California Pizza Kitchen
1 Garden State Plaza, Paramus, NJ
If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, I would choose pizza. Since pizza is my favorite food of all time, I’m very critical about it. To me, good slice of specialty pizza is one with light sauce and bold flavors. Known for their not-so-common pizza pies, California Pizza Kitchen in the Garden State Plaza is a good restaurant that, although a bit pricey, is worth the cost.
The California Pizza Kitchen experience I had was a very good one. The lighting wasn’t too dark, and the wait staff was very nice to the customers. The service is rather quick, so if you’re looking for a good place to “dine and dash” and still want quality food, California Pizza Kitchen is the place for you.
There are a variety of small plates, appetizers, and flatbreads for your party to share, prior to your actual meal. My party, in particular, had a craving for the spinach and artichoke dip. The spinach and artichoke dip was the best I’ve had in a VERY long time. It was flavorful, and the chips that came alongside the dip were not too greasy, nor were they overly salty.
In my party of five, we evenly split a standard BBQ chicken pizza, a Hawaiian BBQ chicken pizza, and a spinach and artichoke pizza. The personal pies are big enough for one very hungry person to finish; however, we found ourselves with plenty of leftovers. The best of the three dishes was the spinach and artichoke pizza, which tasted sublime, and was easily one of the better pies I’ve had from the restaurant. The Hawaiian BBQ chicken pizza was the worst dish of the three. While the pie wasn’t necessarily bad, the flavors didn’t complement each other well; however, the individual flavors separately were palatable.
All in all, your California Pizza Kitchen will be a very good time as long as you steer clear of Hawaiian BBQ chicken Pizza. It is probably one of the better restaurants in the Garden State Plaza. With most pies at $13-$16, the pies are a bit expensive, but most are worth it.
GRADE: B
