California Pizza Kitchen At Bay Street

Food was decent but service was very slow. waited a long time to order and for the bill at the end.. The waiter never came and check on us or asked if we needed anything.

Honestly, I began to wonder if there was a bias against Asian Americans, as we didn't see any staff members of that background in such a large establishment. On a positive note, the food did come out in about 15 minutes, for which we were thankful. However, we have decided that we will not be returning to CPK again. The pleasant memories we had from previous visits are now overshadowed by this experience.

The food was decent—not exceptional, but certainly not bad. However, the service was rather disappointing. Our server didn’t check in on us at all, forgot to bring a requested item, and failed to refill our water. I eventually had to stop eating because I couldn’t enjoy my meal without water and couldn't get her attention for a refill. Although she seemed to hear us, the water never arrived. Due to our time constraints, I left half my meal uneaten and had to track her down to ask for the bill. When I pointed out that we hadn't been attended to and that my request for water had been ignored, she just shrugged and said she was busy. Normally, I wouldn’t leave a tip at all, but this time I chose to leave none. I wish I had checked reviews before selecting this place since they seem to consistently struggle with service. I also found it amusing how the CPK team responds to three-star reviews as if they are putting on a performance.

Upon arrival, I found my name on the list, but it took about 10 minutes to be seated, despite the restaurant being mostly empty. Our waitress was friendly, but the service was painfully slow. Though there were other staff members present, they assigned only her to our table, and we were a party of around 12 with separate checks. After we placed our orders, we received a single round of table bread that was a bit cold. An hour passed without our food arriving, so we asked for more bread, and the waitress snapped that it was "in the oven." We waited another 30 minutes with still no food, at which point I approached the manager. He informed me that our order had just been placed and that only one cook was on duty. I expressed concern that our movie was starting in 20 minutes, and he said they could package our meals to go. Another half hour went by before our food finally arrived, hastily packed in paper bags that were leaking. Some guests had to repackage their meals, and no one knew what was in their bags. Ultimately, we ended up late for our movie, waiting another 10 minutes for the waitress to complete the checkout process for our group. Only two guests, who had ordered pizza, were able to eat in. To make matters worse, both my child and I experienced severe stomach cramps later, likely due to undercooked Alfredo. Unfortunately, this California Pizza Kitchen has proven to be one of the worst dining experiences we've encountered in the Bay Area.

I'm currently seated in the restaurant, writing this review. I've dined here before and had a decent experience, but today the food quality was utterly disappointing. To begin, the waitress carelessly threw down torn pieces of bread on the table, accompanied by clumps of lumpy butter that lacked any semblance of presentation. The spinach artichoke dip appeared to be previously frozen, with a strange, slimy green film on top. On top of that, the chips were stale and soggy from being in a bowl that wasn’t properly dried. The mac and cheese was grainy and clearly not freshly made. Honestly, this place could use a health inspector because I'm left questioning the safety of the food served here. As someone who cherished this spot during my childhood, it's disheartening to see how much it has deteriorated. I won’t be coming back.