Critic's Review
I had a bit over $4 left on a gift card and CPK sent me a $5 "reward", so I thought I'd take a drive and have a cheap lunch. Of course it cost me $5 in gas, but that's another matter.
I really don't like the CPK in Fort Lauderdale, so I wanted to try another. Plus, since they were acquired by Golden Gate Capital (the same company that bought the Red Lobster from Darden), they've been transforming the restaurant's menu.
This location is in the mall, right at the valet station. If you want to pay $6 plus tip so you don't have to walk 50 yards, be my guest. There's sort of a rear gate that opens to a very large outdoor patio; the downside is the less comfortable aluminum furniture.
The actual entrance to the restaurant is in the mall. In this way, Town Center is superior to Galleria, which has entrances to several of it's restaurants outside, which kind of sucks when it's raining.
The inside space here is smaller than Fort Lauderdale; Fort Lauderdale has a larger counter.
However this location has better seating; Fort Lauderdale seems like they placed tables here and there in a big room; here they have lots of booths, and even some small booths for parties of 1 or 2.
I was seated by a bubbly hostess, who proceeded to point out the new, expensive menu items and to make some recommendations. I can't imagine that I'd order something because a 19yo said she liked it, but I let her go through her routine. A server quickly appeared and took my beverage order. She almost tried to do the menu thing again, but I put the kibosh on that.
I came here expecting to get the cedar plank salmon, a new item, until I saw the "new" pricing. $18.49, at CPK? That's like a Las Olas restaurant lunch price. By the time my iced tea arrived, I'd changed my mind and decided that I ought to try a pizza. I ordered one of their lunch duos, which is a 7" Pizza and a salad. I got the Mushroom, Pepperoni, Sausage pizza and a Mediterranean salad.
When she dropped off the tea, she asked if it was enough lemon. This would be enough for now.
Bread is included; something they added to justify the higher pricing. Decent bread with a nice olive oil dip. An older couple nearby asked for butter for the bread instead.
Music here is pleasant. Rubblebucket, Katie Costello, Lily Allen. A tiny Pizza and salad doesn't take very long.
The pizza looked like a small pizza; the salad seemed like a decent portion for the duo concept.
Some of these restaurant presentations really crack me up (as well as annoy me). Its kind of silly to put a pizza and a salad on this plate just so you can get both items on one plate.
Just as I was thinking that eating salad off of this plate was way too much trouble, a manager came by and asked if I needed anything. "Can I get a bowl for this salad". Luckily, they have bowls.
Much better in a bowl.
Service from Stella was stellar; she even asked if I wanted more lemon with my refill. The small dining room has it's advantages as the servers are never far away.
Conclusion
While the food at CPK has improved, it's more expensive than what I'd want to pay for what they have. Somehow it doesn't really feel like a higher end restaurant; the food may be marginally better than Ruby Tuesday's but it's also 20% more expensive.
As for the Pizza, it was decent pizza, but really no different than you can get anyplace nowadays; the fancy "Greek" oregano didn't sway me. About the same as Blaze at a similar price.