California Pizza Kitchen050

This twenty-year-old restaurant chain serves gourmet pizzas, pasta, and salads to families all over the country.

Children are handed boxes of crayons and menus with puzzles and games on them as they walk in the door, and it is an easy, comfortable place for a fairly quick, fairly inexpensive, and pretty darned good meal.

You'll find a wide variety of pizzas and pastas, some under the influence of other ethnic cuisine: Hawaiian pizza, Southwestern Chicken pizza, Thai chicken pizza, etc., and it's the same with the pastas. The traditional Italian choices are available as well, of course.

Dessert recommendations include a key lime pie of which the restaurant is justifiably quite proud. The children's meal includes a choice of pasta, with or without sauce, macaroni and cheese, or pizza; plus a drink, bread, and, for a small extra charge, a hot-fudge sundae or a brownie with whipped cream. Other selections include salads topped with Goldfish crackers and fresh fruit.

The service is fast, friendly, and accommodating; booths are available at most locations, and plenty of boosters and high chairs stand at the ready. The restaurant does not take reservations, but they do offer a call-ahead waiting list.

California Pizza Kitchen also offers a service called party packaging, where it will help you plan a menu and figure out the right amount of food to order for your party. The restaurant prepares the food, packages it with utensils and napkins, and delivers it. Call the manager at your location to ask for details.