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 an affordable and tasty meal.

CPK has built its fame on a wide variety of pizzas and pastas, some under the influence of atypical pizza cuisine like Indian, Southwestern, Thai, and Chinese. Traditional Italian choices are available as well, of course.

Dessert recommendations include a key lime pie of which the restaurant is justifiably proud.

The children's meal costs $5 to $6 and includes a choice of pasta, with or without sauce, macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, or a pizza, plus a drink, bread, and, for 50 cents more, a hot-fudge sundae or a brownie with whipped cream on top.

The service is friendly and accommodating; booths are available at most locations, and plenty of boosters and high chairs stand at the ready. The bathrooms are generally clean.

California Pizza Kitchen also offers a service called party packaging, in which the restaurant helps to plan a menu before preparing and packing it with utensils and napkins. And speaking of parties, CPK does them, as well as its birthday club which treats the birthday child to a free meal (advance registration required).

The restaurants do not deliver, but most offer curbside pick-up so that junior can stay in the car seat.