Celebrate Your Child's Birthday At California Pizza Kitchen

Scarlett is a pizza lover through and through.  My tiny girl can devour more slices in a single sitting than her mom can and it's pretty impressive!  Her favorite toppings are peppers and broccoli. If I allowed it, Scarlett would have pizza on a daily basis.  I understand her love for that triangular goodness though, it's impossible to resist cheese and tomato sauce!

My family makes fun of me for how far in advance I start to plan Scarlett's birthdays.  I start thinking of what I want to do for her next birthday virtually right after she has her current one.  I can't help it though, I really love birthdays! When you only have one a year, each one should be special and exciting.  When I realized that she could have a pizza themed birthday at California Pizza Kitchen, I knew that would be the ultimate choice for my pizza loving child.

California Pizza Kitchen is a chain eatery serving up pizza's, pasta,and salads in a modern setting.  If you haven't previously dined there, the food is fresh and delicious.  I've been going there for years and am partial to their salads.

A child's birthday party at California Pizza Kitchen is not an ordinary party by any means.  Each birthday party guest gets to make their own pizza and choose whatever toppings go on it, as well as getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen.  Once you're in the kitchen, the kids get to see their pizza's cooking in the big brick oven.   It's a really fun and unique experience that is different from any other child's party I've ever been to or seen.

On the day of Scarlett's party, I was able to go in ahead of time and bring the cake in and decorate.  Since the party started at 10:30 AM, the cool thing about that timeslot was that the restaurant was not yet open! So from 10:30-11, we had the restaurant to ourselves.

Once the children arrived, they were able to sit at a special table for themselves that had a chefs hat along with crayons for them to color.  When everyone got settled, our server came over and started taking drink orders.

I decided on sausage, pepperoni and broccoli for the toppings for the kids pizzas.  Our server brought out a plate of cooked dough with cups of marinara sauce and shredded cheese for each child.  There were enough toppings on the plate for the whole table to share  Some parents helped the child make the pizza, while others let their tiny tot do it themselves.  It was fun and interesting to see the thought process behind how each of the party guests chose to make their pizzas!

Once each child was content with their culinary creation, it was time to cook the pizzas in the huge brick oven! Everyone was allowed in the kitchen for a tour which was enjoyable for not only the kids, but the parents too.  I love to cook so it was interesting to see how a kitchen restaurant runs.  I loved seeing all of the equipment that makes CPK run as well as the big fridge, walk-in freezer, and prep area.  I had no prior knowledge of how a restaurant kitchen operates, so it was fun to learn.

The employee who gave the tour was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of insight and information as to how the kitchen works and what they do on a daily basis to prep it.  He kept the kids entertained by asking them questions.  I think all of the kids at the end loved catching the dough that was thrown up in the air!

When the kitchen staff put the pizza's in the brick oven, they cooked in practically no time.  The oven is extremely hot and you can see the huge flames inside cooking the pizza to perfection.

After the tour, it was time to eat! All of the children's pizzas were brought to the table with cups of lemonade so they could chow down.  Who doesn't love pizza? I know I could eat sauce, cheese, and dough every day of the week.  While the kids were enjoying their lunch, the pizza for the adults was brought to a separate table.  I selected a variety of pizza's to make everyone happy including sausage, pepperoni, veggie, mushroom and more.  The pizza was delicious, hot and fresh.  Most of the food was eaten fast, so it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed it!

Every meal needs to end with a sweet treat, don't you think? Before we served the cake, the kids were brought out mini vanilla ice cream sundaes that they got to decorate with cherries, candies, and hot fudge.  I'm pretty sure that was heaven for them! There was barely any noise or talking as the kids gobbled up the treats.  You can't blame them of course! Everyone loves ice cream.

The finale of the party was the cake.  Since the party was pizza themed, of course the cake had to match.  Everyone sang happy birthday to the birthday girl and both the kids and adults enjoyed the cake.

Once we finished doing the cake, the party wound down and guests began to leave.  It's safe to say that the party was a success and everyone had a wonderful time.  My friends told me that the pizza party was a great idea and they want to consider CPK for a future birthday party for their child!

I was very satisfied with the level of service provided by California Pizza Kitchen and thought the server was attentive and came back to check on us often.  The party ran smoothly and everyone left full and happy.  There's nothing more I could ask for than that.

If you're looking for a out-of-the-box party idea for your child's next birthday, it's time to give California Pizza Kitchen a call.

*DISCLOSURE* I received a complimentary party at California Pizza Kitchen in exchange for this post.  All thoughts are strictly my own.