I’ll take CPK any day.

Picture by GoldFornite via Wikimedia Commons

A year ago, I moved from my old neighborhood which was a veritable food desert into the promised land of restaurants. There was literally nothing in my old town but hamburgers and fried chicken. Now, I live 10 minutes from an upscale mall and all of the bounty that comes with it. Almost every major chain has a location here. I can get any kind of food imaginable – most of it delivered to my front door. So naturally, I’m obsessed with the ONE pizza restaurant that is not.

I absolutely adore California Pizza Kitchen. The first time I ever tried it, I was actually living IN California. I was hooked. I love everything about them: the sleek, modern design of the restaurants, the fresh bread served with olive oil, the extensive menu, the raspberry tea. My personal favorite is the Thai chicken pizza. Tomato sauce doesn’t always agree with me, so I love white pizzas and other alternative sauces. The Thai chicken is the perfect combination with its sweet crust, peanut sauce and cold sprout toppings. It’s lighter than normal pizza and a refreshing change. The wild mushroom is also awesome. But if you prefer something more traditional, they also have pepperoni and sausage.

They even make a decent frozen version that you can get at your local grocery store. Sadly, they discontinued the Thai chicken (someone told me it was because of the sprouts, but I can’t confirm that this is true.)

The only thing they DON’T offer is a location close to me! I forced my siblings to have dinner there when we met up recently. Another time, when a friend suggested that we meet for lunch somewhere midway between us, I also maneuvered HER into the nearest CPK. Last month, I made a special stop at another mall and walked the half mile through it just to get my Thai chicken fix.

And now I see that they’re offering a new “take and bake” option. That would be lovely, since I find it depressing to eat at restaurants all by myself. Maybe I can stock up the next time in the neighborhood of a CPK? You know, unless they read this and open a location in my neighborhood. I personally pledge to make it their most profitable location.