California Pizza Kitchen

California Pizza Kitchen Restaurant Review:

An anomalous chain restaurant, CPK rarely disappoints. The list of two dozen crispy-thin pizzas includes all the standards, but there are also inventive versions like wild mushroom, mango tandoori chicken, and B.L.T.---complete with mayonnaise. Our favorites are the roasted garlic chicken, with its garlic-shallot butter, and the barbecued chicken, the most popular of the pizzas. You can also design your own. If you can tear yourself away from the pies---we almost never can---try one of the pastas; we recommend the Thai linguine with spicy peanut-ginger sauce. Another Asian option, the crisp Chinese chicken salad, is satisfying as well. Salad portions are large, so keep in mind that you can get a half-order. Soups, appetizers and sandwiches made with good hearth-baked focaccia round out the menu. Desserts like butter cake and a hot fudge brownie sundae are not for calorie counters.