California Pizza Kitchen — Restaurant in Irvine

After seven grueling hours stranded at John Wayne Airport due to weather delays, I was desperate for a bit of comfort—and pizza felt like the answer. California Pizza Kitchen isn’t usually my go-to, but its proximity made it the easy choice. The online ordering system, however, was a bit confusing to navigate.

That’s when Kyunghee stepped in—my first blessing in a day that had tested every ounce of patience I had left. She noticed my struggle and graciously offered to take my order directly. Her warm hospitality and steady presence were the calm in a storm I hadn’t yet seen the end of. Attentive, empathetic, and genuinely kind, Kyunghee delivered the kind of service that sticks with you—especially on a day like that.

My custom pizza—mushroom, spinach, garlic chicken, and Parmesan, cooked well-done—was just what I needed. Comforting, flavorful, and made exactly to my specs, it hit the spot. Paired with a non-alcoholic Heineken, it gave me a moment of peace before re-entering travel chaos. Thank you, Kyunghee. You turned a hard day into...

One star for service! Extremely poor customer service, especially Christina the cashier at the time. Simply asked for a bag to go and I was instructed to wait while she counted change from her personal change pouch. Did I mention the bags were under an arms reach from her? It would have taken a hair of a second for her to hand over a bag. What is happening to customer service?!? I had to call a young man that was in the middle of arranging orders to stop what he was doing while she counted her change. At least the young man was nice enough to oblige. Took him no time to simply had me a bag. Christina needs customer service training or she needs to remove herself or be removed from a customer service environment. Her response to an extremely simple request was...

Hi all, Had a really unpleasant experience with a hostess. We sat down where directed (the signage at the restaurant reads SEAT YOURSELF) however the hostess directed us to not sit at a booth and sit at another table. We did and the table was dirty so we noticed the other table was cleaned and we moved ourselves back to the booth. We were then screamed at by this specific hostess who said you're not allowed to do that, due to the scanning process being specific to the table. I told her I understood although speaking to someone in that manner is neverrrrrrr acceptable. Work on it! Also it would be easily managed and corrected. Also change your signage and specify to customers to all scan the bar codes at...