California Pizza Kitchen — Restaurant in San Francisco

I blame my friends from the Suburbs for why I even ate here. It's always friends from the suburbs who convince you to go to California Pizza Kitchen. I tried to take them to Empire Pizza to eat what I deem as the most authentic New York Style Pizza but they didn't feel comfortable sitting down anywhere until we walked by a familiar face, California Pizza Kitchen. So blame them for why this place got a review.

Is reviewing California Pizza Kitchen pointless? Not at all. As a matter of fact, Jack, I have had California Pizza Kitchen in so many different places I can't even keep track. Here's the thing about them though - they deliver. You can eat all the great Pizza in the World and California Pizza Kitchen is still solid. They even make solid frozen Pizza considering they have also been known to butcher Pizza by putting toppings that make any Pizza purist want to puke. That being said, I have always enjoyed food from California Pizza Kitchen and now that I am a Top 10% Pizza Reviewer and I have tried 85 Pizza Establishments in San Francisco since May 2022 Alone, My 2 Cents are obviously valued. So here they are;

Why did I not give them 5 stars? Number 1 reason, although the wait staff is nice, at times it feels like they are not even listening to what you are saying. Do not even ask them questions about the food, they can hardly hold a conversation. While this is the case, they do deliver on the Parmesan Cheese when you ask for them to give you a side of it. They really do. Why else did I not give them 5 stats? Because 5 Stars are reserved for legendary Pizza like Tony's, Cafe Zeotrope, PizzaHacker, Cellarmaker House of Pizza, Capo's, Longbridge Pizza Company, Pizzeria Delfina etc. not chains like this. That's all. That's really all. Even bringing up those other places makes me feel like maybe I should lower CPK down to 3 stars really. So I will stop writing this Review now before I change it because CPK is good. So thank my Suburban Friends for this review, San Francisco. Thank them. I didn't want to do this. They wouldn't allow me not...

California Pizza Kitchen in San Francisco on Mission was a disappointment. The experience we had with the receptionist named Veronica was not pleasant at all. I am from San Diego and our family drove to San Francisco to visit my son who goes to the Academy of Arts to see his Art works that was picked up for display for their Spring Show. We drove to the SF bridge, walked to the park then decided to go to cpk for dinner. We got there inside the restaurant 10 minutes before closing at 9 pm. The lady in the front named Veronica told us that since there's 6 of us, they could not accomodate us as they were almost closing and that the kitchen is about to close. She was not very welcoming and pleasant. On a normal situation, the receptionist would at lease check with the manager or the kitchen if we can be seated. Instead, she walked away and would not even look at me anymore. So we exited and while exiting, there's an older whilte couple that came in and guess what, she seated them and received them. Was that fair? Since we were super hungry after a day of going places, we decided to find another place to eat. I called the manager and told him about our experience. He was apologetic; however, what happened was that i felt Veronica was discriminatory because we are brown skinned and did not even bother to accomodate us. I love CPK and this is our favorite place to eat in San Diego. I had guests from Philippines, party of 20 and took them to dinner at CPK in Otay Ranch, CA where we also reside for 20 years. I hope the management would look into this matter and make it more accomodating to customers...

Tell me whats not to like about California Pizza Kitchen? Good food, good ambiance and good service. Pretty much the perfect combination for a good restaurant. The location of this CPK is amazing, downtown San Francisco near Financial district.

Anyhow, lets get to the main thing: Pizza. If there is one thing you should try at this place, make that Pizza. Well, I know you wouldnt go to California "Pizza" Kitchen to NOT have pizza but take my word, you want to eat Pizza here. Okay so I have made enough mentions of Pizza by now that even I am drooling now and craving for pizza but I think I made my point here, or did I?

So you get good pizzas here. My top pick you ask? Chipotle Chicken (without the chicken). Dont judge me, even without the chcken the chipotle chickenless pizza packs an awesome taste to satisfy my PIZZA cravings. Try it once and I bet you will want to have it each time you are at CPK. I dont really care for the desserts here but their appetizers are pretty amazing too. Their white bean hummus, flatbread are my favorites. Sit at the bar or get a booth, either way you can expect to have a great time here eating, drinking, socializing and in...