Who Owns California Pizza Kitchen?

California Pizza Kitchen was founded in 1985 by Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, two former federal prosecutors who had no prior restaurant industry experience but shared a passion for food and an interest in creating a new kind of pizza restaurant. The original location opened in Beverly Hills, California, and introduced a menu of gourmet pizzas with non-traditional toppings that were unusual for American pizza restaurants of the era.

The founding concept was to apply the culinary creativity of California cuisine to pizza, using fresh, high-quality ingredients and flavor combinations that went beyond the traditional tomato sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni of conventional pizza restaurants. Early menu items included the BBQ Chicken Pizza, which became one of the most popular and imitated pizzas in the American restaurant industry, and the Thai Chicken Pizza, which combined peanut sauce, chicken, and Asian-inspired toppings in a combination that was genuinely novel in 1985.

California Pizza Kitchen's concept resonated strongly with consumers, and the chain expanded rapidly through the late 1980s and 1990s. The brand's positioning in the casual dining segment, with a full-service restaurant experience at moderate price points, allowed it to compete effectively with both fast-casual pizza concepts and more expensive full-service restaurants. The chain expanded into shopping malls, airports, and urban locations, developing a broad geographic footprint across the United States.

The company went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 1993, providing capital for continued expansion. Through the 1990s and 2000s, California Pizza Kitchen grew to several hundred locations and developed a significant international presence, with restaurants in Asia, the Middle East, and other markets. The brand also developed a line of frozen pizzas sold in grocery stores, extending its reach beyond the restaurant channel.

In 2011, Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, acquired California Pizza Kitchen for approximately $470 million, taking the company private. Under Golden Gate Capital's ownership, the chain continued to operate but faced the challenges affecting the broader casual dining segment, including changing consumer preferences, competition from fast-casual concepts, and rising labor and food costs.

California Pizza Kitchen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2020, citing the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its restaurant operations. The pandemic forced the temporary closure of most of the chain's locations and eliminated the dine-in revenue that the casual dining format depended on. The bankruptcy filing allowed the company to restructure its debt and lease obligations, emerging from bankruptcy in August 2020 under the control of its creditors.

The company operated under creditor control from 2020 through 2025, during which period it worked to stabilize operations, reduce its restaurant count to a more sustainable level, and adapt its menu and format to post-pandemic consumer preferences. In December 2025, Consortium Brand Partners acquired the chain for approximately $300 million, beginning a new chapter in the brand's ownership history.