California Pizza Kitchen at Sarasota

I've been here many times since I moved to the area almost a year ago now. Today was probably one of my least favorite experiences. I haven't been in a couple of months so I'm unsure if this is a new policy. However, my waitress took a while to bring over bread, and when she did she only brought two slices (there was only two of us) and the oil barely had any seasoning. I had asked for more and she never brought it. It was a Wednesday at 4:30 pm so it wasn't super busy... the food was delicious but the service was a little slow in comparison to the other times I've been.

Waited along time for just a cocktail wasn’t very busy in the restaurant either.. Very nice restaurant otherwise

Awesome pizza, very unique and tasty pizza selection and variety. (Regular classics and Thai/Mexican/etc).

The best customer service of any restaurant ive been to, every time i go there. Restaurant manager and servers are super attentive, friendly and pleasant

Very consistently excellent food and service, never disappointed.

Also gluten-free options for people with Celiac's.

Food and drinks were good. Not pricey. Salad that I ordered was large. Good place for a family meal get together.

I went here with my mom on 3/22/25 at approximately 2pm. I have never, ever, had a worse server, in any restaurant, I’ve ever been to. Avoid this place entirely!

First, it took our server about 10 minutes from the time we sat down for her to even make it to our table. We ordered food and drink all at once because we had plenty of time to think. This was not really a big deal but in hindsight, it was just the tip of the iceberg. We asked for a dumpling starter and she said “I think we’re out of dumplings but I’ll check for you.” Well, that’s the last we heard of the dumplings so we didn’t know if we were even getting them until they showed up. A simple “I checked and we have them” or “yeah we are in fact out of them sorry about that” would have been nice. When they showed up, they arrived with the rest of the food (pizzas). I said “oh it all came at the same time.” Our servers response was “oh yeah I rang it all in at the same time.” Apparently you have to specially request for your “starters” to come before the meal. When we did eat the dumplings, they were fine, except one of the six dumplings was ice cold. How can 5 of them be fine and one be ice cold? A microwave? As far as drinks, food, etc. I kept saying “thank you” when our waitress would put stuff on our table and not once did she ever respond. No “you’re welcome”, “no problem”…nothing. During the main course, we wanted more bread, and we needed napkins and refills. What was our waitress doing? On her phone…constantly. It wasn’t just her either. The hostess was on her phone as well as the “boss looking guy” in the white chefs coat…everyone was on their phone. Our server didn’t come by our table from the time we got our food to the time we finished eating despite trying to flag her down, so we never got napkins, or more bread, or refills. Her attitude was so disinterested in being there it was unreal. Ive never had a more absent server. It wasn’t even busy! There were 5-8 parties or so spread across 3 servers. We usually tip servers very well because we know how hard it is, but this was unreal.

Moral of the story: just get a frozen pizza from Walmart. The pizzas were good, but not worth the horrible service.

Cool place, wasn’t so busy which was a good thing.

I used Uber Eats to order from CPK. Food arrived at expected time however it was missing an item. I reached out to uber who told me I needed to reach out to CPK. CPK told me that I could go there to pick up item. The entire reason for using uber was to avoid being near the mall on the Saturday before Christmas. Dah. I had to reach out to uber for a refund. Oh and no basil on the margarita pizza. Quality control kind of took a backseat on Saturday night and their mistake became my problem. I will not be ordering from CPK again soon.

Arrived around 6:30pm on a Sunday night. I would say they were critically understaffed, stood at the desk for 3 minutes. There were other parties waiting, but were able to sit three with no wait. Food was excellent. Maybe a tad on the high side? I love the GF, Vegan, and other dietary options!! Great location, parking, and shoppes to walk around. The women’s bathroom was dirty, and the sink situation was awkward.
When I’m in the area, I think I will return.
I like that this location still gives free bread.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Cauliflower Crust

Alfredo noodles stuck together. Pizza was dry. Table not cleared for entrees. The waiter just kept handing us food without taking anything out of the way. Then as he is walking away states he is “not taking anymore tables.” The service was the worst part. The waiter was rude. He did not listen. Interrupted me when I was trying to ask a question. Will not go back.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1

This was a great experience !!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Chicken Pizza

Food was great - especially the avocado egg rolls! Ashley was our waitress tonight and she was phenomenal - kind and worked well under pressure. Will be back and will ask for her next time too!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I never leave negative reviews but I feel like as someone who’s been in the industry I’m both extremely understanding and also very critical at the same time. I sat at the bar - typically you get quicker service. Seems like there is at least 2 bartenders. It took me over 10 to get a drink and wasn’t even properly greeted. My space was never cleared off and wiped neither was any space around me. A group of 4 was waiting over 10 min and was finally half ass greeted by a rude young lady who seems to hate her job and pretended to clear off space at the bar and just said it’ll be a min we’re clearly busy. Which they were on a wait but multiple empty tables around and there’s literally no one at the bar. Myself (who ordered a drink and to go food) and 2 other couples.
Seems like this place is seriously lacking industry training or idk maybe a fire lit under their ass. No one really seems to be HERE or caring about the guests or their experience. It’s a nice little place with potential but service is seriously SUB par at best. Won’t be back for a while if I even ever decide to try back…. There’s so much competition idk why I would unless there’s just no wait and waits everywhere else which should be an indication in itself. The staff was pretty unprofessional to be honest and idk just rubbed me the wrong way. The customers around me at the bar seemed very nice and just as frustrated at times.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Salad

“I tried it once but will never try again. The margarita pizza was poorly balanced, with no flavor. It was small, overpriced, and not worth it. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Food: 1

Service: 1

"Nothing special; I've dined in simpler places with extraordinary food! The Mac & cheese, in particular, was horrible."

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: Wild Mushroom Pizza

2 mac and cheeses, one adult, one kids. Same exact portion. Exact. Portion. Bigger bowl. Infuriating but hysterical because I get to post this. DOUBLE the price.don’t waste your time