Pizza rivals widen menus, CPK adds entrées and spritz cocktails

California Pizza Kitchen widened its national menu with five entrées and four spritz cocktails, including Hearth Oven Short Rib Lasagna, a vegetarian Spinach, Artichoke & Mushroom Lasagna, Filet Skewers with chimichurri, Peruvian Pan-Roasted Chicken and Cedar Plank Salmon. The spring lineup, built around La Marca Prosecco, is available for dine-in, carryout or delivery at participating restaurants, which puts the launch across multiple dayparts and service modes at once.

That matters well beyond CPK’s dining rooms. For Pizza Hut cooks, shift leads and delivery teams, the competitive lesson is that pizza brands are no longer selling only pizza. They are selling occasions, variety and the sense that dinner can come from one familiar brand even when the order includes lasagna, salmon or cocktails. The more rivals widen their menus, the more pressure falls on Pizza Hut stores to keep up with fresh items without turning the line into a bottleneck. More SKUs mean more prep steps, more training, more chances for mistakes and more moments when a busy kitchen can slow down the whole order flow.

CPK’s own positioning shows how deliberate that shift has become. The chain describes itself as built around a seasonally inspired menu, hand-shaken cocktails, premium wines and craft beers, and says its menu heritage includes industry-firsts such as gluten-free crust and cauliflower crust. Vice president of culinary innovation Paul Pszybylski said the spring menu was designed to change up routine while staying rooted in cooking techniques guests already know. That is the same balancing act Pizza Hut faces when it adds novelty without losing the speed and consistency that franchise crews depend on.

Pizza Hut has already been pushing in that direction. In June 2024, the chain said its Chicago Tavern-Style launch and toppings transformation was its biggest toppings menu overhaul in more than a decade, with 8 new bold toppings and sauces added as permanent items nationwide. In December 2024, Pizza Hut piloted a new restaurant design in Plano, Texas, with pickup cabinets, self-service kiosks and its first U.S. Hut ‘N Go drive-thru menu, a test already operating in more than 80 global markets and aimed at more transactions and more in-restaurant traffic.

Rachel Antalek, Pizza Hut’s Global Chief Food Innovation Officer, sits at the center of that push. Pizza Hut says she oversees global menu strategy and growth through food innovation, and the brand’s 2025 Pizza Trends Report showed 38% of pizza fans chose pineapple as their favorite topping. That kind of number helps explain why Pizza Hut keeps stretching beyond the basics: in a market where rivals are adding entrées and spritzes, menu innovation is now a frontline skill, not just a marketing slogan.