but also the contrast to the too sweet pudding.

Overall, this just made me very sad.  It wasn't good, and it wasn't anything like my memory of only a year ago.  Once I mixed everything together, it was certainly better, like a very sweet version of a "dirt cake" I had growing up, but really nothing like last year.

I'm not sure if I'd try it again, or venture out to try the crazy butter cake, or red velvet cake, or just give up on desserts at CPK entirely ...

August 2017 Review

My last visit to California  Pizza Kitchen was in 2013, when they had a promo for a free appetizer.  I didn't like it.  I said I had no reason to return.

But this year, while arranging my birthday freebie crawl, I saw that I could get a dessert for free.  Well, I'm a dessert girl, no matter the quality, so I quickly added it to my itinerary.

I visited the San Francisco location, and opted to get it to go, since I was coming straight from another birthday freebie, and planned to bring it home to have later.  Ordering was simple, they have a dedicated take out ordering/pickup/waiting area to the side of the bar (with its own entrance actually).

The staff were very friendly, multiple people said happy birthday, no one seemed at all offended that I was coming just to get my free dessert, not ordering anything else, and taking it to go.  They talked me to about how good the pudding was.  It was ready within just a few minutes, and handed over with a spoon and napkin.

The entire experience was incredibly pleasant, and the item I selected?  Delicious.  I'll be back. 

Dessert Menu.

The dessert menu had an assortment of tempting options.  Crowd pleasers for sure, but, turns out, that works for me.

First, "Butter cake".  What is butter cake?  I'm not entirely sure, but, it sounded possibly awesome.  Yes, the menu actually just says "Trust us ... just try it!" as the description.  If I was dining in, I probably would have gone with that option, but since it was served warm (with whipped cream or ice cream), it didn't seem like a good choice to take out.  Also, gulp, 1380 calories!

The seasonal special, not listed on this menu, was strawberry shortcake, also tempting.  I love a good strawberry shortcake, but, to be honest, I kinda doubted how fresh the berries really would be.  Even the red velvet cake sorta called out, though I'm not a cake girl.  At least I was able to easily look past the key lime pie (I'm not one for citrus desserts) and the warm chocolate souffle cake (clearly needs to be eaten there).

Which lead me to the salted caramel pudding.  As if it was really a contest, given both my absolute love of pudding, and the fact that I was not able to find a single bad review of it.  People love it.

Salted Caramel Pudding. $6.29.

"Rich caramel pudding, black cocoa cookie crumbs, housemade whipped cream, caramel sauce and natural flaked Maldon sea salt."

When you dine in, it comes in a cute little canning jar.  For takeout, they used a plastic beverage cup.  I didn't mind, as my portion easily looked twice as large as the little canning jar photos I had seen.

It was a layered creation, with the cookie crumbs at the base, the pudding in the middle, and topped with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.

I didn't wait more than two steps out the door to at least try a bite, even though I was intending to save it for later.

My first bite was indicative of the difficulty eating it I would have.  The bite was entirely whipped cream (and caramel sauce).  It tasted like generic canned whipped cream, which is fine, but they do say it is housemade.  The caramel tasted like the standard stuff you get on an ice cream sundae, or at Starbucks.  That caramel on top didn't seem salted, and I didn't see any flakes of Maldon on top.

I dug deeper, trying to get to the pudding.  I succeeded, and came out with a bite of pudding and whip.  And ... I was impressed.  That was very, very good pudding.  It was a thinner consistency than I'd expect, almost runny, but the flavor was so good I didn't mind.  Sweet, rich, deep flavor.  I worked hard to get a spoonful of just the pudding.  The result?  Well, it was too sweet, actually.  The pudding alone was cloyingly sweet.  Even though I wasn't excited about the generic whipped cream, it did help cut the sweetness.

But the real magic came when you managed to get a bite of all the layers, including the cookie crumble, hiding at the very, very bottom.  It was extremely hard to do this, and you really just had to mix the entire thing up and not be able to get "perfect bites" with the ratio you wanted, but it barely mattered.  If you got it all, or, really, just the pudding and cookie crumble, it was really, really good.

"Black cocoa cookie crumbs."

The cookie crumble, described as "black cocoa cookie crumbs" was ... basically Oreo crumbs.  The woman taking my order even said, "Oh, do you like Oreo?  If you do, the base is all Oreo, and its amazing".   When she said that, my heart sank a little, actually.  I don't really like Oreo.  If that is why people loved the pudding, then, it probably wasn't for me.  I nearly changed my order.  But I'm glad I didn't.

Yes, it was basically Oreo crumbs.  But it clumped together in ways that it formed either loose soil or little crumbly chunks, all of which were intensely chocolately, almost like a very loose brownie.  I loved the play of the textures against the pudding.  I loved how the very dark cocoa provided the balance needed against the crazy sweet pudding.  It just worked.

This was a creation that was much more than the sum of its parts.  Seemingly generic whipped cream and caramel, pudding that was both too runny and too sweet, and crumbled cookies I don't really like, combined into something totally delicious.

I loved it.  I devoured it.  I had told Ojan I was going to share with him, but, uh, I didn't.  I'd gladly get it again for a birthday freebie, but now I am even more curious about that butter cake ...

Original Review, March 2013

I went to CPK once, when I first moved to California, because I thought it was a thing ... it was "California" after all!  The only thing I remember is that it was the first time I ever had bbq chicken pizza, and I liked the idea of bbq sauce on pizza.  I don't recall if I actually liked the pizza, or anything else.

The other day, CPK was running a promo for a free item off their small plates menu.  I was walking by, was slightly hungry, and couldn't resist a freebie!

I could select any item off that section of the menu, including small salads (meh, they weren't going to have quality produce right?), quesadillas (chicken, ugh), chips and guacamole (allergic), crispy mac 'n' cheese with cheese sauce (tempting!), or focaccia.  I picked the focaccia, as it was most like their speciality, pizza, so I figured if they were going to do any of these items right, it would be the focaccia. It was by far the cheapest of the small plates, but I wasn't really trying to maximize my freebie.

Ordering online was easy, I specified my pickup time, and then it asked if I wanted complimentary bread and utensils, and if so, for how many people.  I set the time, said yes to the extras, and went to get it.

I arrived 10 minutes early to pick it up, and it was already ready ... I guess not freshly made!  But it was kept in a warming area, so at least it was hot.  I also did not receive the bread or the utensils.  I didn't really care, but it was interesting that they have you specify that, and then leave it out.

Long rambling story short ... I have no reason to go back there.

Mediterranean Focaccia.  $2.75.

"Herb cheese focaccia baked in our pizza oven and served with Mediterranean olive oil and Parmesan."

The focaccia was sliced up, like breadsticks.  It had some type of cheese on it that I couldn't really identify, and only the middle pieces really had much on them.  It also had some herbs coating it, but there wasn't much flavor.  It was pretty unremarkable.  I love the buttery oilyness that can make focaccia delicious, and it wasn't present in this.  It was oily, but not in a nice way.  If you had handed me the plate, I would have told you it was just standard breadsticks, not focaccia.

On the side was the dipping sauce: oil and parmesan.  I liked the parmesan in it, but the oil itself was completely flavorless.  I use higher quality oil just for cooking!  I guess I shouldn't have expected more, but as a dipping oil, I definitely wanted oil with some flavor.  The focaccia would have been better with a marinara sauce or something else to dip into, but then I guess it would be too much like pizza?

Anyway, this wasn't good.  I guess the $2.75 price tag matched the quality however?