Dive Brief:
- California Pizza Kitchen has expanded its salad menu with three permanent entree options and a limited-time offering, the company said in a Tuesday press release.
- The Charcuterie Salad, Crispy Chinese Dumpling Salad and Steakhouse salad join the current core lineup of five salads, including the BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad and Thai Crunch Salad. All salads can be ordered in full or half portions for dine-in, takeout and delivery, and can be ordered in catering sizes.
- The menu expansion is part of the chain’s 40th Anniversary brand refresh and comes a few months after it partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts to offer items from virtual brand Man Vs Fries, which offers burritos and quesadillas.
Dive Insight:
Salads are among CPK’s most popular items and the additional menu items could help attract more guests beyond the chain’s various seasonal offerings.
The chain rolled out a Mediterranean-inspired seasonal menu in January with items like a Big Greek Salad, Mediterranean Pizza and Salmon Baked in Parchment. It also updated its menu last May with the addition of six handcrafted cocktails and a refreshed selection of curated California wines, a spokesperson wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive.
CPK has added seasonal menu items and LTOs to its permanent menu of late, including Burnt Ends BBQ Pizza, Neapolitan Burrata Pizza, Braised Short Ribs and Mini Butter Cake Flight.
The casual dining concept has also been working on rolling out vending machines, opening domestic franchised units, entering more non-traditional spaces and expanding its consumer packaged goods lineup beyond frozen pizzas. With about 200 units, the chain doesn’t have a ton of penetration across the country, but can still reach diners without having a full-service restaurant.
Other chains have been updating their permanent menus to help drive traffic and boost sales. Noodles & Company underwent an update that touched two-thirds of the menu with new or refreshed items that helped drive same-store sales growth during the first quarter. In March, Fogo de Chão expanded its seafood offerings with several core items like lobster, and The Cheesecake Factory overhauled its menu with new items while removing 13 dishes.
