When MGM Resorts’ Park complex opened along with T-Mobile Arena in early April, the stretch of beautifully landscaped Strip-front land was lined with new-to-Vegas bar and restaurant concepts—except for one big, familiar chain.
California Pizza Kitchen, which opened its first restaurant in 1985 in Beverly Hills and is now approaching 300 restaurants in 15 countries, grabbed a significant space at the Park, a nearly 8,000-square-foot restaurant overlooking the Bliss Dance installation.
If you’re assuming it’s just like any other CPK across the country, you’d be wrong. It’s upscale-casual with high ceilings, a giant indoor-outdoor bar, reclaimed wood elements all over and a general fresh, airy openness that feels quite pleasant. This is the biggest CPK yet, and this and the other new Vegas location at Downtown Summerlin are the only restaurants in the chain to offer a fully overhauled and upgraded menu that includes classic cocktails and seasonal original libations, fresh-pressed juices and other unique non-alcoholic beverages, CPK’s first burgers and premium entrees like hand-cut New York strip and ribeye steaks and sesame seared ahi tuna.
Let’s be real: CPK’s food was always pretty good. Who doesn’t love the original bbq chicken or Thai chicken pizzas? The latter has always been my favorite, typically paired with a well-executed salad. I would have never even considered ordering a cheeseburger here, but the CPK classic cheeseburger ($14) is plenty impressive, even on the fancy burger-jammed Vegas Strip. Topped with melty American cheese, Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions and big slices of pickle and tomato, it’s a gem.
The most popular pizza on the Park CPK’s menu, new or old, is the carne asada ($19), marinated steak and roasted poblano peppers with a perfect cilantro pesto, mozzarella and monterey jack cheeses and a citric salsa verde to splash on top. This has replaced my former favorite.
Other tasty new dishes include the respectably spicy Buffalo cauliflower ($7.50); the banh mi power bowl ($14) with quinoa, baby kale, grilled chicken, avocado and more in chili-lime vinaigrette; and the powerfully decadent banana brownie bread with peanut butter cream ($8.50), one of those desserts that registers as heavenly when you get a bit of everything on your spoon.
CPK at the Park may not have moved the needle, but if you’re into sampling all things new that the Strip has to offer, this experience is definitely worth a visit, and it’s open late Fridays and Saturdays after you catch a concert at T-Mobile.
California Pizza Kitchen The Park, 702-749-0180. Sunday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-midnight; Friday & Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-2 a.m.