Fine Dining - California Pizza Kitchen Was Pasta First? feat. Holly Brown

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Viola Davis' favorite chain? California Pizza Kitchen has some truly fascinating claims - from pizzas innovated in their kitchen to being the first chain to outlaw smoking in their restaurants - I dive into all of it with comedian Holly Brown Holly used to work at CPK, which makes her the first former employee of the restaurant-of-the-week I've had as a guest on the show The Eat Deets will teach you about how CPK was originally a pasta concept A baffling viral mishap regarding mac & cheese The Secret Menu: Legal Eats Not only is CPK Viola Davis' favorite chain restaurant, but Holly served her! A Yelper writes an absolute epic about crossing the highest reward tier threshold at California Pizza Kitchen "Fine" Dining is now on video! Head on over to my YouTube to watch this episode! Music by: James McEnelly (@Ramshackle_Music) Theme Song by: Gabe Alvarez (@spooky.gabe) Segment Transitions Voiced by: Sandy Rose "Fine" Dining is on Patreon! Get an extra episode every month (My November Patreon exclusive episode just dropped on Ivar's Acres of Clams in Seattle, WA and the founder was a MAV-ER-ICK. Author Temple West joins me to chat all about it and how literal bombs on the freeway derailed our plans), extended Yelp from Strangers segments every other week, merch discounts, download access to our music including the 7 singles from our Olive Garden musical, and more! Patreon Producers: Joyce Van, & Sue Ornelas   Get the 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send in your California Pizza Kitchen stories at [e-mail].   Follow the show on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast Follow Holly on Instagram @hollybrowncomedy   Let me know where I should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, PodcastAddict, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read every one!   Next week on "Fine" Dining: California Pizza Kitchen Review [Part Two]! Holly Brown is back to rave about a chain restaurant we both love as we eat pizza, pasta, apps, dessert...everything to discuss the Good, the Not Good, and the Just There of CPK. Ever work at California Pizza Kitchen? Send your stories to [e-mail].

California Pizza Kitchen, where Italian cuisine meets California cool. But does this chain really embody the innovative spirit of the Golden State, or is it just another overly ambitious slice of pie? Today we're diving into the history of CPK, the place that dared to put barbecue chicken on pizza and somehow convinced America it was a good idea. Founded in 1985, California Pizza Kitchen quickly became known for its creative take on pizza.

And these weren't your run-of-the-mill pepperoni pies. No, CPK introduced us to the wild world of Thai chicken or Jamaican jerk pizzas. By the 90s, they were flying high, expanding rapidly and bringing their tasty cuisine to every corner of the country. And while their innovative menu drew crowds, some of their culinary choices,

looking at you peaking duck pizza, left diners scratching their heads. The question is, has CPK found the right balance between creativity and consistency, or are they left skating on thin crust? Today we're going deep into the history of California Pizza Kitchen and checking out some choice Yelp reviews

before we evaluate it ourselves next week to answer the question, is it still worth going or is it just coasting off of nostalgia? Stay tuned, this is Fine Dining. Your table is ready, take a seat. The flavor of the day is mediocrity Wouldn't you like to try a pie? Guarantee it'll be the perfect pie

Fine dining, better than you thought, worse than you hoped Fine dining, we don't treat media per ads a joke. Breaking every single place we've been. Looking for the perfect five out of ten. And I am joined this week by stand-up comedian and CPK enthusiast Holly Brown.

Hello, Holly Brown. Hello, Holly. Hi, thank you for having me. I am such a CPK enthusiast, it's kinda nuts. Before we jump into the history of CPK, I kinda wanna jump into your history with CPK. Ooh, yeah. You worked there, which I guess I didn't realize, but found out today.

I know, I know, I feel like, which is uncommon too, you work at a restaurant especially, and then you leave the restaurant, and it kind of, whether or not you had a good experience working there will dictate if you continue to like it, right? Sure. Not for me, I just love it. It was my first job ever.

Yeah. I got right out of high school, I became a host at CPK, and I just moved up naturally. I became, they have takeout positions. So- You're now the CEO. Moved up naturally. I'm the CEO.

This isn't a paid endorsement because I'm paid as the CEO. If I can figure out how to edit like a sniper laser on me to not say anything bad, do that. I know I do give the vibes of someone that's like really ready to fight over CPK. Don't slander. No, not in my fucking house. I just, so I started as a host, then I moved to takeout position,

which is like, when you're working at CPK, that's- The coveted spot. It's the most complicated spot because you have a section as a server and then you're also doing takeout packaging up orders. It's just, you're doing a lot. I have an amazing story coming up in the Eat Deets about a specific mess up that happened recently

from the takeout position. Oh yeah, well not on my watch. I, hands down the best. Then I moved to just full-time server and I had turned 21 and I think like, it coincided with the idea of me going, oh, I really started to like beer. I'm a huge beer enthusiast.

And CPK does not offer a lot in the way of bar service. So I just wanted to move on. Like I loved CPK. I also, once I got other bar restaurants, jobs, I was like, whoa, you can actually make money doing this. People that go to CPK, I would say, generally are not people that go, like, in any chain restaurant. They don't go outside of those to go see

what other restaurant experiences are like. And, like, they're just used to what they want, and they're used to how they tip. Sure. Well, before we jump into the eat deeds, I also want to give just a little bit of background about CPK is literally one of the very first things that came up when I met you.

I met you at an iHeartRadio mixer. Yeah. And I mentioned the premise of my show, and you excused yourself immediately to go just talk about CPK with a friend that you were with. Oh my God, we did! And I'm like, why aren't you including me yourself immediately to go just talk about CPK with a friend that you were with. Oh my god, we did! And I'm like, why aren't you including me in a talk about chain restaurants?

So I was like, okay, you do comedy, come on my podcast and let's talk CPK. So this has been months in the making, but like in my mind, you are the CPK girl. Thank you so much. Oh my god. Wow, I forgot that we literally freaked out so much that we had to excuse ourselves. Yes. Well, you sparked a conversation,

you sparked a friendship, I'd say. Yes. It was my first time meeting one of my remote coworkers in person and it was her. And so I think us, we just locked eyes. She said a pizza from CPK, I said a pizza from CPK, we fell in love. And I said, I'm here too.

And y'all just. But here I am now. You're here now. So do you want to learn the history of CPK? I already did when I worked there. But I bet you there's a lot I don't know. Sure. All right, well, let's jump on into this week's Eat Deets.

Eat Deets. Eat Deets. California Pizza Kitchen was founded in Beverly Hills, California in 1985 by two lawyers. You knew that. Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield. They left their successful law practice to open the restaurant. Oh. They left it all behind. I mean, the power of pizza, man.

The founders had no prior restaurant experience whatsoever. They invested heavily, taking second mortgages and borrowing from the bank and friends to raise the necessary funds. Oh, look at them now, bitches. I mean, I get, it's so interesting to think at the time because like you explaining and reminding everybody about how innovative this all is,

it's hard to put myself back there and remember like, oh yeah, when you are borrowing this money from your friends, you're doing it to create wacky pizzas. Right. Like that is not an easy sell. Sure. Now you say that they left to make pizzas. What if I told you that wasn't the intent? I would be flabbergasted. Get ready. Oh my

god. CPK popularized California style pizza. But the original restaurant concept was actually for something completely different. From mash.com, while California pasta kitchen has a nice ring to it, it ultimately didn't make the cut. 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 is quoted saying, 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. Yeah, that's such a lawyer move. So just like noticing the popularity of pizza, they were like, you know what, let's cut our losses. Let's really dive in on pizza. I totally get it. I get it. I'm a pasta guy though. I would have rather California pasta kitchen. Okay, but that's what I love about CPK. I totally get it. I get it. I'm a pasta guy though.

I would have rather California pasta kitchen. Okay, but that's what I love about CPK is they still have pasta and honestly, it's super fucking good. It's what I get. Yeah, I think I does feel like a little bit of a lawyer move to, to be like, all right, here's our case. We presented our case to the court.

Court, court. You hear that? Oh, shoot! You know what that means. I do, and I'm very excited. Okay, so for those of you who don't know what that means, she said the hidden word of the day, it was court. And it is triggering the Secret Menu mini-game.

Secret Menu mini-game, I will give a joke category. You and I will fling jokes back and forth for one minute. Comment below. Tell me your own entry into the category legal eats. And you can win a fine dining t-shirt. I'll pick out my favorite one. Examples of legal eats are Applebee's Grill and Bar exam. So good. Or 100 grand jury.

So good. Yeah. Basically mixing food and legal terms or restaurants and legal terms. or 100 grand jury. Oh, good. Yeah. Basically mixing food and legal terms or restaurants and legal terms. So we're going to put one minute on the clock. Holly, you're up first. I'll have you start in three, two, one.

The Waffle House of Representatives. All right. Law and hors d'oeuvres. Oh, so good. Five dollar foot long arm of the law. That is phenomenally stupid. I loved it. I loved it. So peanut butter and jelly. Nice.

Yeah. Denny's grand indictment slam. That's good, too. Prosecutory board. Oh my god. I want to eat that. This is my favorite. I object. That's so good.

Thank you so much. I literally couldn't come up with one for objection. That's so good. Thank you. Hot Judge Sunday. Actually, that works really well. White Collar crime castle. Okay.

Chili-cone caseload. It feels so gross. All right. Time is up. That does it for the secret menu. Don't forget, comment below. I'll pick out my favorite one and send you a fine dining t-shirt. And my favorite one for last time goes to TikTok user Andrea Emerald for her submission in the category Busty Restaurants Chest Cake Factory. I like it. Go ahead,

DM me at fine dining podcast on Instagram or TikTok or send me an email. Fine dining podcast at gmail.com and I will get you your shirt. Everyone else better luck this week. Thank you. Influential California chefs like Alice Waters and Ed Ladue helped elevate pizza with creative toppings. Ladue, who worked at Wolfgang Puck's Spago, developed CPK's menu, including the famous barbecue chicken pizza. Wow. Okay. Ed Ladue likened making California style pizza to an artist expanding their palette from 10 to 300 colors. I think that's a little cocky.

Oh, a little bit. We have 300 colors here. His innovative approach helped define CPK's offerings. Okay. Wow, from Spago. Yeah. It makes you kind of wonder what other, I'm sure you know, And then we have the PKs offerings. Okay. So. Wow, from Spago. Yeah.

It makes you kind of wonder what other, I'm sure you know how many other times that happens where they come from like such a fine dining place, ay. She said the name of the show. Ah, ba ba ba ba. It's like when it happens in movies and you're like, ah. Do they notice?

Yeah. They turn at the camera and wink. Yeah, and you're like, they notice. Yeah, they did that for me. They notice it, I know they notice. Yeah, they did that for me. They noticed it. I know they did it. Yeah. But just like coming from such a fancy place to then recreating the meals, it just makes me... But you can really cash out if you're like,

oh, and there's gonna be hundreds of locations nationwide? Oh, for sure. It is a good investment. In 1991, California Pizza Kitchen led the nation as the first restaurant chain to ban smoking sections in restaurants. Fuck yeah. The reason, to keep their employees happy. Wow.

Who didn't wanna walk through clouds of secondhand smoke, the founders considered it a core belief to be kind to people working for them. Wow. Isn't that crazy that that's like impressive and not baseline? For sure. Yeah, let me tell you, I had some terrible CPK managers

So yeah, just look into the camera and just say their first and last names their addresses Put their phone numbers on screen 717. I don't even know full full how phone numbers work anyone 17 as her number no no it's like I scrubbed her name their names my memory But I yeah for sure remember they were the reason like half the reason I left. Sure. Yeah, I can imagine. So I'm going to actually take this to court. Back with the old Ricky. I object. PepsiCo owned a 67% stake in CPK in 1992, at which point they implemented a rapid expansion plan that was not as successful as anticipated.

This led to cost cutting measures, including replacing fresh ingredients with frozen vegetables and cheese. Oh, bummer. That's so funny, they do have Pepsi products. I don't know if they still do, but they did. Yeah, when you get a big conglomerate like that, they're probably gonna be finding ways to cut corners and

It shows yeah by 1997 Pepsi Co had spent millions on the failed acquisition Private equity firm Bruckman Rosser Sherrill and co bought Pepsi Co shares and fresh ingredients were reintroduced shortly thereafter Now I didn't even know about CPK until I was in like seventh grade, which would have been like 02 maybe. And I loved them from the beginning, but this is like post Pepsi. So they're already back to fresh ingredients by the time I'm discovering them. And I've always held them in a high regard. Well, I think that makes sense.

I didn't hear about them until I was, I grew up in California and I didn't know about them until I was in high school. You didn't know about your own pizza kitchen? I know, it's so embarrassing. Please don't tell all my friends. You literally just did. No! Yeah, I grew up, we did not have a lot of money growing up, like, just going out to restaurants.

And so when I did finally see CBK in high school, I was like, uh, this place is fancy. It felt fancy when you're younger. I would go to, like, the mall to the mall that I basically grew up in. And there were food court offerings that I loved, and they didn't have a lot of sit-down restaurants. The ones they had were like Johnny Rockets, which is barely one.

And then they put in a CPK, and I was like, this is my new favorite place. And for a while, it really was. It does a good job of separating itself from the pack in that way. And especially how many of them are attached to malls. It does a good job. Cause like you other, at the end of the spectrum,

you have Cheesecake Factory and that just feels like a gaudy museum for banquets. Like just different child parties from rich kids. It has like a Sistine Chapel vibe. Like why are you painting angels on the ceiling? I know, nobody. When you're- Take it too seriously.

You give us too much food to ever wanna look up. Right. Like what? Actually you have to to like flatten out the chins. Yeah, that's true. I'm like, oh God, no one take a photo of me unless I'm- That's your stretching. Stretching it out.

Cheesecake Factory's just looking up. Cheesecake Factory is just chin management for me. I mean, Cheesecake Factory is a diarrhea refinery for me, am I right? Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy You know what? No, I said if I'm gonna make some changes, I'm gonna make some changes my friend. I'm refining it CPK was first traded on the Nasdaq national market in 2000 under the ticker symbol CPKI The company's stock stopped being publicly traded in 2011 after being acquired by Golden Gate Capital for 470 million dollars. Well, I don't know anything about that kind of stuff. So I don't know why that happened. Well, why does one become public and then not? Yeah, I don't know why. I think it was a matter of like, they paid out investors.

And I think investors or like stockholders did have to approve the sale. So they're like buying out your shares and cashing you out. I think this company is just like, we don't want to answer to approve the sale. So they're like buying out your shares and cashing you out. I think this company is just like, we don't wanna answer to y'all. We wanna take this place in the vision that we see for it. That's my new dream.

That's my new goal. I don't wanna answer to y'all. That's what I want my goal to be. I wanna purchase the entire brand of CPK. You know I do. I actually, I do. CPK offers 20 pizza flavors. Options include California Club Pizza

with bacon and avocado, and Mexican-influenced carne asada pizza. Hell yeah. CPK has five certified gluten-free pizza varieties. These include barbecue chicken and mushroom pepperoni sausage, all certified by Gluten Intolerance Group, GIG. Didn't even know about that.

They're a real organization. Hope they're doing okay. You all good? I feel like it might be hard. Speaking of diarrhea, we're fine, aren't we? Hey! Hey! Hey!

All right. CPK also offers a cauliflower crust made with gluten-free ingredients. However, only the pizzas on their gluten-free pizza menu are certified to be prepared with strict gluten-free ingredients. However, only the pizzas on their gluten-free pizza menu are certified to be prepared with strict gluten-free procedures. Okay. CPK's menu includes more than just pizza, we know this.

They serve soups, salads, pastas, entrees, like cedar plank salmon, and protein-heavy power bowls. That's new, the protein-heavy power bowls. That was not there when I was there. Also, just eating something called a Power Bowl feels excessive. Yes, of course. That's like no CPKs next to a gym. Viola Davis is a fan of CPK, celebrating her first Emmy nomination there in 2015.

I served her. I did not know she was like a public fan of CPK. I served her at Northridge CPK. Like for this specific meal, the celebratory one? I 1000% remember Viola Davis, cause it was like before she fully blew up when I served her. She was in things, but she was not yet like, not me.

The powerhouse of acting that is Viola Davis. It was like the year before or something. But I knew who she was. And I was like, Viola Davis was here. Wow, that blew my mind that that's like a public known fact starter. I served a lot of, because of being in Northridge, there's a lot of things, shoot around there,

film around there. And I would serve a lot of people or take out orders to the Workaholics set a bunch of times. I did that. It's interesting. MTV News correspondent Josh Horowitz has also spotted Harry Styles and Lady Gaga at CPK. Oh my God.

Yeah? To who's who? You can buy frozen CPK pizzas at grocery stores. These frozen pizzas, including popular flavors like the barbecue chicken, are manufactured by Nestle, an evil company. And they're not very good. Oh, the store-bought ones? Yeah, the company and the store-bought ones're not very good. Yeah. Oh, the store-bought ones?

Yeah, the company and the store-bought ones are not very good. Compare it. No way. I've never had them. I'm a di giorno boy. They're a zero in comparison to CPK. They don't taste anything like the pizzas you get at CPK. Okay. Sorry to be honest.

How dare you. I know. CPK has over 270 locations in the US and internationally. They operate in 30 US states and 11 countries, including Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Wow, look at them. Some international CPK locations offer unique items not available in the US.

For example, the Kawasaki Japan location serves miso shrimp. Wow. And the Perth, Australia location has a breakfast menu. I am dying to eat this. Would I would make a trip to Perth to review breakfast. CPK, you have to do it. Oh, my God. Goals. I'm vibrating to I'm like, I'm going to go home and look up what this what is on this menu. Your pupils are literally. Oh, for sure.

If you see a Twitch, I'm thinking about that. Yeah. Unlike most fast food chains, they're not fast food, all American CPK locations are owned and operated by the company itself, not franchise owners. To buy a CPK franchise, you would have to do so overseas and run a company that already owns full service restaurant chains.

Oh, wow. Okay. Interesting. Barbecue chicken pizza, now common even at old-school New York pizzerias, was first introduced by CPK. Invented by Ed Ladue, it was on CPK's initial menu and played a key role in the restaurant's early success. Oh, absolutely. Like, I could, where would they be without it?

Yeah. In all reality? But I feel like that success came on the heels of people being like, barbecue chicken on our pizza. Like, it was the morbid curiosity. Absolutely. I mean, some people love it. It's a top-selling item, and I don't think it's truly just because of curiosity.

I agree. I agree. But it's also like, you can only get it there. I mean, you can get it at other places, but like. But you're getting the original, yeah. Wow, they really positioned themselves like a Chicago eatery in that way, where it's like, here is the home of the original this. Other unique creations on CPK's original menu

included Peking Duck Pizza, Goat Cheese Pizza, and Teriyaki Chicken Pizza. These innovative offerings helped establish the restaurant's reputation as a place where they get a little wild. I love it. They get a little off their rockers. Do you wanna know what I did for my 30th birthday?

Did you go to CPK? I did go to CPK and we ordered one of every pizza. Isn't that amazing? It was incredible, Michael. That's awesome. I know, it was the best. How many people are we talking? It was like eight of us maybe?

Okay. It was my family because I could not find a way to force my friends. Family? You didn't know me at the time. Oh my God, honestly it would just have been me and you. Eight pizzas please. It was so fun. Like, I mean, we got full really fast,

but it's just like, where else can you do something like that? Yeah, yeah. And we just ordered one. We don't want to order one of every single pizza because some are a little similar, but we ordered one of every different type of pizza. Like distinct one. Absolutely.

Yeah. I like that. That's fun. That's like roulette. Yeah, I highly recommend. Go to your favorite restaurant and just order one of everything on your 30th birthday. Each CPK restaurant stocks nearly 20 varieties of cheese.

This diverse selection allows for a wide range of unique and flavorful pizza combinations. Wow. How do you feel about that? I don't love cheese, but I am trying to get over being able to talk about it. So like I'm no longer bleeping it in season three. I'm so proud of you. You know, I'm baby steps.

I'm so proud. I'm so proud. Like I've known you for 17 years. I'm so proud. Thanks mom. For their 30th anniversary, CPK remodeled some restaurants. Updates included modern decor,

new menu items and an extended drink list. Now you eat a lot of CPK yet and we'll get into this next week. You seem surprised at the decor. Do you just usually get takeout? Yes, I do. I generally get takeout. I feel like that was the difference of having worked in it for so long.

I don't have the need to go, but I miss the food so much. So speaking of takeout, I promised you a takeout mishap. Okay. In July of 2024, TikTok user Fump Truck went viral with a video about an order from CPK gone hilariously wrong. What? In her attempts to order macaroni and cheese via delivery, she received a plastic to-go container full of just cheese

and nothing else. And it was like melted. It was like, it was. So they just grabbed the notes. Yeah. Upon calling the restaurant, they, according to her, talked to her like she was effing crazy that she ordered wrong

and should have ordered the macaroni separately. What? What an insane take. Like CPK is out of their mind if they expect someone to be like, I ordered the mac and cheese, and now I need to make sure that I get a side of macaron. But, hearkening back to those lawyer days, that feels very like, I got you.

I'm gonna twist it around. With a fine print. Yeah. The company took it in stride and offered customers half off mac and cheese for the rest of the month. Okay, another hot take is their mac and cheese slaps. Have you had their mac and cheese? No, of course not.

Next time. I think mac and cheese is the grossest food. Oh, duh, you haven't had mac and cheese. Okay, for anyone that likes mac and cheese, as far as a chain restaurant goes, they have such a good one. They got a good one. Nope. So good they're like, who needs the noodles? Not here for it.

Anyways, that'll do it for this week's Eat Deeks. Before we can move on to our review, which will be next week, we need to see what other people are saying about this CPK. We gotta prime ourselves. What's the voice of the people? And you know what that voice is called? Yelp from Strangers.

A little Yelp, a little Yelp. Give us those complaints while you literally white and die. Yelp! Alright, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite one, two, three, four, and five star Yelp reviews of the restaurant that we went to. The same location that we went to. You have two underneath there. Oh my God, so secret.

I told you, I went to the Magic Castle. You're so good. Is this your review? I'm like, Michael thought a magic trick was hiding something under a blanket. Honestly, childhood Michael really did. Oh yeah, absolutely. Really did.

And I would very much be like good job. Yeah All right, that was a treat So I'm gonna start us off with a five-star epic. Okay. This is from Bailey J from North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California She's 282 Yelp friends. This is the only Yelp review she's ever written So she's an active socializer, but only one place warranted a novel. Wow.

California Pizza Kitchen, or CPK, as I come to know it, started like any good relationship. First, we flirted over lettuce wraps, keeping things fun and fresh. Not long after things escalated to sharing a pizza, gushing over the warm embrace of mozzarella cheese. And when I saw certified gluten-free grace the menu, I knew this had to be something greater than what I had experienced before.

I felt known and loved. What more could I want? We embarked on this journey together, what seems like forever ago. And for a while, I didn't know what our final destination would be until yesterday. What? How long was she there? She has lived a life. She's still there. Yeah, until yesterday. It was a warm autumn evening, the type that is just hot enough to put your top down, yet cool enough to embrace a cozy sweater. Myself and my three companions knew this important-

Oh no, they're gonna have a threesome. They're gonna have a threesome! Three companions, that'd be a foursome. They're gonna have a foursome! Oh. Knew the importance of this day. This was no ordinary Tuesday night. This was the night we claimed our place amongst the CPK elite.

Elite is not easily reached. Some may even believe it to be a myth passed down generation to generation, but for us and the employees of CPK Burbank, this was a reality. There's no way that I wouldn't know about this if this was real. If there's an elite club and I'm not in it. This is their top level of the rewards program is called Elite. Oh my fucking.

If Damien Chazelle were to direct a love letter to CPK, last night would have been the climax. In our finest business casual, not casual, causal garb, our party was swiftly welcomed by Chloe, our gracious hostess who escorted us past the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of greatness. Seated squarely in the center of the restaurant, our reflections cascading up the windows, we knew we had become center frame. Like a perfected ensemble cast, our waitress, Carla,

elated over our achievements, saw to it that we make the most of our first taste of elite. The room seemed to stop as the manager, Jake, understood the gravity of this accomplishment. This was no scene that would be left on the cutting room floor. This was our Oscar-winning performance. With a sense of pride and awe, we were presented with the coveted CPK Elite card. A spotlight fell upon the card as we each embraced it, understanding the newfound responsibility

that comes with this achievement. Wow. I'm so into this review. Like all good films, there must be a conflict. As is expected, CPK is always a popular establishment, and for a moment we were led to believe the worst, our food would be delayed. Then like Ryan Gosling as he whisks Emma back for her audition, Jake arrives with a scene stealing save, white corn guacamole.

Without missing a beat, the jazz band swings in, tempo rising as our table is piled high with the food of the heavens. We feasted and laughed and enjoyed the fruits of our effort. We had done it. We had become elite. As the tempo slowed, our cravings satisfied, we knew in our heart we had achieved greatness. We arose ready to embark on our journey home. When a twist hit, Denver emerged from the shadows like a star in the night with a crown. He stopped us in our, there's someone named Denver?

Yeah, whoa, that was a total, I was like, well, I'm thinking about the chains and the locations. I'm like, they went to Denver? There's Jake, then Denver, and Carla, and Chloe. Oh, this is, this feels like the add-ons to Cheers. Like later on when they introduce What a Hellsons character you're like, oh well his name was Woody But like all of these people are they're in cheers right and Denver is like how in every like military movie

There's someone named Tex because he's from Texas like his name isn't Denver. He's just from there And no one seems to care to learn or maybe he's not I'm Chris damn it Or maybe he's not. I'm Chris, damn it. Sorry, that's too hard to pronounce. Okay, Mississippi. Yeah. Like a star in the night with a crown. He stopped us in our tracks and began something we never knew we would need, a coronation.

Our CPK became the Dolby Theater and cheers erupted from the crude as we received our crown. With a quiver in our voice, we thanked those who had helped us reach this place and understood this was our moment. We may have reached the end of our journey to Elite, but we inspired a new generation of CPK Elite hopefuls. As we left, doors held open wide, we exchanged a small smile and a nod,

knowing that it was all worth it. Wow. I can see why she only wrote one review. That would take a lot out of me to... Yeah, she sat back and was... Just started breathing heavily, sweat dripping down her face. They handed her a baby. They're like,

Congrats, miss, you just gave birth. It's like when somebody's doing it in a movie of a writer that's just furiously writing, throwing that page. I'm inspired. I'm burning through pencils. I am so taken aback. Never expected that in a million years. I have before me the chart of reward tiers.

I'm really slacking right now. Elite is one thousand plus points. They spent over a thousand dollars at CPK in the span of a year to hit Elite. That's not that crazy to me. You may have a coronation coming. Yeah. But here's the four benefits that you get over Diamond, which is the previous high. You can skip the line up to four people.

All right. That alone, I'm into that. Your earned CPK rewards last longer, so they're valid for 12 months. Okay. First access to order new items, and you get a $40 reward right when you hit Elite. Nice! So it's really only $960 to hit Elite.

I, uh... I'm not gonna lie. What crowd are you skipping? Let's be real, There's no weights. Not anymore. Are there? On weekends? Really? Weekend night?

Yeah. Okay. Well that's good to know actually. Cause when I worked there, it was popping. We were attached to a mall. We were popping off baby. But then I've noticed it trickle out. This location also.

Well, I'll get into it more next week, but like, the hosts noticing you is not a guarantee. Okay. In this location. Okay. Four star review. Okay, this is written by Kristen. They're from Washington, and this was written April 24th, 2007.

Oh, wow. I will say- 17 years ago. It's four stars. I will say the first two sentences for sure sound like I wrote this. All right. First two sentences.

I don't care. I love CPK. Not just because the pizza is so awesome and filling, but my God, there are some hot pieces of ass at this location. I know they just want my money to save up on headshots, but please take my number down too. Did you write this? No, because then it's a space where a paragraph should start

and all it says is asshole. Yep. Why? I think because she didn't get the number. Okay. But it's still a four star review and nothing else after it is negative. These two reviews have felt very sexual.

Okay. Anyways, I was with the lovely Adrienne D for dinner. Place was packed. She got the D. I was just about to say. The D's not just for dinner tonight. Place was packed, but not insanely packed. Our waiter was friendly, but not cute.

This is so great. Kristen is, um, needs to get laid. Kristen needs to get laid. I wanted to sit in the cute guy section, who unfortunately for him was stuck handling kids and their parents. At least I know he's great with kids if we ever get that serious.

You have no relationship yet. Oh my god, if we ever get that serious. You have no relationship yet. Oh my god if we ever get that serious. She's shipping herself. My god. So CPK land of delusion. I ordered my usual Hawaiian pizza while Adrienne had the tomato basil. I wanted to try a sangria but it was some sort of limey flavor. but it was some sort of limey flavor. Eek! CPK has an amazing spinach artichoke. Artichoke? Yeah, artichoke on my sentence.

CPK has an amazing spinach artichoke dip, might I add. We did not order this because we didn't want to stuff ourselves with dip. Duh. I added the duh. They also brought us bread. It was nothing fantastic. I'm sure they got it down the street from Ralph's.

No, not in the fancy Ralph's bakery. Don't be alarmed, but it's- There's two bakeries at Ralph's, and we all know there's a good one. But it was probably already wrapped from some other bread company. Ah, nicely stale, just the way I like it. Between the two of us, we rung up a bill of $27.

My god, 2007. I know. Holy cow. Two people ate for 27 bucks? I think I need a time machine. Not, and then she ends it with, not too shabby. Kristen is too cool for school, let me tell ya. Wow, this lady is horny, she's economical.

She's a real catch. I hope that waiter and her ended up working out. If they become serious. If they become serious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, they will in her eyes. Yes. It's a matter of one.

This is a trial. This is like a test run of the vows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Did you like those reviews? You can get three more over on my Patreon. That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast for the full Yelp from Strangers

segment and an exclusive fine dining episode every single month. All right, Holly, thanks so much for joining me for learning the history of CPK for reading some Yelp reviews. You'll be back next week as we talk about all that we ate when we went to CPK. We'll review it. Uh, do you have anything you want to plug? Tell people where they can follow you. Yeah, yeah. I would just like to plug my comedy. You can follow me at Holly Brown Comedy on Instagram. That's where you can find videos of my comedy, all my dates. I have some fun shows coming up, a little bit of tour. And you can also follow my longstanding show with

the Hollywood Improv at Salty AF. Wonderful. Awesome. Thanks for coming on. You can follow me at Fine Dining Podcast on Instagram and TikTok. Go ahead, like this video, leave a comment. Those help me out.

Share it with your friends. Share it with your enemies. Whatever. I don't care. Just share it, you know? Anyways, for the next week, we're just going to be sitting here waiting on our table. We'll see you next week.

Have a fine day! Waiting on our table, waiting on our table Join us next time we're stuck in line Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We're so hungry, tummy's grumbling Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We gotta continue our search for mediocrity Yeah Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We'll be waiting and dissipating

Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We're shrimping in next week or digging in We're waiting on our table, waiting on our table We've got an appetite but just sit tight Cause we're waiting on our table, waiting on our table Search will continue when we see you next week He, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he We're in a better neighborhood