*UPDATE TO MY UPDATE
The day has finally come! California Pizza Kitchen finally introduced gluten free pizza onto their menu.
And no, not just one pizza, but four!
After a failed attempt to incorporate gluten free pizza on their menu back in 2011, CPK decided to finally turn things up a notch to avoid another failure.
This time around, CPK worked with Gluten Intolerance Group (GIP) to develop a new gluten free crust, as well as safer cooking environments.
All gluten free pizzas are now made in a dedicated part of their store with separate ingredients, trays, dedicated pizza cutters.
(Now that’s what I’m talking about!)
The only negative side to this is that there is an extra $2.00 charge for a gluten free pizza.
But in my opinion, that’s definitely worth the investment.
To see the complete California Pizza Kitchen Gluten Free Menu, just skip the two sections below.
…Or you can read my previous rants and updates from back in January 2013 about how I wish they had gluten free pizza like these places did.
Thanks 🙂
*UPDATE- Here’s an email that I received a few days after publishing this post from the California Pizza Kitchen Social Media Coordinator. It completely changes my opinion about California Pizza Kitchen. They are now one of my favorites in terms of customer relations! Here’s the email they sent me followed by the original, bashful post.
My name is Moses and I’m the Social Media Coordinator for California Pizza Kitchen. We saw your recent blog on our gluten-free menu and wanted to reach out to you directly!
We totally agree that our gluten-free menu could use some work, and we’re hoping to announce an improved menu soon! It has taken longer than we anticipated to make sure the pizzas are executed properly and at a standard that will be of benefit to our gluten-free guests. In the next few months, we are testing gluten-free pizzas again and plan to launch them later this year.
Just wanted to thank you for showing your concern as we indeed do care about the gluten-free community, and can’t wait to expand our current gluten-free options.
ORIGINAL, PRE-EMAIL POST
I normally don’t like bashing restaurants but this is going to be an exception.
I just don’t understand why California Pizza Kitchen doesn’t seem to care too much about the gluten free community.
I mean seriously, 12 menu items including kids meals?
Is that all they can do?
No gluten-free pizzas?
The California Pizza Kitchen gluten free menu is so very sad.
It might even be pathetic.
But hey, if you like getting just salads, then you should be fine at CPK.
But for those of you looking for gluten-free pizza options, you are going to have to look elsewhere. I’m sorry.
Anyways, for the salad enthusiasts, here’s the California Pizza Kitchen gluten free menu:
California Pizza Kitchen Gluten Free Menu
Gluten Free Pizza
- Original Barbecue Chicken
- Pepperoni
- Mushroom Pepperoni Sausage
- Margherita
Small Plates + Appetizers
- Asparagus + Arugula Salad
- White Corn Guacamole + Chips
- Petite Wedge
Salads
- Caramelized Peach
- Roasted Veggie
- Italian Chopped
- California Cobb
- Moroccan-Spiced Chicken
- Waldorf Chicken
- Field Greens
CPKIDS aka Kids Menu
- Fresh fruit
- Kids Sundae
Discover More Gluten Free Menus!
And for a listing of over 250+ gluten free restaurant menus similar to the California Pizza Kitchen gluten free menu, check out our brand new GF Restaurants + Dining Guide!
…
Allison
We have ordered a chicken breast with steamed broccoli at CPK for our gluten free son.
Adam Bryan
How did he like it Allison?
Allison
He enjoyed it.
Marja
Eat healthy! That’s all you see, read and hear about. Besides peanut allergies there are people who are allergic to wheat as well. CPK is known for there great pizzas. Yet, there is not one pizza on the menu that is gluten free. Why is that? Your competitor BJ’s has a gluten free pizza! Wood Ranch as an awesome gluten free menu! Keep up CPK…the talk is CPK is not a friendly gluten free pizza restaurant.
Mary
I got gluten at CPK this past February. Had the chopped BBQ chicken salad without the tortilla strips. Had it before but this time got violently ill for 3 days. When I ordered, the waitperson wasn’t helpful and told me that garbonzo beans weren’t gluten free. Told him that they aren’t on the salad to begin with. Won’t be going back and it use to be my favorite place. Did email and called. They also said that they were sending me a gift card…nope.
Jeffrey
Just had the NEW & Improved CPK GF Pizza…..It was soggy…You could not pick up a piece, as the dough fell over. Kinda like a wet paper towel. Was certainly hoing for a better solution
Adam Bryan
Would you ever try it again, Jeffrey?
Karl
Just had the Margharita (sp?) GF pizza at CPK. The pizza was good and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, an hour later, my intestinal tract is beginning to go a little crazy. I am new to the wheat / gluten issue, but could a GF pizza still contain wheat? If that is a dumb question, I apologize. Still trying to figure out what I can and can’t eat.
Adam Bryan
I know that with CPK there pizza is certified gluten free so there shouldn’t be any traces of gluten. So possibly in your case, your pizza may have been cross contaminated. But great question Karl, hopefully this helps.
Karl
Ok, I may have the answer. I called CPK and they confirmed that their gluten-free pizzas are also wheat-free. When I explained that I had “blown up like a balloon” after eating there on Saturday night, the manager and I walked through the events step-by-step. When we got to the point where he said, “What did the manager say when he/she delivered the pizza to your table?” I realized there was a disconnect, because the manager did not bring my food.
So, best guess is that someone else received my GF pizza, and I got theirs. In my case, this resulted in a 72 hour digestive ordeal, but it might have meant a trip to the hospital for someone with more severe health issues.
It also might explain why my pizza tasted so “normal”. I probably should have been suspicious when it tasted “right”.
Here’s the take-away….If you get the GF pizza at CPK, the manager is supposed to bring it to you per CPK policy. If that doesn’t happen, you may have received the wrong pizza.
Jacquie
Most restaurants do not list the price on the Gluten free meals. I find this extremely annoying and unfair.
When you ask for the price, they tell you a couple of dollars more. So if that’s the case, why not just print the price, and why should it be more?
Penny
I don’t mind paying a little more for safety especially at the cost of my husband’s hospital bill to find out he was gluten intolerant. After which I also started the diet out of cross contamination concerns and feel better have also lost weight and when coming in contact with gluten containing food have the 48 hr to 72 hr flu? Anyway would think it would be non discriminitive to list the price as a courtesy to the patrons.
Callie D
I’ve been diagnosed with Celiac Disease for over 10 years now and am well aware of the places where I can eat. I was on a school field trip and California Pizza Kitchen was the ONLY place in our proximity with gluten free food. I knew they had a gluten free menu from eating here many times at a different location. I asked for a menu, but the hostess was new and didn’t know where the gluten free menus were so asked me to while she got her manager. He came out from across the restaurant shouting “IF THEY ACTUALLY HAD TO EAT GLUTEN FREE THEY WOULD KNOW WHAT THEY CAN AND CANT EAT AND WOULDNT NEEX A MENU!!” His shouting even turned the heads of already seated customers!! Needless to say I decided to go the entire day without eating because I REFUSE to ever eat there or buy their products again!