Pre-Wedding Cocktails at California Pizza Kitchen

This past weekend hubby and I attended a cousin’s beautiful wedding. The ceremony was held at the pristine Ocean Crystal Chapel on the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. A gorgeous bride, a handsome groom, a fairy-tale setting!

It was one of those weddings where there’s lag time between the ceremony and reception. So with 3 hours of time to kill, the family (MIL from Maui, SIL1, SIL2 and us) decided we’ll start the party early with cocktails and pupus. As if there wouldn’t be enough of that at the wedding reception!

We headed over to California Pizza Kitchen in Ala Moana. My new favorite thing is their Small Cravings Menu, a collection of demi-sized appetizers strategically priced around $4-6 so you can’t resist adding one on to your meal or ordering all of them.

Spicy Chicken Tinga Quesadillas ($5.29)

Korean BBQ Steak Tacos ($6.29)

Crispy Artichoke Hears ($4.29)

White Corn Guacamole & Chips ($4.79)

We then made our way over to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for the dinner reception…

California Pizza Kitchen Waikiki

My coworker and I took our boss to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen in Waikiki to celebrate his birthday. In case you’re wondering how many people are in my office and how many gash darn things we celebrate over lunch, it works out to 5 or 6 birthdays a year, plus Boss’s Day and Administrative Professionals’ Day. That’s not counting when it’s time for my birthday. Yes, that’s a lot of lunches, but I’ve really enjoyed exploring our Waikiki neighborhood, one lunch at a time.

My boss loves to eat salad, so we figured CPK’s selection of delicious salads would be perfect.

We shared a Chopped Salad ($8.99 for half size):

CPK - Chopped Salad ($8.99 half size)

My boss had Sweet & Spicy Italian Sausage Pizza ($12.99):

CPK - Sweet & Spicy Italian Sausage Pizza ($12.99)

I had Chicken Tequila Fettuccine ($13.49):

CPK - Chicken Tequila Fettuccine ($13.49)

… and my coworker had Marinara Linguini with Shrimp ($15.99):

CPK - Marinara Linquini with Shrimp ($15.99)

The Waikiki location is on the Mauka (mountain) side of Kalakaua Avenue, smack dab in the middle of Waikiki, and there’s both indoor seating and outdoor seating. You can observe all the tourists on Kalakaua Avenue from your table on the second floor balcony.

CPK is one of those restaurants that everyone’s eaten there before, so there’s really no need for me to review the food to tell you that their food is fresh and tasty. The amazing thing about CPK is that no matter which location you visit, the quality of the food and the level of service are consistent. This is no easy feat considering the size of this chain. Whatever corporate policies and methods they employ, it’s very effective and the result is an operation that’s as well run as the McDonalds franchises.

OVERALL: GOOD
PRICE RANGE: $4.99-$11.99 for appetizers and half salads, $10.99-$15.99 for full salads, pizzas and pastas. Click here to view the menu (sorry the image quality is not the best).
MY BILL: $32.00 (including my share of the birthday meal)
RETURNING?: Yes

California Pizza Kitchen Waikiki
2284 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
808.924.2000
Mon-Sun 11:00a-11:00p