I don’t eat at many chain restaurants partially because I am constantly itching to try new cuisine, support local businesses, etc.  However, I have a few favorites that I occasionally revisit, like California Pizza Kitchen!  I first tried it in college, when there were only a few locations in Southern California and I loved it.  By the time I was out of college, they started expanding to other states.  In fact, when I was first living in Nashville and completely homesick, I found out that they opened a new CPK and I felt right at home!  There is something to be said about chain restaurants in that they are pretty much the same no matter which location you step into.

Here’s a quick dinner we had on Friday, and we were all completely impressed how much the menu had changed for the better!

Here’s our local restaurant and the newest menu!

And now for the food!

Topped with bleu cheese dressing, Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon, chopped egg and tomatoes.

I love a wedge salad, and although they called it “petite,” it was enough to share!

Shaved Cremini, Shiitake, Portobello and white mushrooms with slivered scallions, cracked black pepper, Pecorino Romano and Mozzarella.  Finished with Parmesan.

All kinds of wonderful mushrooms!

Loaded with fresh vegetables!  Baby broccoli, eggplant, Cremini mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, corn, red onions and Mozzarella.  We love it on wheat whole grain crust.

I could have sworn that this was one of my favorite pizzas that used to be named the Vegetarian with Japanese Eggplant, but maybe they swapped it out for regular eggplant or the name wasn’t as catchy.  In either case, it was nice surprise when it turned out to be an old favorite!  My guy got this on the wheat whole grain crust, which I liked but he was 50/50 on.

I don’t know the actual name of this dish or the description because it seems to be just a new item not on their website, or perhaps it is something regional.  In either case, the two meat eaters were completely impressed and thought it was up to par or better than some of the steaks that we have eaten at fancy, more expensive steakhouses.  Who knew?

Spicy poblano stuffed with chicken, cheese, roasted corn & black bean salsa, wild mushrooms, spinach and eggplant.  Topped with housemade avocado salsa verde and cilantro.

This is one of my favorite dishes off of their Lite Adventures menu.  It was so delicious that I kept having bites of my dish stolen!

Warm chocolate cake served with triple-thick hot fudge and vanilla bean sauce. + Häagen-Dazs

I was having a nice healthy veggie-filled dinner until someone suggested dessert.  So worth it though!  🙂

Normally we don’t do after-dinner drinks, but my guy decided to try this one.  It turned out to be huge!

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised to see how much CPK has changed!  It will definitely stay on the favorites list.  🙂

California Pizza Kitchen
6417 East Pacific Coast Highway
Long Beach, CA 90803
(562) 596-2775
cpk.com