California Pizza Kitchen at Valley Fair — Restaurant in San Jose

“A baby can’t eat — he doesn’t count.” – CPK manager to me while I tried to get seated for a child’s birthday party.

We came to California Pizza Kitchen at Valley Fair in San Jose on 6/28/2025 for my daughter’s birthday with a group of 11 people. I called the day before and was told they couldn’t reserve a table for under 20 but recommended I arrive around 4:30 PM to secure one. I did exactly that.

When I showed up, there was no one in line or waiting, so I was happy that I could secure a table for our party. However, I was told we couldn’t be seated until the entire group had arrived — a policy that was never mentioned during the phone call. I explained that some guests were walking from the parking lot and asked to speak with a manager.

The manager, Yeni Alc, came out and when I asked if we could be seated with half of our group there, she coldly asked, “Did you order?” I said we had a $200 gift card already purchased — no acknowledgment. When I pointed out my husband, mom, toddler, and baby walking toward the door, she replied, “A baby can’t eat — he doesn’t count.” Then she stared at my toddler and asked, “Will he eat?” Only after I said yes did she allow us to be seated.

No apology. No flexibility. No basic courtesy. I left feeling completely disrespected and embarrassed on what should have been a joyful day. I considered leaving and going to another restaurant, but we had already purchased movie tickets for a 6:15 showing, and I didn’t want to risk disrupting the rest of the evening since we had no idea how long the wait would be elsewhere.

The meal and service were fine once seated, and we tipped generously. But I won’t forget how poorly we were treated walking in the door. I’ve dined in many places, and I’ve never experienced this kind of attitude from management.

If you care about customer service and decency, avoid this location. Especially if you’re celebrating...

We had visited the restaurant with hopes of indulging in the delicious Toastada pizza, only to discover that it had been removed from the menu. We were incredibly disappointed by this news, as we had a deep affection for that particular pizza and its absence left us feeling quite melancholic.

After spending the entire day at Raging Water Park, hunger pangs struck us hard. We arrived at the restaurant at around 6:00 PM on July 4th, and although it was mostly empty, we still had to endure a 15-minute wait before being seated. Once seated, it took an additional 15-20 minutes to place our order, and we anxiously awaited the arrival of our pizza, which took another 20-25 minutes.

While we waited, the staff kindly served us warm bread accompanied by a delightful olive oil dip that was absolutely scrumptious.

The prolonged waiting time not only dampened our spirits but also intensified our sadness over the absence of the Toastada pizza. Nonetheless, we decided to order the California veggie pizza, wild mushrooms pizza, Margarita pizza, and Mac n cheese. These pizzas turned out to be excellent in taste, but the longing for the Toastada pizza persisted. We earnestly request the restaurant to bring it back.

To add to our disappointment, we had to wait another 15-20 minutes after requesting the bill. Despite these hiccups, we must emphasize that we genuinely appreciate CPK, and we kindly urge them to reintroduce the Toastada pizza while also striving for...

Updated Review: CPK replied they feel badly for this injury but there was no apology nor any follow up on this case. Clearly they DON’T have any sympathy. They just said: we don’t have responsibility so don’t bother us again. This is how they treat their customers.

TL;DR My mom was seriously injured at this restaurant and they don’t want to take any responsibility.

We went to this location for dining on August 9th and were served several cups of water(glass cup). My mom was trying to pick up the straw from the ground and slightly knocked down the cup. The cup fell down on the table(not to the ground) and literally exploded/shattered. The glass was everywhere and cut my mom’s right ring finger and we went to the emergency room. My mom got a lot of bleeding and ended up with three stitches on the wound as it’s deep.

After the incident, I have contacted with a lot of people from the restaurant and the company. I pointed out that the cup shouldn’t explode/shatter everywhere even when it fall down, especially it was not even on the ground. There could be cup quality issue or the cup might already been cracked. However, they claimed that they have zero responsibility on this and refused to do any further investigation. They don’t even send any official apology letter or email.

I will continue to follow up on this case but for a chained restaurant, this is definitely not the way that a company should treat...