A FOODIE’S DELIGHT
If you are done with all the DVDS kept in your shelf and are wondering on how to spend that lovely Saturday evening, then CPK is the place to head. Considering I was a new breed in this city, my friends tagged me along to CPK, which happens to be their regualr hangout joint. The place has beautiful ambience, serves delicious pizza and is truly a delight to spend your weekends.
CPK known as the California Pizza Kitchen in reference to its name is not just restricted to pizzas but serves a variety of starters, salads, and some delicious desserts. A quick look at the menu and I knew what I wanted. The new Four Cheese Ravioli as a starter, the scrumptious cheeseburger pizza as main course and to top it off , the sticky toffee cake was an utterly pleasant experience. To add to the fun, I loved the fact that they constantly refilled our glasses with ice tea, even though they weren’t completely empty!
The menu is also super extensive, that if one has a group of friends who have varied tastes, then the likelihood to find something which fits everyone is for sure. A special mention for all you beautiful girls in town, running behind the size zero craze, take it easy!! The place not only serves mouth watering pizzas, but also takes care of the nutrition value present in the food to eat. So don’t worry about that increasing waist line. Pun intended!!! However, don’t expect too much from the pastas served here as they are a strict NO-NO from my end. I ordered regular red gravy pasta which happened to be way too ordinary and was kind of tasteless!!
To say so after having stayed in India for my entire life is quite a compliment by itself. India, a place where food is characterized by sophisticated blend of diverse spices, herbs and various vegetables, the simplicity of the pizzas delivered by California Pizza Kitchen was even so quite a treat, suiting the Indian tastebuds well at the same time.
What really attracts one to this place is its ambience, which is completely relaxed and comfortable, be it any time of the day. The place gives you options of seating indoor and outdoor as well. My personal Choice- Outdoors. So, if you’ve ever been to this mouth watering place recognized as the California Pizza Kitchen restaurant, any Indian at first instance for sure would remember those yellow cabs running in India, considering the place is in shades of Yellow and Black, and including its logo. Leaving humour aside there’s an abundance of yellow and a casual, simple atmosphere, which forms the heart of the design about this eating-place. With a diner-like interior and plenty of booths, tables and chairs, the décor is simple and always clean and efficient, just the way you always expect it to be.
Another key aspect one looks at in the restaurant is that of service. Needless to say, I was really impressed by the friendly and quick service provided by the waiters. In fact they took very little time delivering the ready products to our table.
What really was amazing about this restaurant was that it even offers a “Menu Adventure guarantee” which says that they will replace your meal with a new one if you’re unsatisfied. It’s a great, risk-free incentive to try something different. I really enjoyed visiting this restaurant and ever since this place has become our hangout spot. I could say this as the very next day we had a second trip to this wonderful place.
Being a teenager, pizzas are like my staple food. Like any other mother who would be against it, my mum was no different. Being an Indian, pizzas for me meant Dominoes and Pizza Hut – India’s most favourite pizza joints. However dining at CPK was an interesting as well as a completely different experience for me. From the minute I stepped in till the time we sat there it just kept adding on to my taste buds.
If being a veggie is a concern, then please keep it aside, for it has various options of toppings for vegetarians. In fact they even custom prepared a special pizza for me. A look at CPK’s menu made my mind sing the song ‘I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night’.
Along with the breath-skipping aroma around this place attracted people, this place did provide one with sumptuous meal. But as a matter of fact it did cost one a lot for each of them. I would say this place is good spot for one to commemorate their good times. However it’s not the place to be for those looking out for cheap meals as each of these delicious pizzas which gets ones taste buds asking for more cost around 12 to 13 dollars. In India the best of the pizzas cost around 300 to 400 Indian Rupees which comes to around 6-8 USD. But asking around and going to other pizza parlors I found that it is a reasonable rate for USA.
As I said before I have a thing for pizzas so I could not actually resist going only to this place. I really wanted to know the truth about the food chain in America and as to how it delivers and brings its customers closer to it. Going over the known chains were Dominoes, Rudy’s NY Pizza and CPK. Going over the realities of all these marketers of pizzas made me realize that CPK indeed had left the rest two behind in its race. Dominoes is one of it kinds which prepares good and delicious pizzas but its short coming is that they only focus upon delivery, having very less sitting arrangement, dropping down the large market for it. Other one being Rudy’s too is a well known pizza spot but it too has a very minimum variety in its vegetarian segment,dropping down its opportunity to driving vegetarian people to its market. Watching over the last one and having researched over it for much, it really overwhelms one with its excellent service, delivery and specially the variety it provides one with.
Another interesting and unexpected thing on my second visit to CPK was that there was a birthday party going on. I later found out that they hold special parties for kids under 10 providing free meal to the kid and additional low fee of 10$ per guest. The joy on the birthday boy’s face and the happiness beaming off the rest of the kids made the place look more inviting than ever. It was an absolute amazement for the kids as, in went the pizza with the topping from one side and out it came from the other, ready to BE munched on.
To sum it up all I will say is that my experiences may land up being very rare but they have been for sure one of its kinds and not just once but every time that I have been there. “A lot can happen over a cup of coffee” ,a tag line of Cafe Coffee Day in India, but for my friends and me a lot of memories have taken place upon hot, steamy ,all spiced up and to add to it delicious mouth watering CPK pizzas. CPK Pizzas – Worth a visit. Whom are you waiting for? Go, Check it out!!!
Atlanta, GA 30363
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