California Pizza Kitchen Cooks Up New Menu Options

The California Pizza Kitchen chain, which operates a restaurant in the Short Hills Mall, has gained recognition over the years for its array of unique pizza offerings.

Recently, the company announced ten new additions to its menu. Among the new items are the Crispy Mac N' Cheese and the southern-inspired Carnitas Tacos filled with pork, salsa and avocado. For the health conscious, two new salads, Roasted Vegetable and Caramelized Peach, have been added to the menu.

Arguably the most noticeable addition is the chain's gluten-free crust option on 29 of its pizzas.

Lastly, the restaurant will now offer fruit smoothies for $4.50. This addition, which cannot possibly come at a better time considering the recent heat spell that has through the area. Currently, the non-fat yogurt smoothies come in Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, Mango, Mango Banana and Peach varieties.

"We were thrilled with the response these new items received while testing in select markets and look forward to sharing them with all of our guests nationwide," said Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in a joint statement. The two former lawyers co-founded the chain in 1985 and since that time, the company has grown to a chain of more than 260 restaurants nationwide.

California Pizza Kitchen is open Monday through Thursday 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday 11:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m.; Saturday 11:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.; Sunday 12:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. 

Have you sampled any of California Pizza Kitchen's latest offerings? If so,