Party Like It’s 2001: One Night at California Pizza Kitchen With 5 Eater Editors

KT: Yeah, they love spunk like this. That’s why Chili’s has actually removed on TikTok, and Chili’s has actually run with it. And contrasted to the higher rates of fast-food chains nowadays, somewhere like Chili’s has a Triple Dipper for under $20 that is probably a far better worth.

RR: I assume the meals I get at CPK do not have the ROI to make by hand at home. When I truly believe of my home food preparation, I think: How a lot will it set you back to make this? Exactly how much fun am I going to have making this?

NA: I don’t assume the cooking advancement team below has strong social connections to the components and tastes they use, but I assume they have actually made something that shows Los Angeles. It’s getting out of the white tower of one traditional means to make pizza and producing something equally powerful with active ingredients that indicate various other communities and foodways that matter in Los Angeles. Like, CPK’s Tostada Pizza is a resurgence, but the fact that they’re doing what is basically, , practically tlayuda-like–.

He desires to figure out exactly how to make something that’s tasty– I believe he has that impulse. Rick and I spoke about pizza and food for like two-plus hours, completely impromptu. I think he tried, in a method maybe only an Angeleno could, to make these tastes appear even more universal to individuals who do not have frequent direct exposure or accessibility to them.

MK: There are a great deal of chain dining establishments that feel like they have no roots. The Cheesecake Manufacturing facility was birthed in Beverly Hills, but it might have been from anywhere: It can have been from New york city. It can have been from Texas. That’s what many chains wish to be– something that could be from anywhere to interest the masses. Yet CPK constantly really felt extremely Los Angeles; like, no person would believe this dining establishment began in Northern The golden state. It constantly felt like a restaurant that was extremely LA

NA: I believe in my vaguest memory of those times I went to California Pizza Kitchen as a child, it’s constantly this dim. I really feel like I have a black veil over my face.

MK: Yeah, yet you understand what? I just think he does not like this food yet, however I think when he grows older, he will. There are a lot of excellent points to state concerning an area like CPK, however I assume there’s likewise the other side, which is that there’s a basicness to it. And I do not think there’s anything incorrect keeping that, and we’ve decided to welcome it in American society, but usually my attitude is that I constantly desire something a lot more complex, much more fascinating.

They have not done the hot honey pepperoni point; they have not done the Quarter Sheets-style square pizza. There are so several points that they haven’t done just because they’re trending, and I assume that’s rather unusual, yet likewise comforting.

NA: I will certainly say having a toddler has made me end up being a CPK fan again. My son likes pizza, yet I would certainly claim before presenting it to him I had not tipped foot in a CPK in like 15 years or so? Currently I’m additionally a moms and dad taking my 2-year-old to the Cheesecake Manufacturing Facility and CPK– far less frequently than when I went expanding up, yet sufficient that it’s a point.

MK: Funny since they opened up regarding a year after I was born? So, possibly we’ll have the very same lifespan. Maybe I’m taking my grandchildren right here. Likewise look at the decline of shopping centers. The marketplace is not in a great place. People like eating casually, yet they additionally love fast-food and the ease of drive-thrus.

I constantly inform her that I really feel like I obtained right into my food job because I was doing rural food sampling with her at CPK– she had some sort of membership card, so she would always obtain complimentary dishes. I actually desire to compose a story regarding just how impactful CPK was for my early occupation development due to the fact that it advises me of that female who did Olive Garden food examines in her small community, and every person made fun of her. Not to claim that only CPK was available to me, however also when you grow up in like the suburbs, or in the Valley … I was simply hanging out at the Arcadia shopping center, the only location I desired to be.

MK: I don’t recognize if the one following to us is still open. Part of the reason why we do not go that commonly is since my son is not actually right into Italian food. Pizza, he’s not into.

California Pizza Kitchen Area, or CPK for short, was born in the age of Beverly Hills power lunches, where shakers and moving companies would certainly slip out of the office, brief-case in hand, and clear up in for a mid-day dish that does not come close to looking like the workdesk lunches of today. CPK was started in Beverly Hills, it ended up being a suv American component over the years, taking up supports at malls across the nation where families would certainly group for economical Barbecue Hen pizzas, crispy avocado egg rolls, and grape-dotted Waldorf salads. NA: I assume in my vaguest memory of those times I went to The golden state Pizza Kitchen area as a kid, it’s constantly this dim. Even though there’s not one conclusive style, places like California Pizza Cooking area have actually permitted LA to develop and approve so numerous even more various kinds of pizza.

Wonho Frank Lee, Personnel photographer (WFL): I assume there are most definitely a few places that reverberate? Whatever that is, we matured with it. As a family, we would go there lot. In university, you would go there a whole lot. I think of California Poultry Cafe at all times– they really feel very regional, yet additionally there’s a lot of them, so it’s a chain dining establishment experience, too.

KT: The flavors in this feel much more lined up with bánh mi or a spring roll to me than anything Thai. It’s kind of like an American spin on anything: The Tostada Pizza preferences like white people tacos– hardshell, lettuce, tomato. And truthfully it’s fire, the beans are respectable.

The Golden State Pizza Cooking Area, or CPK for brief, was birthed in the period of Beverly Hills power lunches, where shakers and moving companies would slip out of the office, brief-case in hand, and resolve in for a mid-day meal that doesn’t come close to appearing like the workdesk lunches these days. Although the restaurant has progressed somehow, the food selection and inside still mentally feel like a time pill of the ’80s and early ’90s. Floor tile in CPK’s signature color of yellow twists around the pizza stove, which barks with flames as pies slide in and out, crusts puffing up from the warm. A 40th birthday special of $9 take-home pizzas is hand-written on a black chalkboard. Families with little ones rest flanked on one side of the space.

Although CPK was founded in Beverly Hills, it became a suburban American fixture throughout the years, using up anchors at shopping malls across the country where families would certainly flock for inexpensive Barbeque Poultry pizzas, crunchy avocado egg rolls, and grape-dotted Waldorf salads. While the shopping mall restaurant has actually declined over the years, CPK has actually been determined. Maybe it’s an item of early-aughts chain nostalgia or the approachable menu converting to restaurants worldwide. Still, as the chain turns 40, it has areas across the united state and in nations like South Korea, Japan, Dubai, and Mexico.

MK: I assume the significance of why we’re below is that there’s something that reverberates concerning CPK that we can appreciate. I do not assume we would do this for one more chain like Red Lobster or Applebee’s or also Chili’s.

MK: The Tostada Pizza advises me of college lunches and not in an excellent way. It’s not completely positive nostalgia for me, but I can see where you all are coming from due to the fact that I do like my Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas.

. NA: I think that speaks with when CPK first started since the creators wished to do Spago– yet make it TGI Fridays. I believe the genesis was kind of like, “Can we make something obtainable that seems what consuming a pizza at Spago feels like?” Possibly it’s that intrinsic LA-ness that we can clock and see, while perhaps others can not. I do not think it’s nearly “The golden state” being in the name, regarding the branding. It feels like a chain that was born in LA. I want to claim, from my viewpoint as somebody that grew up on the East Coast, The Golden State was such a far-away idea. It was such a heavenly dreamland that wasn’t actual to me as a child beyond of the country. So when I initially mosted likely to CPK, it was kind of like, “Oh! Avocado can be in egg rolls.” There is something eco-friendly on every plate, eco-friendly on the table. I grew up eating takeout from the regional Chinese joint, pizza from the regional slice joints. CPK was where we would certainly obtain avocado in an egg roll or economically have a heaping eco-friendly salad or lettuce wraps, or something like that. And so that, to me, was exposure to this spiritual other land.

KT: I indicate, when I was 13 and 14, I was already curious about food during that time, so it was wonderful to me to find right here and claim, “Okay, I’m gon na obtain the Chicken Tequila Fettuccine.” I feel like I had capers for the first time here in the Hen Piccata.

MK: There’s something disarmingly excellent about this pizza due to the fact that it’s so renegade. Clearly a great deal of people like the mix of the sweet barbecue sauce with the red onion– and the aromatics. There’s the cilantro. I seem like this is the very first pizza many people taste that isn’t distribution. It’s sit-down dining establishment pizza. It’s absolutely California pizza. There’s a virtually blandly wonderful crust– no sourness, no real wheat complexity. The crust is just a lorry for what’s on top. In various other pizzerias, like in a Neapolitan location– the crust is in fact what you’re looking for. For California-style pizza, the crust can be extra dull, can be more of a sustaining character to the mix of toppings.

Matthew Kang, Lead Editor, Eater, Southern California/Southwest (MK): Three of us expanded up in LA somewhere, and at the end of the day, for us, going to CPK as a youngster or teenager was still somewhere we were adventuring to. I mean, that’s what it was like: For me, I was either going out in Glendale or K-Town. I didn’t understand where to go.

NA: There’s always mosting likely to be retribution of the norm– people gravitating toward points that recognize since whatever else gets on fire. I do believe, at least for the near future, restaurants like CPK aren’t going anywhere. How do you continue to catch a younger, more recent audience when component of your brand name is staying the same to be classic for an older generation?

Positioned on Beverly Drive, simply blocks from Rodeo Drive and the Golden Triangular, the Beverly Hills The Golden State Pizza Kitchen is the initial restaurant of the long-lasting chain, which currently has locations across the globe. Opened in 1985 by Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, the Beverly Hills place– and more generally, the California Pizza Kitchen area brand name– simply celebrated its 40th birthday celebration on March 27.

MK: Well, it’s fascinating since food society has actually clearly altered. It was regarding chef-driven dining establishments, those kinds of things. Like, that’s a new restaurant and yet it’s the opposite of ingenious.

RR: I think if you got back from bench after having some drinks, and this remained in your refrigerator, you would certainly be so stired. The cauliflower crust on the Tostada Pizza kind of consumes like a tortilla, like a thick tortilla. It truly functions.

NA: Our Lauren Grill scene report was a little cooling to me. I mean, it’s greater than what you wrote about the popularity of restaurants like these being an economic downturn indication. It’s disturbing that points need to be so normcore, so simplistic, to be appealing since we are so unmoored by everything occurring externally around us. Like hyper normcore is what we’re seeing pattern today for people to really feel comfortable or risk-free. I’m not claiming Laurel Grill isn’t great. It appears very good. And this is simply the sort of experience that individuals desire when they head out now.

NA: There’s something to say regarding longevity of individuals that work here. Beginning here 16 years ago [like VP of cooking Paul Przybylski], 37 years ago [like corporate chef Juan Borrayo] … like, there are California Pizza Kitchen area lifers. There must be a factor since they remained through the Pepsi possession. They remained via the GGC [Golden Gateway Capital] sale and personal bankruptcy. And there’s a factor we keep coming back to it: once again, that vibration– developmental taste memories. Perhaps it is something about the aspects of Los Angeles that we see in CPK, and it’s fun to have that reflection live in a method where we can have a little bit of home in Las vega and Waikiki, or any place, you understand, it’s around the globe now, I think?

WFL: Chains never left my rotation to be sincere. CPK was never ever actually my point, though. Cheesecake Factory, I made use of to go there a lot, and you recognize, Denny’s, IHOP, like hell, even The golden state Chicken Cafe, I go there a whole lot. The food is great. Chain dining establishments are a bit much better– readier for kids. There’s numerous great restaurants that don’t have any kind of transforming tables. I understand when I go to the bathroom in a CPK, there’s a transforming table. I understand there’s mosting likely to be a high chair.

Rebecca Roland, Editor, Eater, Southern California/Southwest (RR): Okay, I bear in mind having truly excellent buttered noodles right here as a youngster. Obviously, it comes out in the worst The golden state accent.

RR: The Thai Chicken Pizza does really feel very LA to me. I feel like this can be on the menu at any LA all-day coffee shop food selection, like a Joan’s on Third, or a California Chicken Cafe, or anything that does a poultry cover scenario. If this existed in those setups as a “Thai hen wrap,” you would certainly resemble, “Okay, yeah, that tastes excellent.”.

We’re not going out for avocado egg rolls from the Cheesecake Factory every week, or claiming Barbecue Hen Pizza is the ideal pizza we have actually ever before had.

Nicole Adlman, Cities supervisor (NA): It is generously dressed. That’s the ambiance below, and at most chain restaurants– borderline maximalist in regards to the dimension of the food that concerns the table, the quantity of dressing placed on the salad. It’s very generous.

You know what I assume is awesome about CPK? It’s that LA is now a pizza-loving city, where even outsiders check out Los Angeles and go “Wow” at its pizza scene. Despite the fact that there’s not one definitive design, places like California Pizza Cooking area have enabled LA to produce and approve so many even more various type of pizza.

On the precipice of this turning point, CPK apparently entered its mid-life situation period, when, throughout the week of March 22, 2025, it posted a video clip on Instagram that suggested the dining establishment will rebrand to be a little bit more Charli XCX– the begin of a “Brat” springtime. Gone was the approachable black palm tree set against a yellow triangle, replaced by a three-dimensional metal-textured tree that resembles an NFT and a new tagline of “Fresh to Death.” Brand Names like Ritz Crackers chipped in, writing “rizz detected” in the comments area, while various other commenters primarily expressed confusion over the unexpected adjustment. This mid-life dilemma is somewhat engineered, there are still concerns surrounding the future of CPK as it covers its fourth years.

All they did was basically exchange out barbeque chicken with burned ends, which will always be much better than chicken. You can provide me the best bbq hen in the world and the worst burnt ends in the world and the burned ends will still be better.

KT: I am not one to purchase anything Thai at a gigantic chain dining establishment. Yeah, that was not me. My mom, who is Thai, would certainly be like, “What the fuck are you doing?” The Thai Chicken Pizza advises me of a Vietnamese cover, like a spring roll with the peanut dipping sauce. I obtain what it’s mentioning. Do I think this is naturally Thai? No, however there are aspects of it that, you could suggest, feel Southeast Asian, like bean sprouts and cilantro. It’s not from Thai food preparation. I really feel like that is the vibe, and while the flavors may not be precise, I assume the purpose is to be broadly international to be much more one-of-a-kind.

NA: Even without the pineapple, the pizza is exceptionally pleasant. However there is still that balancing component of the nutty Gouda, I think, possibly some flavor from the cauliflower crust. It doesn’t feel so pleasant that I’m driven away by the sweetness. It’s just a bite of comfort for me.

KT: I really feel the contrary since the CPK I mosted likely to was in a mall that is really intense, and it partially protrudes onto the shopping mall flooring. To me, the aesthetic has actually always been Mall Premium. The vibe in my memory is simply very mall.

When I believe concerning the period that this dining establishment was born in, the ’80s, I think it hasn’t transformed. They’re not going to rebrand and upgrade all the dining establishments. I believe, in a way, they’re much better off playing on fond memories and that sensation of what it was like for us to expand up in these restaurants.

RR: The Waldorf Hen Salad utilized to be among one of the most requested items for my table when I matured in the Valley. There’s grapes and apples– it’s fresh and it’s intense, and you get those crispy celery pieces and the wonderful candied walnuts.

RR: It additionally feels so ’90s Beverly Hills power lunch. However the majority of people have never had a Beverly Hills power lunch. It’s a very aspirational task– the California leisure activity of marching and mosting likely to lunch: Like totally leaving the office, mosting likely to a restaurant, and buying a Waldorf salad.

NA: I think we like chain dining establishments particularly in the minute when we’re eating in a chain restaurant. We’re not going out for avocado egg rolls from the Cheesecake Factory every week, or saying Barbeque Hen Pizza is the best pizza we have actually ever had.