Gone for Years, Two ‘Fan Favorite' CPK Pizzas Return

Rhapsodizing about an incredible flavor memory you experienced decades ago, especially those much-missed dining experiences that often disappear over time?

It can be easy to do, if a memorable meal made an especially appetizing impact on you.

And if that meal happened to be a pizza, you likely recall that long-ago pie each and every time you pick up a slice, any slice, while explaining to anyone within earshot about That One Pizza that still haunts your dining dreams.

Diners can't control which dishes appear on the menus at their go-to restaurants, and, moreover, which dishes disappear, but they can rejoice when a long-remembered standard makes a surprise, if brief, return.

And two "fan favorites" from a bygone California Pizza Kitchen recently did just that. The Santa Fe Chicken Pizza, one of the original CPK offerings from 1987, and the Jamaican Jerk Pizza, both made a limited-time return to CPK menus in November 2021.

Adding a sense of poignancy for people who loved the Santa Fe Chicken Pizza early on: It's been gone from the restaurant company's roster for nearly two decades.

"It's always been a point of pride for us at CPK to listen to our guests and guarantee customer satisfaction through new innovations and in this case, bringing back two popular menu items," said CPK CEO, Jim Hyatt.

"Every so often we take polls on which pizzas our guests would like to see return and the Jamaican Jerk Chicken pizza and Santa Fe Chicken pizza are always the top two, so we are more than happy to relaunch these fan favorites."

But here's a fresh twist, one that wasn't around in the early days of CPK: You can now get both of these goodies on a cauliflower crust, if you like, while a chickpea crust is available at some participating CPK restaurants.

As for what the Santa Fe Chicken Pizza is all about?

Your taste buds surely can recall the following details: The "... pizza features chicken breast marinated in lime and herbs, red onions and Monterey Jack topped with fresh cilantro, sour cream, smashed avocado and homemade roasted tomato salsa."

And the Jamaican Jerk Chicken features "... sweet but spicy Caribbean sauce, authentic Jamaican spices, Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon, red onions, bell peppers and scallions."

Find both at participating California Pizza Kitchen restaurants now.