Franchise Facts Report → brands → California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen franchise — is it worth it?
High risk Significant turnover
California Pizza Kitchen is a full-service restaurant franchise requiring a substantial initial investment between $1,582,000 and $5,377,500.
Everything below is free, read straight off California Pizza Kitchen's registered filing, with where the numbers land against full-service restaurant peers. Weighing California Pizza Kitchen against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in California Pizza Kitchen's most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 641015 — check it yourself. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.
Considering California Pizza Kitchen? See what else fits your budget
Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. California Pizza Kitchen will be on it if it fits.
California Pizza Kitchen franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: California Pizza Kitchen does not disclose franchise profit or revenue. Its most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-backed earnings figure for California Pizza Kitchen — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (54% of full-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose); the fees, litigation and outlet churn California Pizza Kitchen's FDD does contain are on this page. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Full-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
California Pizza Kitchen lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
California Pizza Kitchen's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) discloses no litigation in Item 3. That is a real signal rather than a gap: the FTC Franchise Rule requires a franchisor to disclose material litigation involving itself, its predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 in a current filing means there was nothing it was required to report. It is worth reading alongside the churn numbers — a system can have a clean Item 3 and still be losing franchisees, which is what Item 20 shows.
California Pizza Kitchen closures & failure rate
Before you sign, California Pizza Kitchen will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what California Pizza Kitchen's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a full-service restaurant of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. California Pizza Kitchen's latest tables show significant franchisee turnover. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 13.3%, against a full-service restaurant median of 1% — worse than the category. Net franchised outlets moved -3 to 12 in the latest reported year.
Who owns California Pizza Kitchen?
California Pizza Kitchen's franchise is offered by CPK Franchise LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at WI DFI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Full-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing California Pizza Kitchen is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
California Pizza Kitchen franchise — frequently asked
Who owns California Pizza Kitchen — who is the franchisor?
California Pizza Kitchen's most recently filed FDD (2026) names CPK Franchise LLC as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a California Pizza Kitchen franchise cost?
California Pizza Kitchen's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $1,582,000 – $5,377,500, with an initial franchise fee of $50,000 and a 5% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against full-service restaurant peers it sits in the bottom quartile (median $1,392,100).
How much profit does a California Pizza Kitchen franchise make?
California Pizza Kitchen makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for California Pizza Kitchen at all — and profit would never be disclosed even where earnings are, because it depends on your rent, labor and how you operate. Any profit figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
Does California Pizza Kitchen disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — California Pizza Kitchen's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing: 54% of full-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose.
Are there lawsuits against California Pizza Kitchen?
No — California Pizza Kitchen's most recently filed FDD (2026) discloses no litigation in Item 3. Franchisors must disclose material litigation involving themselves, their predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 is a genuine signal rather than an omission.
Is California Pizza Kitchen a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from California Pizza Kitchen's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against full-service restaurant peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is high risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on California Pizza Kitchen or full-service restaurant: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same state registries this page is built on.