California Pizza Kitchen Restaurant Review

California Pizza Kitchen started back in 1985 in Beverly Hills by two attorneys. It is now International and publicly traded. Their BBQ Chicken pizza is their signature dish. We were passing by the San Mateo location and decided to refresh our memories.

Decor, Vibe – Modern clean decor with lots of painted pizza boxes on the walls. This location is part of a shopping mall, so typical mall shoppers were dining.

Menu (Click to zoom into any picture)

Lots of different salad, appetizer, and pizza options.

Website Menu

Picks:

Chinese Chicken Salad ($11.79) – Shredded Napa cabbage, crisp iceberg and crispy wontons tossed with julienne carrots, red cabbage, green onions, toasted sesame seeds and fresh cilantro in a spicy sweet & sour sesame dressing. Topped with chilled-grilled chicken breast. Good sized salad with lots of thinly sliced chicken. Greens were pretty finely chopped. Dressing had a low key flavor. Decent and filling salad but fairly high priced.

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Pizza ($13.49) – Fresh pineapple, BBQ chicken, smoked Gouda and Mozzarella cheeses, barbecue sauce, sliced red onions and cilantro had a soft edge and slightly firm crust making it more like a flatbread. You could taste the gouda cheese. Not a lot of meat.

The Meat Cravers Pizza ($13.49) had a combination of sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, Capicola ham, julienne salami, Mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce.  One of their better pizzas as there is so much MEAT.

OK:

Original BBQ Chicken Pizza ($12.99) – Barbecue sauce, smoked Gouda and Mozzarella cheeses, BBQ Chicken, sliced red onions and cilantro was just like the other one. It was ok but nothing stellar.

Italian Tomato & Basil Pizza ($13.49) Imported Italian tomatoes, Mozzarella cheese and our tomato sauce, topped with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese was just average as the ingredients are pretty fair.  No artisan cheeses or freshly picked tomato here. We’ll take a Gialina pizza any day.

Pans:
None

California Pizza Kitchen got us a mediocre server that forgot a drink, did check on us. On another visit we had an enthusiastic young server. The food was fair and the prices not cheap but inline with a sit down place. You can find gourmet pizza not far from here at places like Speederia or Toto’s. They have a kids menu.

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

California Pizza Kitchen Overall Rating: (Average 1.5)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Average)
Service Rating:	(Below Average)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Average)
Value Rating:	(Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	Mon-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-9pm
Parking:	Free Lot
Reservations:	No
Prices:	$9.99 - $17.79