California Pizza Kitchen at Foxwoods Casino — Restaurant in Ledyard

I came tonight, and put my name in at the front, with from what it looked like, a manager. He told me 5-10 minutes, so I strolled my two kids, two parents and wife outside. I then received the text that we were in the queue but didn’t hear anything for 30+ mins. When we checked in with a different person, the host (Kelvin), and he was sad to inform us we were not on any list. He quickly jumped into action to set up a table for my family. We waited another 10-15 minutes and saw no server coming to take our order. Kevin graciously noticed how long we were sitting there, and rushed over to see if we’d be seen, which we promptly answered we have not. Kelvin then ran (literally) to get our table bread and the server. The waitress came over explained it was busy, and apologized and we put in our entire order. (I’d say each server had about 2-3 tables, it wasn’t super busy) Another 15-20 mins passed and still no drinks. Our family is eating bread and oil with two kids, and no drinks… Who comes flying out of the kitchen with a tray full of drinks? You guess it…Kelvin, the host. A few of us asked for flavored drinks such as mango iced tea or strawberry lemonade, which they had neither. The host, Kelvin, replaced the drinks for our table, when our waitress was nowhere to be found for 20 mins.

Kelvin legitimately runs California Kitchen at Foxwoods. I asked the kid for his name, and told him that. He was literally running to greet guests waiting at the front. Bringing out drinks and bread to everyone, running food, EVERYTHING. I asked for his name because our entire family was impressed with this young man. He let us know he’s only been working there about a week. I was shocked. Every other waiter or waitress seemed to be walking around chatting with each other or nowhere to be seen at times. I swear I would count 15 minutes and we wouldn’t see one waiter on the floor, and the place had a decent amount of guests there. Just the host, Kelvin, keeping the place upright and functioning. The entire staff was very nice and helpful once you got their attention. It does bug me that it seemed the staff were only around when it was time to pay the check. Quick to pick that up, but nowhere to be seen for orders or a refill, etc.

The food…my father and I got pizza and they were both extremely thinly crusted and dry. Cardboard would’ve had more moisture than these pizzas. Kids mac n cheese and ladies pastas were decent. Already mentioned we couldn’t get the soft drinks we wanted. The kids dishes also don’t come with a side. We paid for a fruit bowl, which included maybe two strawberries (sliced up to fill a small plate) and a few chunks of pineapple. Only three sides offered on the menu.

Overall spent hours here waiting, the food was mediocre at best, and I learned the young guy Kelvin at the front deserves to run the place, because he already does, a week in. Will probably look for alternatives next time I’m...

Edited to add: The general manager reached out and apologized. He plans on talking to the staff. and is sending a cards for free meal. I look forward to giving them another chance.

We got to CPK at 930 when they closed at 10pm. We were told no problem we can seat you in a couple mins even though plenty of open tables. Ive worked in the industry so we figured the servers and kitchen were catching up and that was the reason for the wait. 10 mins later we were seated. We waited about another 10 minutes for our server (also the bartender) to come over. My younger daughter was with myself and my uncle. She was at a dance competition all day and was starving and exhuasted. So we gave our drink and food order all at once. Server comes back with our drinks and plates for bread. The bread never comes but server comes back 20 minutes later saying they didnt have any of the sauce that my pasta came with left. They stopped seating tables after they sat us but we watched them do takeout orders for some late walk ons and they cleared ALL the take out tickets before they even came over to tell me they were out of my food. At this point im tired and hungry so i just say go throw any type of sauce on the pasta. We wait another 10 mins and my daughter needed to use the rest room so I left the restaurant to bring her. (They dont have a rest room in the restaurant). When we came back the door was locked so we had to knock and be let in. As were walking backto the table the manager stops us and says they dont have anymore of the crispy chciken my daughter ordered! This is atleast 15 miks AFTER they came over and told me about mine! My daughter at this point is in tears. They offer butter pasta. She doesnt reallly like pasta I told them. Then they say they can do grilled chicken but it would "be a while" which made it seem like the kitchen was closing and they didnt want to cook it. they then offer her fruit or broccoli. i told them shed take all 3. We went back to the table and waited for our food. They brought out our 2 adults pasta meals because they didnt want them to "die in the window". My dish was dry but at this point ate it. my daughters food came out. the mangers drops off the bill and said she took off my daughtrs meal and the 3 sodas and did 20% off everything else. It was supposed to be kids eat free with an adult purchase. But at this point the resttaurant is closed the staff was cleaning and we justed wanted to go back to the hotel and to bed. Horrible experience and food sucked compared to my last visit...

They do it well for what it is! This location is inside a top-tier casino, Foxwoods, so I am not sure if that makes a difference. My wife and I arrived at around 10:30 a.m., and the place was nearly empty. Most people were probably either sleeping one off or checking out of the hotel. The was sourdough bread served with oil and pesto, I believe. We got some butter instead. The bread was definitely not fresh baked, but it was not a projectile either. We. started with an appetizer of the Bang Bang shrimp imitation. It was good but not great. The shrimp was small, and all in all lacked the spices of the original. Next time I will save my money on that one. Trying to slim down a little, I ordered the plank salmon with corn. The salmon was excellent and a nice big portion, too. The corn mix had good flavor, and the meal came quickly and hot. My wife ordered the salad wedge. As you can see, it too was a generous portion. Looks like it had bacon in there. You know the rule, either you like bacon or you are wrong. The wedge was so large that she could not finish it all. We did look at the pizza as it was being served to other guests. They are personal size and may not be the best Bang for your buck even if they are delicious. I would definitely go back here again. There are a variety of mid - and upper scale restaurants on this property, and California Pizza Kitchen is high on my list for a quick meal. A final thought, there is a pretty big bar area here. I can imagine quite a rowdy show if there were a popular sporting event on. Enjoy. Your mileage may vary. ...