California Pizza Kitchen — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

We scarfed down the buffalo cauliflower appetizer because none of us had eaten lunch. In the past we have really enjoyed this dish but tonight it was very disappointing. It was all very small pieces. We would have ordered another app if our served had actually checked on us. There were only 3 pieces that were actually large enough to actually look and taste like cauliflower. The rest of the stuff on the plate were just crispy bits like all the little crispy bits with the fish platters at Long John Silvers, if anyone remembers those. Then our entrees came. Salmon, Cheeseburger, Pizza. All ok but I bought the large salad, of which, I could only eat a third. Instead of serving salad dressing on the side, the dressing was mixed in throughout the salad so the rest of the salad is a waste because it will be wilted before midnight and disgusting by tomorrow so it cant be eaten as leftovers. Our server came to our table as little aa possible so it was fruitless to try to tell him anything, much less, ask him for anything. I had to get up and go find the salt and pepper for my dad, which is apparently just one set that is guarded at the bar. I had to wave to manager and signal that my throat was parched and on fire to get her to find our server to bring us more water. The server was awful. Hardly ever saw saw him and when he was at our table he talked low and mumbled so we had to have a 10 minute discussion among ourselves after he walked away. Trying to figure out what he said. He said, no he said……. Well turns out he said he was taking our coupon off and we could use it another time. (Assuming we will be back another time.) We spent over $100 bucks, remember when a $100 meal was fine dining? Plus it took an hour to get our food. There was more people working in the kitchen that customers. Speaking of customers, many walked out because we were being terrorized by an angry homeless person and the manager didn’t call the cops until the homeless guy came back a second time, banging on the windows, swearing and scaring the little kids. You never know what these people are going to do. Customers moved locations and some left. It was an exhausting 2 hours. Don’t worry, we didn’t stiff the poor guy. We actually all over tip. Good service, bad service. We always overtip. Well we don’t consider it over tipping when we have great service, then it is well deserved. But we definitely over tipped tonight. We will probably never,...

Edit: The company contacted me, but I assume they ignored my complaint because I could not remember the exact day and time of my visit almost a month after my visit. They also questioned that how come I could not remember who the manager was (as if I had to). I have never been to any CPK locations since, and I do not regret my decision. I generally like CPK. Their food is good, and service was always above average. However, on our latest visit at this location, we were greeted at the door and given a table. Then we started waiting for someone to wait our table. Nobody showed up for 20 minutes. We were sitting outside so I wasn't sure if there were any issues inside the restaurant. There was another family sitting outside as well and they were being served (they were there before we arrived.) I tried to talk to the lady serving other table, but she ignored me, literally. So, I decided to call the front desk as if I am not there. I asked if they are serving their outside sitting area right now. They said yes. Then I told them that I am sitting there for about 20-25 minutes, and they are not serving me and my family. Only then, she mentioned something about the restaurant being on hold! She said they are not able to serve us for another 30 minutes because they do not have personnel. All the while I am watching people are being accepted in and tables are being served. And they did not mention any of these when we first got in. We left the place and went to Tupelo Honey Cafe where we had a wonderful experience. On our way out, the manager tried to talk my wife out of our decision, but I still wonder why they didn't try it when we were sitting there for...

Horrible experience at a once fond hang out spot. I will freely admit we had a large group, 15+ people. I truly hope that was the cause of this abysmal dinner party.

Wait time: 1 hour 20 minutes half our party was being served food, other half did not have drink orders taken. Four tables were served and out the door before the remainder of our group finally had a bottle of wine brought to the table with no glasses. Two hours after arrival everyone finally had a drink.

Food: My wife had the chicken tequila fettuccini, I had the jambalaya linguini fini. Both were not drained before serving which caused the noodles to be mushy and the sauces were watered down. My bowl was especially bad having 1/2" if standing water in the bottom. The shrimp we're chewy and tasted completely fishy. The sausage was dried out and rubbery. My wife's linguini had way too much lime which overpowered the entire dish. A couple behind our table ordered a pizza that came out with blackened crust. Another at our table ordered the plank salmon. Her salmon was overcooked. As she cut into it with her knife (yeah she needed a knife for Salmon 🤣) it literally shredded with salmon particles looking like sawdust on her plate! Lol. The same was true of my friends ribeye steak. I could go on about every meal ordered. All over cooked and tasteless.

Service: Our waiter told my wife half an hour after ordering an artichoke dip that they had none. Only to have the manager comp us two artichoke dip appetizers later in the evening because our food had not arrived 3 hours into our dining experience.

Sad to have such a fond hangout of mine ruined by poor management and...