restaurant manager

cook

kitchen manager

manager

snack bar attendant

California Pizza Kitchen

There was a high turnover rate in management–let alone store employees– at the location I have worked. High expectations that were not tailored to the locations’ demographic, sales, etc. It leaved pushing employees to drive away customers rather than creating a genuinely pleasant experience for them.
The high turnover rate in management, in addition to CPK’s rotation of management between local stores, resulted in lack of training or sense of authority from certain managers. It was up to the store’s veteran worker’s to keep the store running. Despite the horrible outcomes of changes in my store (which I’ve spent a couple of years working), most people I’ve worked with have been pleasant. I’ve met many who genuinely cared about their job and tried to keep their customers happy. Unfortunately, that hope fades due to the company’s unrealistic expectations. 
Those expectations come from a corporate level which does not reflect the community’s economy. The sales are consistently pushed upon customers in an uncomfortable way. From “Take & Bake”s to gift card sales. I find the short interactions in my busy time serving tables are overwhelmed by sales pitches and rewards as opposed to building a connection. Getting to know the lovely customers that put up with the madness. All for their love of the food despite the terrible service (whether it be a kitchen mistake or unknowledgeable server). If I decided to spend my time doing that, I would be talked to by management for “not doing my job” a.k.a. pushing sales.
My most concerning corporate complaint is the lack of awareness in store size/capacity. The tiny galley-style kitchen was not large enough to fit enough workers or appliances to serve larger sales. The restaurant was drowning in online orders and littered with third party orders. Not to mention the dine-in customers, as this location was in the center of the town. The managers were not allowed to turn off the online orders that were coming in, despite busy evenings and holidays. This drove the kitchen to drown with little help. Food would go missing, it would be made incorrectly or sitting, awaiting the rest of the order. Refunds were constantly issued, complaints were constantly made. We’ve lost many take-out and dine-in customers  (even regulars!!!) due to the unorganized and ridiculous expectations of orders and sales.
Overall, I’ve learned a lot through my experience at CPK and can bring that experience anywhere feeling confident I survived the absolute insanity that is this company. The relationships I’ve built with the troopers of this mess were meaningful to me. But this company is outright horrendous. The company is greedy and does not take enough care of their employees. These people keep their doors open and are taken for granted due to unrealistic expectations. This company’s  desperation to stay afloat may have caused more damage to their brand than they think. I believe it even became embarrassing to work there anymore.

   CPK is an evolving brand. Although change is good, in this instance  it has limited the opportunities for growth, especially compared to the past few years. Working for the brand for 7 years, starting out as server and working my way up to General Manager was an amazing experience. The wealth of knowledge I was able to learn during my time here will obviously help me professionally as I continue my journey and the opportunities I was afforded were amazing. 

   Unfortunately as CPK evolves the cornerstones that made them epic employers have changed. Although the changes that have been made are more or less to grow profitability the long term effects have made them more of a “run of the mill concept” versus the stellar status they used to have. The compensation is below market average for internally promoted individuals and the gender pay gap is a real issue; however to their credit this is something that is openly discussed by your Regional Partner and over time being addressed. 

   For people looking to start out in the managerial field with a real thirst for knowledge this is a great starting point. Training and development is very self driven so you have the opportunity to learn as much as you’re willing to put into it. It is a 24/7 position, 6 day work weeks have become an on and off “mandatory” requirement (depending on who you’re talking to) and there’s most likely a mandatory conference/the only time you’ll here from your RP call on your day off but if you’re really bought in it’s not necessarily a negative seeing as the calls are usually very informative. The work life balance is nonexistent, this is not a 9-5 job. However, putting that much time and effort in does pay off and you reap the rewards in a better ran more successful business. All in all it’s the nature of the industry, if you’re familiar with the field you understand what that entails. 

   The positives- really fresh food, if you build the right team- a great culture on a store level, and if you’re looking for something to dive all into this is not a bad choice. The negatives- facilities are a long term, wide spread area of concern, the messages tend to be very mixed- what your direct corporate connection and what upper leadership say tend to not be same and leadership turn over rate is increasing at an almost alarming rate which continues to add to the confusion. Currently, career growth is very limited, in part due to optimizing profits and streamlining operations. 

   Positives and negatives aside I am forever grateful for my time with CPK if I had the chance to turn back time I would do it all over again. I am infinitely thankful for what I have learned, the experiences I had and the relationships I developed, they are truly genuine and with amazing people. As long as you know what’s best for you and you know when to pull the plug- give it a try.

I have been a cook for 16 years now and have worked in multiple kitchens. CPK takes the cake though as the worst place I have ever worked for in my entire life. At first I liked the job, with being in a busy mall it was busy in the restaurant all the time which makes for your shift going by faster. Then I started getting terrible schedules, working 9:30am-11pm Friday's Saturday's and Sunday's. I had no life I felt like I lived there. I didn't complain though, I needed the money. So I continued to show up for work and work hard as I always do. On a 9:30-11pm shift we would get one half hour break when it's supposed to be one 30 minute break per every 6 hours of work. There were four managers for some unknown reason, completely unnecessary especially when none of them are on the same page an their all telling you different things. None of them really "worked", they mostly walked around demanding order's and asking "How long on this order?" instead of just throwing on a pair of gloves and helping one of their employee's out. Two months into the job, busting my hump, with no write-ups or any bad reports, my GM attempted to "fire" me for absolutely no reason what so ever. I took the issue to corporate because it was totally unfair and I had done NOTHING wrong to deserve it (mind you he pulled this stunt the first week of December with Christmas coming up knowing I have two young children). Corporate overturned his decision and I had my job back by December 23rd. Let me tell you how good it felt to walk back up in there like ya nice try!! I was never compensated for the 3 weeks I was out of work for no reason, I tried to fight it but would have had to take it to court. I've been nothing but a hard worker my whole life, that's how I was raised so I was in complete shock when they tried to do me dirty like this. The GM couldn't look me in the eye for 2-3 weeks once I returned because he know's what he did was WRONG! Needless to say I continued to work hard with a smile on my face, and management continued to treat me like trash for what reason's I have no idea. I think I had a clear case of racism going on here. I've just never experienced being treated like that by grown adult managers, they barely even spoke to me. I'm used to my manager's like me and telling me "good job!". Unbelievable experience.

There are no breaks for any of the kitchen staff. They put you through a two week training before being left alone at your station, and even then there are still several recipes to memorize per station. This isn't too hard for experienced cooks, however, for those being hired from grill cooks into restaurant cooking - it can get a little hectic to only train for two weeks and have to properly plate everything, exact, and alone on a busy weekend. Several staff members would leave at random to take a smoke break in the mall hallway even though (as previously stated) there aren't any actual breaks given. This slowed production and caused other staff members to get yelled at instead of the ones at fault for leaving. The daytime staff is supposed to prep and stock for the night staff just as the night staff is supposed to prep and stock for the day staff. However, none of the day staff ever prepped and stocked before leaving for the day and it was only the night staff to get in trouble for it. There was also a tablet based university training that there was never training time to complete and they expected you to do it unpaid on your own time at home.The assistant managers would talk about staff members in front of other staff members by making fun of them for coming in on their day off wearing comfortable summer attire (a.k.a. low cut shirts/shorts). The General Manager only worked morning shifts and never stayed to close. He was nice and let his managers do their jobs without micromanaging.The Kitchen manager would yell at you in Spanish constantly and either apologize later for it or say he was just joking around. There is also someone that worked in the kitchen that hit on every girl there and making inappropriate commentary around them, but the manager didn't believe anyone when it was spoken up about. Over all, this location is the busiest location in Salt Lake City Utah. However, the management team could use a lot of improvement when it comes to listening to their staff members, training more thoroughly time wise, and running a better team work based environment.

I started in 2017. Things were great, and after the covid hit in 2020, things rapidly went downhill; after that, we dealt with incessantly angry customers who had absurd expectations. Most of those people were trying to get a free meal or dessert; however, a few customers thought CPK was a fast food joint, and the managers catered to that expectation, which was a mistake.

There were insane amounts of catering, no increase in pay for years at a time, high volume orders that rolled out of the ticket printer to where you were cooking 25 to 40 orders at a time nearly every day during the busy months. This means morning prep is all-day prep, managers were constantly running to the store to restock foods, and we had continuously shorted items from our delivery supplier. We were a high-volume store with needy customers.

What gets my goat is that I have been in this industry for 15+ years, and I am in the same state when I started, no house, no car, no progression in any measurable value, no insurance, or any form of benefits working in this industry. Sure, they have the kindness fund, but that was for people who were in the potential spotlight of being a PR problem for the company. I'm sure there were some exceptions, but overall this is not a review of CPK but a review of the current state of the foodservice industry, which is now undesirable as a career option. 

I am never working at a restaurant ever again!

Depending what shift you get for example, " Opening" I would have to make the floor maps of the day. Which regards which server is covering what area on the floor for their shift. Help the busser put roll ups on the tables or wine glasses if help is needed. Check menu boxes on the side of the kiosk to see if they need to be returned to host stand. Since I worked in Honolulu, Hawaii it's known as the tourist island. CPK had English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese menu's. I had to organize all menu's.

If I had "Lunch" or "Closing" shift, depending if I was staging, doing the seating, or greeting guests, I was always interacting with the guests, making sure they felt welcomed and they felt important. I learned that the customers are always right! Always smile and have a small conversation with them so the customers can get that fun, positive vibe about CPK. We made sure that the customers are satisfied and happy with our customer service and the food.

My co-workers were amazing! Many different personalities and different backgrounds. They came from all over the states. Some went to Hawaii to go to school, some for the adventure, others to start a new beginning in their life's. 

Nothing was really hard about this job, it's just very face paced. Most of the time things had to be done back to back none stop. This CPK is located in the Waikiki strip also known as Honolulu's Downtown, so that's how you know it was busy. Having tourists from different countries and states coming in to take a little break from walking around and have a meal to full them up so they had no excuse but to leave and continue exploring the scenery of Waikiki.

I enjoyed meeting the customers! I can say I met people from New Zealand, Australia, London, Japan, Canada, and much more! I was just so fascinated with their accents. It's defiantly something I don't get to hear everyday.

I worked with CPK for 4 years right after I graduated from high school. It is good for opportunity when it comes to "moving up" positions from busser to server etc. but it may not be worth the mental strain for someone with previous serving experience. I have worked in 3 locations: Rainbow Harbor, Cerritos Mall, and Palm Desert. All 3 of these locations operate in the same way: corporate. The money is good when you start to serve here, which is what the point of working is, but after tossing and turning for years, I decided I had to quit for hopes of a happier life. I was a 5 star employee and at every location I have worked and I was always at the top of the charts when it came to stats like PPA and the Rewards attachment rate; but somehow, regardless of how hard I worked for CPK, I would always have management watching me, breathing down my neck, and trying to manipulate situations, to try to find something wrong.  It had me in a constant state of stress and made it feel difficult to concentrate. They would expect you to have 10 tables and then threaten you with a write up if you didn't run out all of your tables' food. They throw servers into the flames here but then give their employees no rewards whatsoever. Cerritos Mall was the hardest for sure because they would flood you with a 13 table patio section or a 8-12 table indoor section. My first write up was at Cerritos for not charging 50 cents to make a pasta spicy. My last write up was in Palm Desert for not running a petite wedge because an elderly woman needed me to guide her to the bathroom. Tips differ depending on location but can be pretty good. Rainbow Harbor was my best location because of the GM who works there. It can be a great side hustle if it has good management.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Their food menu is delicious. Atlas Mall is a great location.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
End of August all the way until December to save labor cost their is less staffed employees managers are filling in everywhere. Hourly emploees are cross trained for this exact reason in order to do more than one job code at a time. After the holidays again staff cuts are made until about January to may. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The company tries very hard to have individuals be comfortable and show  their individual personalities as well as promote a strong teamwork ethic. The reality is their is no room for growth after all management roles above a general managers position. This creates stress as all management struggles to improve sales and have low labor costs in order not to get in trouble or fired. This stressful energy does trickle down to the hourly staff as I did mention there are times where the company needs to under staff to save labor costs. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It has pops of being very fast past. 330pm to 6pm and 7pm to 9pm is usually busy. As manager you focus on food quality, timely service, speaking to every single guest that walks in, making sure take orders are 100% accurate, checking all facilities are clean at all times (patio, dinning area, bathrooms and dinning area server stations), you are also responsible for inventories and ordering on specific days. Breaks for hourly emploees must be given at appropriate times. Labor is watched hourly and cuts need to be made if sales are not coming in.

A typical day at California Pizza Kitchen would be arriving on time for my shift, cocking in and greeting the host stand. If the  windows are dirty I'll clean that and make sure the restrooms are nice and clean before the shift gets busy. What I have learned from working there is that you always have to have a positive attitude when going into work and make your guests visit enjoyable so that they'll feel welcomed back. There are 5 different managers that run the restaurant and they all have their own techniques and own way of running the restaurant which is something I really enjoyed. Working with different types of managers really gives me different perspective and different work experience. The hardest part about the job would be when it's rush hour and the restaurant gets really busy and you have hungry guests everywhere wanting to get sat and be able to eat. What I learned from that is that you have to be patient with the guest and apologize for the wait being so long or not having a booster chair available at the moment all the small things that could ruin their experience. The most enjoyable part for me was seeing all my regular guest come in. Working at this location for 2 years has been an amazing experience because there's guests that have been coming in long before I started working there and they come in with their children and it's very enjoyable to me because I feel like I watch their children grow and I get to know the children even if it's only for 10 minutes while they wait for their table. I really enjoy having regular guests come in and I get to call them by their first name and they get to call me by mine.

A typical day at work was pretty similar to what you would expect from any restaurant job: find out what section you have, find out what your side work is, take tables in your section. This particular store had a consistent traffic flow throughout the week, being relatively slow during the week and then lines out the door for the weekends. 

I learned a lot from this job, it was the first job that I worked over a year at. It was this job that taught me how to work hard under pressure, especially when dealing with customers. No matter how crazy the shift gets, you can't show that to the guests. They are there to have a nice time, and you can't ruin that for them by being a panicked mess. Working at California Pizza Kitchen also taught me how to work hard and move up in a company. I started as a server, and ended up in a position where I could have moved into Management if I wanted. I chose instead to pursue an academic career instead of spending the rest of my life in restaurants.

Management at CPK varied depending on the manager on duty, but generally they cared about their restaurant, their employees, and their guests. They were knowledgeable and helpful, and provided opportunities for me to learn new things in the store.

Servers in a restaurant become a kind of family, as you suffer through many hard days and nights together. As a server you constantly have to deal with the uncertainty of income because of slow days or bad tippers, but when you work with great people it makes it worth it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Restaurant manager 23 salaries reported	$69,600 per year
Cook 6 salaries reported	$21.94 per hour
Kitchen manager 6 salaries reported	$68,625 per year
Manager 1 salary reported	$246 per day
Snack bar attendant 6 salaries reported	$19.72 per hour

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