California Pizza Kitchen at Deer Park — Restaurant in Deer Park

While the food here is great the overall FOH experience is terrible! The moment I walked-in I asked a table for 2. The 3 hostess were not engaging, not pleasant and definitely did not want to entertain my husband and I. They waited 2 minutes, looked at each other before deciding who was going to assist us to our table. On top of that they didn't seem to happy to be working there. Once we were seated the 3 of them kept looking over to my husband and I's table as if we weren't supposed to be in this restaurant. It made us feel awkward and discriminated against. Even though the restaurant was filled with 80% Caucasian and Europeans. The only good thing about this restaurant is the food! Other than that your 3 hostess for this evening needs further training or you guys need to find some other individuals who actually fits to be in the hospitality industry. And your waiter Ruby who seems tired and not paying attention also needs some refresher training.

Had to add and change the review on this...because they brought out our food incorrectly and the presentation on the food is subpar. Ruby didn't bother to apologize but also didn't bother to offer or ask if there's anything she can do to make it up to us.

*Update:

This place is under new leadership (GM: Matt Jurenci) who had followed up with me to make everything right! I did address my concerns which was heard. And he was very empathetic of the situation! He has a great demeanor in resolving guest issues! He did ask to give them a second chance which we did just take out vs dine-in. Hopefully, the service has gotten better! Suggestion - if you're hiring highschool kids ensure that they will work hard and follow the training. :) Thank you Matt for your warm hospitality and...

O...M...L...! Went in spontaneously on Valentine's Day Eve. Thought we wouldn't have a chance. But we came in at just the right time! Only 15 min wait. Weren't prepared for the new "cut in front of us in line" procedure. Otherwise, we have gotten seated in 10 minutes. I believe that's where diners can make reservations & order thru the CPK app... So they just pop in after you get there and they can get seated before you. No trouble though. We'll join that crowd next time! We came specifically to try the cauliflower Buffalo "wings." Holy hotness, Batman! Fantastic! My hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, an avid deer archery Hunter. So when he says, "Wow, better than chicken!" And then had me fall off my seat when the server says they're out of thin crust pizza but they have cauliflower crust and hubby says "Sure, I'm up for that!" Our meal was great. The atmosphere, even with a bit of whining from a " just learning about restaurants" 18 to 20 month old little girl, was relaxing and enjoyable. The only reason it didn't get a 5 start rating was due to 2 things: 1) My raspberry iced tea was $4.75 with unlimited refills. My hubby's Coke was $3.75 with same. But I couldn't get the waitress's attention for my last refill. We both thought that was too high a price After all, I used to own a fast food place and the syrup only cost .05¢ for a large soda pop. It's probably about .25¢ now days? And 2) My"every time I go there" order was just not up to par. They insisted on knowing how our meal was so I kindly told them this. They took it off the bill. That was kind of them. So, I encourage you to go have a grand time at CPK with someone you love! And don't forget to order the Buffalo...

The Jambalaya Linguini I got was even better than the pasta I'd gotten to-go just over a week prior (sorry I can't remember what the first good pasta dish was.) Every single bite had at least one kind of meat or shrimp in it and the sauce with it was absolutely delicious. I know the place is called a "pizza kitchen", but I gotta say, they really know what they're doing when it comes to dishes with noodles!

Now the only downside- Pretty sure my mom and I (and many others. It was the Thurs. before Mother's Day) got sat way before the dinnertime servers were scheduled because it took upwards of 20 minutes before we finally got someone to get us drinks and take our order, but still, if you have a rush before everybody is punched in, you work with what you got and have the hosts/to-go/bartender/managers that I know were already there at least get drinks, explain the situation, thank the customer for their patience, and apologize but assure the server is coming eventually. I know that would probably make corporate shriek in anger, but who cares about corporate if the other side of the coin is 80-90% of the seated customers being puzzled, looking around to see if their server even exists? 🤷‍♂️

Once we finally did have a server, she was very kind, brought the food out while it was perfectly hot, and was more than on top of checking if we were good on refills for our drinks. Fantastic service.

The "No Servers Debacle" aside, I can't wait to eat here again!...