California Pizza Kitchen (CPK), which recently announced a plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is moving forward with new menu items, including a plant-based pizza aimed at vegetarians and flexitarians alike.
CPI described the BBQ Don’t Call Me Chicken Pizza as a “new flagship menu item.” It features BBQ sauce, smoked Gouda, red onions and fresh cilantro with a plant-powered chicken substitute called Chicketts, a Worthington Foods product.
The Don’t Call Me Chicken Pizza will be available at all of CPK’s 155 corporate-owned restaurants across the United States and Canada.
The new menu offering represents CPK’s ongoing commitment to “California Health” innovation, the company said. “We’re thrilled to introduce this new option for guests who are flexitarian, looking to cut down on meat or just want to try a fresh twist on our classic pizza,” said Brian Sullivan, CPK’s executive head chef and senior VP of culinary innovation. “Our BBQ Chicken Pizza has been the cornerstone of our California-style menu since our first restaurant opened 35 years ago, and now we’re proud to bring the pizza that put us on the map to an even broader consumer subset.”
CPK was also the first national restaurant to offer gluten-free crust in 2013 and built on that legacy with the introduction of cauliflower crust in 2018.