TikToker Orders Mac And Cheese From CPK, Only Gets Cheese

Updated 7/18/24 to include a statement from a CPK company spokesperson.

Kitchens aren't perfect, and cooks are only human. Mistakes are bound to happen. Sometimes, even if you order a salad without meat, it still gets topped with bacon crumbles, or maybe your 3x3 from In-N-Out arrives as a Double-Double instead. Some culinary errors, however, are so egregious, they defy logic and anger the spirit. That's what happened to TikTok user @fumptruck when they ordered a side of mac and cheese from California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) to help ease some of their personal woes. Upon opening the container, they discovered that only half of the menu's promise was delivered — they only received a plastic container full of cheese sauce.

@fumptruck

I give up 😩 #badday #macandcheese #macncheese #cpk #californiapizzakitchen #omg

♬ original sound – Garage Gremlin 🍉

As anyone who's made mac and cheese (either at home or in a restaurant) knows, the noodles are typically mixed into the sauce as part of the dish's preparation. At CPK, however, mac and cheese seems to be a DIY pasta dish, with noodles and sauce only meeting on the plate. It seems that either the cook or the employee who bagged the order should have noticed the box's lack of heft, but in a hectic kitchen with multiple in-house and delivery orders, haste can indeed make waste. To add insult to injury, @fumptruck contacted CPK, only to be told that the "mac" in the restaurant's mac and cheese has to be ordered separately.

A quick glance at California Pizza Kitchen's online menu lists mac and cheese as a dish under both the pasta section and the kids' menu. While neither listing explicitly states that mac and cheese includes both items, both photos showcase noodles covered in cheese sauce. It's hard to believe anyone could guess that only cheese would arrive, especially when you consider the chain's pedigree.

Founded with the help of former Spago pizza chef Ed LaDou, CPK was doing elevated fast-casual before the term even existed. The restaurant turned pizza on its head, as LaDou created a menu with out-of-the-box ingredients. In fact, CPK is where barbecue chicken pizza was invented (though its Spicy Honey Bee pizza with gorgonzola and hot honey came first in our ranking of CPK pizzas). That said, the chain has bounced from owner to owner, including PepsiCo and a private equity firm, and fans of the beloved restaurant chain almost lost it in 2021 when CPK saw a bankruptcy restructuring. While none of this necessarily equates to a dip in quality, inconsistent ownership may mean there's no steady hand on the rudder.

CPK, however, is not too proud to admit fault. When contacted by Mashed, a company spokesperson confessed, "We take our food very seriously, but that doesn't mean we don't get a bit cheesy from time to time. In this case, we clearly dropped the ball (or as it turns out, the MAC)." The business has since reached out to @fumptruck, hoping to make things up to them. Additionally, CPK is "offering ALL of our guests half off Mac & Cheese from any CPK restaurant for takeout or CPK delivery orders only," the spokesperson revealed, "starting tomorrow (Friday, July 19) through the end of this month with promo code 'cheeseANDmac' at checkout."