California Pizza Kitchen has had a pretty interesting journey since its initial opening,
and it's certainly cemented its status in chain restaurant history.
Here are some things you may not know about California Pizza Kitchen and its legendary
pizzas.
If you're living a gluten-free life, California Pizza Kitchen is an excellent option for your
dining pleasure.
For a pizza joint, it's got a refreshingly hefty amount of awesome gluten-free menu items.
But that's nothing new.
In fact, according to a California Pizza Kitchen rep who spoke to Pop Sugar, the company was
sort of an OG gluten-free bread slinger.
The rep said,
"CPK was one of the first national restaurant chains to create a certified gluten-free pizza
menu...We can also make any pizza on the menu with a gluten-free crust."
Normally a place might have one gluten-free pizza option, but to offer that much variety
to a celiac sufferer or gluten-intolerant customer really is a gift.
Props to California Pizza Kitchen for creating a safe space for those with autoimmune deficiency
disorders, or just an irrational fear of gluten.
Every year California Pizza Kitchen gives employees who've been through its pizza certification
program a chance to compete in a "Best Pizza Chef" contest.
The intention is two-fold, it's a chance for some of its most talented chefs to put an
extra $25K in their pocket, and a morale booster.
It drives the pizza chefs to want to succeed, and therefore there's a lot of skill honing
happening in California Pizza Kitchen restaurants across the country leading up to the competition
rounds.
The pizza certification program keeps employees wanting to work for California Pizza Kitchen,
resulting in a higher worker retention rate and continued success for the restaurant.
When asked about the program, California Pizza Kitchen's VP of culinary innovation, Brian
Sullivan, told FSR,
"We want to make sure that they receive the best training possible so that they're successful
in the job that they do each day, and that they feel a sense of pride and accomplishment
each day as they make food."
Both the training program and Best Pizza Chef competition incentivize the chefs to learn
to craft a delicious, unique pizza so customers will actually want to enjoy the dine-in experience
at California Pizza Kitchen, rather than relying on delivery or take-out from cheaper pizza
establishments.
The annual competition offers a plethora of benefits for everyone involved.
With the popularity of food delivery apps and fast-casual restaurants, less and less
Americans are enjoying the lost art form of going out to eat at a family chain.
California Pizza Kitchen is offering a solution to satisfy both the customer demand for grab-and-go
services, and the slump in sales it has seen because of these new trends, customers can
now come and grab one of California Pizza Kitchen's crafted California pizza creations
at the restaurant, then take it home to bake it in their own oven, much closer to their
couch and their Netflix.
There's also an option to get them delivered.
Customers can choose between any of the 20 pizzas available on California Pizza Kitchen's
menu.
An added bonus is that the take and bake pizzas are $10 less than they would be if you ate
them in-house.
California Pizza Kitchen CEO Jim Hyatt explained to Restaurant Business that since every pizza
is enjoyed fresh and hot from the oven, their take and bake option is the best alternative
to dining in at one of their restaurants.
This definitely seems like a viable solution to the conundrum of wanting a fresh, high
quality pizza but not being able to bring yourself to put on something other than pajamas
to eat it.
When it comes to shaping up or losing weight, frozen pizza isn't exactly the first thing
that comes to mind.
If you're trying to maintain certain healthy standards with a frozen pie, though, California
Pizza Kitchen isn't a terrible choice.
One registered dietician weighed in on California Pizza Kitchen's frozen gluten-free margherita
pizza to SHAPE, touting it as an excellent option.
She explained,
"The ingredients are totally recognizable, and the sugar and sodium are lower than what
you would see in other pizzas."
A team of nutritionists who consulted with Huffington Post ranked California Pizza Kitchen's
five cheese and tomato pizza from the frozen aisle as one of the healthiest available in
the genre.
So while frozen pizza isn't a beacon of healthy cuisine, if you're comparing different brands
in a lineup, California Pizza Kitchen seems to come out on top as slightly less unhealthy,
which is a serious compliment in the world of frozen bread topped with cheese.
Pizza is obviously the signature offering at California Pizza Kitchen, but homemade
California style pies weren't the original concept.
Founders Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield told The Wall Street Journal in 2009 that they'd
initially wanted to recreate a pasta concept they'd discovered at a restaurant in Chicago.
Rosenfield explained,
"We checked out a similar restaurant in Glendale, California, and saw not-particularly-good
pizza going around.
But half the people were having a slice.
Literally, that day, we said: 'Let's scrap the pasta and make it pizza.'"
California Pizza Kitchen became pizza-centric both in its menu and its physical space.
Rather than cooking the pies in electric deck ovens, they decided to have an old school
open-hearth oven in the middle of the restaurant.
"Whether in our home or catered at yours, we're always happy to provide you with the
meals you know and love."
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