California Pizza Kitchen at Ft. Lauderdale — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

First off, I have patronized this restaurant at this location since it opened many years ago. Every visit was always as good as the last and me and my family loved the delicious food and great service. When the pandemic curtailed our public outings, we frequently ordered take out from them in which they continued to maintain the quality of their food and great service. Fast forward to this most recent visit. I had a promotional coupon that could only be redeemed if opened by a manager. No worries! I told my mom I was treating her to our favorite place and this was it. We walked in and I noticed it was not busy and strangely empty looking. That was surprising given it was 7ish and usually had a decent crowd for an early dinner. We were seated quickly and the server came promptly with menues. I checked in on the app, gave him our code and looked at the menu. He asked for our drink order and I noticed my favorite cranberry cooler was no longer offered. He said he would ask the manager if they could make me one so no problem. He left and we continued to search the menu for one of our favorite salads...the chicken waldorf with dijon balsamic vinegarette. The server returned with my watered down cranberry cooler and I asked if they still had it as it wasn't that long ago that I ordered it for takeout. He apologized and said it wasn't available anymore and they didn't have the ingredients to custom make one. Hmmm okay, so I asked if they could make me a tricolore salad? He ran off to ask the mgr and again the answer was no. They didn't have anyone working who was familiar with making it. (Pizza crust topped with baby lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shaved parmesan, and topped with grilled chicken with dijon balsamic vinegarette dressing-um okay I guess that was too complicated?) so I settled for a california cobb with dijon balsamic vinegarette instead of the ranch it came with. Strike 3. Dijon balsamic vinegarette also did not exist anymore in this new world order. What!?! My absolute most favorite dressing in the universe! So I settled on a weird watered down vinegarette for my salad choice. The mgr visited our table with the coupon prize if 10% and asked if we accepted it. Was there a different answer if I said no? So after an overall very disappointing dining experience which included eating a salad that consisted of plain shredded iceberg lettuce with a few slivers of ice cold dried chicken crumbs and a hard boiled egg with a sprinkle of blue cheese crumbles I told mom 'we are never coming back here' and for the first time in our lives, she was in total...

This is an update on an earlier review that faulted the Fort Lauderdale California Pizza Kitchen for incredibly slow service. I am happy to say that this no longer the case.

The Fort Lauderdale California Pizza Kitchen has been in business for many years. It is a popular restaurant that compares favorably with other local dining establishments. It offers a pleasant atmosphere, good food and once had good service. Unfortunately, like so many other businesses, it is currently suffering with a lower than normal (normal=before Covid) number of servers. Hence only four stars.

CPK has managed to secure enough servers to significantly reduce wait times for customers since our experience in late 2021. The delicious food has remained delicious and one need no longer feel that service times will be measured in geologic eras rather than by the clock on the wall.

Our most recent trip was emblematic of the change in their fortunes. We were seated quickly upon entering and had a drink order taken within less than five minutes. It still took another ten minutes before we received those drinks, but, sad to say, this appears to be the new standard for receiving drinks in South Florida, as there are too many customers and not enough bartenders.

The food was served in a reasonable time and the four in our dinner party enjoyed it very much. I had the jambalaya and it was excellent. Interestingly, however, one of our dinners arrived late enough to the table that the other three dinners were beginning to get cool as we waited. Our server, Michelle, who is the best server there, and who we ask for by name when we dine there, could give us no reason for the delay and said that, as an apology, our second round of drinks were larger pours (they, in fact, were). When it finally arrived, our friend's zuchinni and shrimp dish was excellent.

So, things are much improved at this California Pizza Kitchen. However, there still remains some work to be done to return to the quality of service experienced before 2020. If you have the time and the patience, it remains a pleasant place for a medium-priced,...

8/29/23-They have calorie count for the food , I like that. Big menu too. Plus nice big pizza oven. We started w/Crispy Eggroll, , Avocado salad, and the California Cobb w/ blue cheese dressing. They do half or whole. Half is big enough. Plus we garbage avocado roll.they serve nice warm bread w/ oil.

1/8/2020- lunch till 4:00pm.. Sara sat us and was our server. Her big blue eyes were very welcoming. We were the only ones in the place at 3:15 it was ice cold in there and the music was extremely loud ,but they just had a major lunch rush , I was told. We both had salads . I had the Thai crunch salad they do half size nice touch so not so big . , so glad I went with a half and I added the shrimp grilled , there were many and a nice size as well. Hubby had the California Club it was huge looked really good will definitely go back and see her thank you so much for making our lunch enjoyable.

10/18/19-Wow great menu. They have calorie counts which I like. Plus they have a full liquor bar I’m glad I put the menu down because I found the lunch menu back page A lot less expensive than what I was planning. I ordered the 1/2 sandwich with a cup of barley and pea soup all so good . My gf had the Sweet pea carbonara with a bowl of soup don’t remember what kind it was it was a tomato something she said it had a little bite

Wow walked in to a bright place . I see first off how the hostess was cleaning the menu’s , I’ve always said all restaurants should . Was seated immediately. Had a great Tall server. He was definitely a seasoned server. Refill our tea’s, etc. helped us with what to order. Very friendly. Jeffery I see on receipt so thanks for making our lunch very enjoyable. I had the 1/2 turkey with the green apples and Brie. 1/2 sandwiches and the Pea soup which was real good. G had the salad with a half of Padilla ( not real sure , Indian bread ) w chicken meatballs mozzarella and marinara looked great. It was a nice lunch. Thanks...