California Pizza Kitchen — Restaurant in Pleasanton

My friends and I over the years had always enjoyed CPK. Then the pandemic hit, no one ate out, but once the shutdown ended we sort of forgot about this chain. On March 19th, 2025, a girlfriend and I remembered how we loved their sangria sampler and decided to meet there for lunch. Let me preface that the food was fine, not out of this world, but perfectly adequate.

It was the sampler that started the trouble (cue ominous music). First off when we ordered ours, we were treated like we were speaking a foreign language. Apparently, one orders a sangria FLIGHT now. Our server (our receipt said her name is Marleny) made it very clear that we were savages. Quite rudely in fact. That was okay we figured, there we were two gals ordering an adult beverage on a Wednesday afternoon- life was seeming pretty good. Then the drinks arrived (looking quite pretty) and we commenced to dive in. One problem, previously the white wine sangria had been peach based, now it is pineapple based. Not a problem for me, I love pineapple, but my friend is super allergic to it. To be fair, when one reads the description it clearly states that there is pineapple in the drink. We thought we knew the menu and hadn't looked, that's on us. However, when my friend explained our mistake and her severe allergy, Marleny didn't say, "Oh wow, let's get you something that won't kill you." No, she started to argue with us that it had never been peach based. (It had, we checked online later.) Her voice rose and when I tried to back up my friend's request for an alternate sangria. I was yelled at and a hand abruptly put in my face. I recoiled and thought she was about to hit me.

We did eventually get a replacement sangria and the manager did come over to investigate, but his manner was not very gracious, there was no apology over the server's rudeness, nor did matters improve throughout the meal. Our server continued her rudeness, doubling down on it in fact. She never apologized for her aggressive behavior and generally made us feel that we were troglodytes who needed to return to our caves. Honestly, it was awful.

This should have been an easy customer service fix. It was our initial mistake in not reading the menu and we said as much. Just bring a different drink and move on. Don't mistreat us like this- I mean, you work on tips for God's sake. (I did not leave Marleny a tip- a first for me. Ever.)

The restaurant was not the bustling, chatty busy place it used to be and, if this is how the staff behaves, I completely understand why business has slacked off. It makes me sad, but we won't go back. Lazy Dog has an awesome sangria sampler and if we are shopping at Stoneridge then PF Chang's and Cheesecake Factory are both great places with excellent menus and...

I have been to this CPK location several times and have usually had a decent experience.

I came here with my family on 4/17/2022 and was greeted by a staff member and seated quickly as the restaurant was not very busy. We ordered the cedar plank salmon, a half pepperoni and cheese pizza, crispy fish tacos, bolognese spaghetti and 2 orders of the fire-grilled ribeye. This is where the problem started.

Our server Isabel explained that they were understaffed and that there was no kitchen staff member that was able to prepare the fire-grilled ribeye. I was ok with that and proceeded to change my order to the classic caesar salad with grilled chicken to the order and the 7” original bbq chicken pizza lunch duo. We waited another 30 min and politely asked Isabel if she had an update on our order. Isabel stated due to their staff shortage in the kitchen some of the items were taking a bit longer to prepare. We understood and asked her if could just bring out whatever orders were ready so at least my kids would be able to eat. She agreed and brought out the pizza and a few minutes shortly after the 7” bbq chicken pizza and the cedar plank salmon.

Another 45 minutes have passed and the rest of the orders have not been served. I then began to notice 3 other parties that arrived well after we were seated now have begun to receive their orders. One table that arrived at least 30 minutes after we were seated received their order of 2 fire-grilled ribeye. I was stunned and shortly got up from my table and walked to my server Isabel and questioned my concerns on a party that was seated after my family was being served an item she specifically stated there was “No kitchen staff member that was able to prepare the fire-grilled ribeye”.

Isabel explained that a “Manager” came in after my party was seated and could prepare the fire-grilled ribeye. I understand her explanation, however why did a party that came in 30 minutes after was able to be served in a timely manner when my table is still missing crispy fish tacos, bolognese spaghetti and classic caesar salad with grilled chicken. I would understand if my order was complicated, however a classic caesar salad to me seemed a simple normal order that should not take over an hour to prepare.

I then requested to speak to a manager to voice my concerns. I waited another 15 minutes with no visit from a manager or a shift supervisor to hear concerns

Suffice to say I will not be...

Went for a late lunch on a Saturday a week before Christmas so it was busy had to wait about 45 minutes. Not a problem as it was expected. The table was bare no settings at all. Waitress dropped off our menus and crayons and coloring paper, saw two members of my party go to wash their hands and asked what drinks we wanted. She saw my daughter was 4, I asked her for a child’s cup she came back with 3 big glass glasses of water. Usually we get a small cup with a lid and straw, but no problem as we always bring a water bottle along. We weren’t given a kid menu and weren’t told that it was on the back of the coloring folder they gave. She brought the bread and left it on the table and left as we weren’t ready to order. She came back and stood on the other side of the separating wall to take our order. My wife asked if she could have any other veggies besides mushrooms for her fettuccine Alfredo. The waitress initially said no, then said you can get broccoli and tomato so my wife did. We ordered a margherita pizza for my daughter and I got the veggie king pao spaghetti. Besides the pizza which was soggy and not cooked through at all the pasta dishes were pretty good. I’d get both again if I went back. The waitress told us she had been working since 11 (it was now about 4) and she was going on her break and someone else would take over. We didn’t see anyone until we were almost done and looking for a check. We waited for the check for about 10 minutes when my wife went up to the waiter, he said system isn’t working and I’ll help you in the front. Then another guy p minutes later when we asked for the check they said we are restarting the system. It took about 40 minutes to get the check from the time we requested it and nobody gave us an update unless we walked up to them and asked. The demeanor of the waitress was rubbish. If she was better they would’ve received a large tip because the pastas were good. Service was just horrendous beginning to end. Though it didn’t really dampen our mood. We had fun there. Atmosphere is average, what you’d expect, nothing special. We had planned to go to Cheesecake Factory but ended up here by mistake. Next time I probably will go to Cheesecake Factory unless I’m craving strongly the kung pao spaghetti. Picture had to be posted separately as Google wouldn’t let me attach it...