California Chicken Cafe

This place is great! Haven’t been here since ’09 and will be returning regularly! I bought the 411 salad and everything on the plate was amazing! Service was a little slow due to the fact that it was busy but overall worth the wait! Sriracha on EVERYTHING!

Food is consistently fresh and tasty. Staff is friendly and attentive. Restaurant is clean and well-​maintained. Would be five stars except for the following:
— They consistently run out of wheat pita for wraps well before closing time. Can they not just order more?
— Hot potatoes are delish but not with the sweet potatoes (IMHO). Even when ordering «with no sweet potatoes» a few sweet potatoes always sneak in. :(Burnt onion concentration seems higher after 8pm too.
Get some more wheat pita for wraps on hand and ditch the sweet potatoes and this place is 5-​stars all the way.

I love California Chicken Café, but it is always a hassle
to get parking. Yes, they have free parking behind their
restaurant, but it is very small lot so good luck. Metered
parking is available on the street if you can find a spot.
Do not park on the residential streets where the homes
are, you need a permit to do that. I ordered a Chinese
chicken salad without the oranges and I always check to
make sure they did not put them on since I am allergic.
Once I got home, I sat down to eat my delicious salad
and noticed they did not put any chicken in my salad at
all. It still tasted and looked great, but I was very
disappointed.

This is my favorite food in Los Angeles. I nearly always order for pick up so I can’t really say much about the customer service. It has always been fine over the phone for me.
My go to salad is the California Chicken Salad. It is so filling and hearty! I would eat hear every day if it were a little cheaper– not kidding, I would.

You are going downhill, use to be my go to place salad but not anymore. The chicken in their salad use to be chunk but they changed it to thin slices almost shredded.
I tried to call in and order pick up at 11, they told me it would take at least 20 min, never mind I have to go to work cant wait that long. Tried again next day, they said take around 10 min, got their exactly 10 min ask for my order they dont have it!!! Told me they only have catering order. I show them my phone that I call they look at me and shrugged. Seriously!!! Not gonna back there again.

I have only ordered take out from here multiple times but have never actually eaten in the restaurant. My go to is the veggie wrap which is only 7.50 but very delicious, filling and fresh and my husband gets the Chinese wrap which is also yummy and only about 8.50. My friend who has ordered with us a few times, gets the 3 piece chicken which she always says is delicious. What I love about this place is that they have a very easy ordering process and they are quick. We never have trouble quickly parking and picking up the food. We have yet to be disappointed with the take out here.

Perfect place to eat healthy but have delicious food at the same time. I pretty much always get either the Chinese chicken salad or the California chicken salad. They are both amazingly tasty and super satisfying. My husband loves to get the whole rotisserie chicken with the sides of potatoes and all that good stuff. I have had some of his food before as well and I think that is a great option for people who aren’t craving the typical sandwich/​salad. It’s true, service here really isn’t great. I just get my food and get out.
Portions are HUGE! I almost can never finish my entire plate. Overall, I love this place and do eat here regularly because it is convenient, delicious, and well worth it.

I can’t get enough of this place. The food is absolutely delicious and everything is so fresh and just tastes great. When in LA I’m always making sure to stop in for some chicken, a wrap or one of their signature salads. The staff is friendly and the food is prepared pretty quickly.
If you come around lunch time it can be a little bit of a wait but not too bad. Maybe 10 minutes for your food to come on out depending on the day. I’m a huge fan of the Chinese Wrap and California Chicken Salad which is quite huge. They really pack on the meat and make sure you leave full which is something I enjoy when eating out.

This place is usually awesome. The food is delicious, and, usually, the service is excellent. I’d like to give it 5 stars.
Unfortunately, tonight, one employee, Jennifer, was very unprofessional. I ordered over the phone, and when I arrived, my order was missing an item. I politely mentioned it as I was paying, and she told me (with no apologies for the incorrect order) that I had to «go to the back of the line» and re-​order it.
It makes no sense to ask a customer to go to the back of the line because she had the order incorrect. It was a very unpleasant experience.
I really like this place, but Jennifer was the rudest cashier I’ve ever come across.

Everything Is really well thought out and eficiente. Veggie soup was flavorful and potatoes rock!
You are going to get good food at a great price with excellent service.
Great alternative to fast food.

Consistency. Salads, wraps, roasted chicken and a variety of sides. This works for the whole family when you’re tired, can’t cook, busy, or just hankering for some of that pasta w/​broccoli, cabbage salad and chicken. Yum!
Great service. Serve yourself condiments. Call it in to save some time. This always does the job for lunch, dinner, catering, or whatever. Will repeat again soon.

The food here is great and consistent. The chicken, the butternut squash, the roasted potatoes, the cesar salad in particular are very good. I’ve used California Chicken Café to cater a number of casual gatherings though I have only ever been to the Santa Monica location.
Unfortunately, the staff at this location were terribly rude on our most recent visit and I would not be back. There was no behind the counter to take our order, then they walked away in the middle of my wife ordering and laughed at her when she hadn’t noticed she wasn’t talking to anyone. Then they neglected to call out when our order was ready since they’d filed the food in the online orders section. When we asked where our food was because it was taking an inordinate amount of time when they were not busy at all they said it had been ready and they had called it. However, we were sitting in the very front so this was not true. They then gave us attitude as we were leaving.
It seems like they are missing a manager. No one is minding the henhouse. I don’t think any business should feel entitled to customers.

SSS, CCC.
So surprisingly solid, California Chicken Café.
After a long day of golfing, two of my friends and I stopped by CCC for some dinner. My one friend, the driver, said that CCC was great and that he takes all his friends here. He also wanted a somewhat healthy meal, which we were all on board for.
I’ve passed by CCC by virtue of just always being in the area, but it’s just far enough from where I set base that it’s just not really worth looking into further purely from the distance alone.
That said, I might have to rethink that.
CCC has definitely options you won’t hate yourself over. The chicken is rotisserie style, the sides are for the most part healthy (well, I got mashed potatoes, which, eh, probably aren’t), and things just taste refreshing in general.
The two side, 3 piece chicken meal was awesome for $ 11.00 – it was a good amount of food, especially since they piled on two plump pitas – plump pita pile (PPP). Okay, yeah, you know, I’ll stop with the horrible acronyms.
The broccoli salad was a little too broccoli for me, which sounds like a bad description, but honestly I would have loved to taste more of the salad aspect. Next time, I’d go with the broccoli soup or maybe caesar salad.
Also, UCLA students get a free fountain drink with a flash of your BruinCard! Isn’t that great? I thought that was great.
For a quick, simple, and pretty healthy meal, check out CCC – easy as 1−2−3.

The cashier Jessica had a VERY BAD attitude, rolled her eyes and didn’t explain well when I asked what two certain salads brought. As a worker and cashier I believe she shouldn’t have that attitude. A cashier should always have a great attitude, they are the ones that who represent the place along with the food. I’m not here to get faces and become upset. Food is great btw.

3.5 stars
My boyfriend and I came for lunch this past Saturday afternoon, arriving a little after noon. We found metered street parking immediately for $ 1 per hour. Wait was fairly quick. Note that the lines start against the glass to the left of the cashiers.
Both of us ordered the 3 piece chicken with 2 sides ($ 11 each) with hot potatoes (x2), broccoli pasta salad, and chicken pasta salad. We were pretty surprised when our plates came out since the chicken was pretty small and looked like a two piece instead of three. However, the chicken was delicious and tender. I enjoyed my hot potatoes drizzled with some cholula but i did not like the chicken pasta salad at all =(The flavor tasted like leftovers from the night prior!
An additional –1 star for the tables being TOO close together. They really tried to maximize the amount of seating. It was uncomfortable trying to talk to each other since the parties on both ends could hear our entire conversation. Literally, the tables are about 3 inches apart from one another!

There are no clean table. All tables are occupied with left over food. I have to clean my own table.
And the server put her thumbs in our salad bowl.

One of my favorite lunch places in the area. Everything I’ve had has always been extremely fresh and tasted great. However my favorite menu items are the:
Combo wrap (side bbq sauce)
Chinese chicken salad
Chicken pasta salad
Also, definitely call your order in advance if you can, the line can get pretty long.

I haven’t written a review in quite sometime, good or bad.
But after my stomach churning fiasco last night, I can’t help but feel inclined to warn my fellow diners. So, here goes…
Post-​workout. Let me tell you, I was feeling GOOD. Anyone who has ever taken a crossfit class knows that the moment you finish your workout, it’s like you hit nirvana. Aside from feeling great, I had a deep animalistic hunger growing inside my tummy. That’s when I decided I would go to California Chicken Café. It felt normal, it felt like a good choice… BOY, WAS I WRONG.
The whole placing and retrieval of my order was pretty much what you would expect at 8pm on a Tuesday night. Unfortunately, it was anything but turn up Tuesday for me. The moment that nice lady handed me my order I instantly knew — beast mode time. I raced home, sat my sweaty butt on the floor of my apartment and teared open that to-​go bag faster than a cup stacking competitor. IT WAS ON. It was more than halfway through my salad that I thought to myself, «Man, nothing can ruin this salad right now…»
Then horror struck. Something ruined my salad.
As I was going in on a piece of broccoli, I saw something move. I’m not talking about some piece of cheese falling back into the container. I’M TALKING ANTENNAS PEOPLE. Lo and behold, a bug the size of a dime crawled out from under the broccoli. HORRIFIED, I couldn’t help but just stare. Questions racing through my head. Did I really just find this? NOW? Was that piece of brown shell I pulled out of my mouth its brother? I THOUGHT IT WAS AN OLD PIECE OF AVOCADO.
RIP Nirvana.
Obviously I contacted CCC and received the expected response. Apologetic with the willingness to replace my salad. But one comment struck home. «Ma’am, we take a lot of care into washing our vegetables before we serve them to our customers»…umm, no, no you don’t. Just a rule of thumb — when a customer calls in and lets you know they found a LIVE BUG (and may I add, THRIVING) in their salad, don’t immediately remind them about all the care you (obviously don’t) take in washing your products before serving them to the public.

Around back in 2010, I happily discovered the California Chicken Café just few blocks away from my previous workplace. Since the food is fresh and reasonably priced, I used to grab chicken wrap to-​go AT LEAST once a week.
By having nice conversation with one of the owners, I learned that he and another USC graduate opened the first California Chicken Café on Melrose Ave back in 1991. They were hoping to establish a casual restaurant that serves great foods at low prices, and wanting it to be a comfortable place for people eating alone or with friends.
When they were building the Melrose restaurant, a neighbor came in inquiring. He was hoping a Taco bell or fast food restaurant would go in. «EVERYTHING AT THIS RESTAURANT HAD FAILED, he told them. «THERE’S NO FOOT TRAFFIC, NO PARKING ON THE SIDE STREETS AND EVERYONE SHOPS AT THE WEST OF LA BREA.» then he uttered disappointingly. About a month after they opened, the same man came in and walked up to the owners. With a huge smile on his face and said «I AM NOT SURPRISED YOU GUYS ARE DOING SO WELL, THE NEIGHBORHOOD NEEDED SOMETHING REALLY GOOD, CONGRATS.»
For those of you planning a holiday celebration? California Chicken Café caters small parties up to about 800 people. During Nordstrom’s big half-​yearly sale, CCC delivers chicken, wraps and salads every couple of hours to feed more than 600 employees on that particular busy day.
Now let’s talk about all the items I’ve tried so far at CCC:
The «Californian Chicken Salad» — basically a Cobb with no eggs or bacon is probably the greatest salad ever constructed. The ingredients are perfectly balanced, with ample chunks of fresh cooked chicken breast. There are enough different elements to keep it interesting with every bite, and enough pasta, tossed pita chuncks, avocado and chicken to make it filling. In other words to describe this, it’s perfect dish everytime.
Did I also mention that the one serving of this salad is huge for one person? Nope, but yes as my Unilocal friend Jane L said in her review 4 months ago. Basically, salad itself alone is enough for a meal, but their sides are consistently delicious as well, especially the broccoli pasta salad which again is PERFECTLY balanced, and the roasted potatoes which are among the best. They also offer plain mashed butternut squash which has a great clean flavor. I am not health nut, but occasionally this is what I crave from CCC.
Balsamic dressing, Ranch dressing and Chinese dressing — I know you say «DRESSING?». But to be quite frank, it is whatsoever is in these dressings mentioned above that cements the CCC as frequent contributor to my list of weekly staples. It’s been debated, but I am pretty sure everyone of them is laced with negligible amount of something tantalizingly addictive.
Rotisserie Chicken — Exquisite, perfectly juicy and seasoned PERFECTLY. It more than carries its weight in this chicken town. It only ranks just below Zankou chicken, Al-​Wazir, Dino’s, Pollo La Brasa.
Chinese wraps with Chicken — consists of Chinese noodles, Chinese dressing, shredded carrots, lettuce, tomato and Mayo. It superb. Note: They do also offer a veggie wrap for those who don’t eat meats. California Chicken Café didn’t invent wraps, yet they surely popularize them. It’s absolutely an ideal dish for those on the go, b/​c it requires NO UTENCILS.
I do like their varieties of chicken wraps, my preference for wrap sandwich is the combo wrap with chicken, guacamole, Jack cheese, sprouts, Italian dressing, lettuce, tomato and mayo. Fat free mayo, mustard and green onions are available upon request. All wraps can be prepared with white or whole — wheat pita bread. They are all made to order and you won’t see any wraps sitting in a refrigerator cabinet.
How do I compare CCC with Chick Fill A? Hmm. The food at CCC seems lot fresher, and the chicken is probably healthier since it’s roasted chicken instead of breaded chicken. I also love the idea that you have more flexibility to customize your order. Although CCC is better choice for bigger and fresher salad, unfortunately it won’t cure craving for nuggets, or breaded chicken sandwich. I believe they both serve a purpose. It just depends what kind of chicken you want/​prefer.
Although it may not be an ideal for first date restaurant, but is a terrific 3^rd or 4^th date place for a healthy lunch, picnic meal, or dinner that will cost less than 10 bucks. In other words, prices are very reasonable in any CCC locations…
Happyeats.

I am actually a big fan of the California chicken Café. Love the food and feel it’s a great value for a high quality healthy meal. There’s one thing that bugs me about the Westwood location. If I can include a photo here I will. As soon as you open the front door there is a bussers cart with dirty dishes, chicken bones, soiled napkins, etc… you get the picture garbage. all I am asking or suggesting is that they move the car so it’s not the first thing or the last thing you see when entering or leaving the store.
UPDATE!
So I come in for my once in a while dinner tonight and much to my delight and surprise. the cart with all the dishes/​trash is NOT there by the front door. Not sure if just a coincidence or if management agreed with my previous concern. But I am very glad to see the clean, open dining area (without service cart) and the food is still the same, GREAT!

I love CCC, but this is the second time in ONE WEEK I have ordered a 411 salad and it has come missing without 2 or more ingredients. Last week they forgot bell peppers, feta, and croutons. This week they forgot feta, croutons, crispy noodles, AND my protein of choice — avocado. They essentially charged me $ 11 for a box of lettuce and shredded carrots.
This is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous. They obviously do not pay any attention to what is being ordered. If you get it to go, check your order before you leave!!! Otherwise you too will be hangrily writing reviews on Unilocal

Love this place! The girlfriend and I have eaten here often whenever we’re craving for something quick, simple, and healthy. Just be warned that it can get pretty busy, so I’d recommend to phone in your order for it to be ready in 15 minutes or so.
And that’s exactly what we usually do. We phone in an order of one Chinese Chicken Salad ($ 10.50) with dressing on the side and a Combo Wrap ($ 9.00) with whole wheat pita. By the time we drive over there, and manage to park in their tiny private lot in the back, our delicious food is ready to be devoured! Between the two of us, we’re usually pretty stuffed.
The chicken salad is a mix of lettuce, white chicken meat, almonds, chinese fried noodles, plain pasta, mandarin oranges, and carrots. I highly recommend this dish! The chicken is delicious and all the toppings just compliment each other so well. I love the extra crunch with the noodles and almonds, and the oranges adds a refreshing zing to your bite. The dressing can get overwhelming, so I usually ask for it on the side.
The combo wrap consists of chicken, avocado, jack cheese, sprouts, italian dressing, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. You have your choice of choosing white or whole wheat pita. I usually prefer white, but when I’m feeling extra nutritious, I go for the whole wheat. Pretty tasty and light, yet still leaves you feeling very satisfied. I think the plus of the combo wrap is the sprouts. If you’re not much of a sprout fan, then I’d just go for the classic wrap.
The food is fulfilling and you won’t be feeling guilty over your meal choice either! We definitely plan on coming back! Just remember to be prepared to wait, or plan on calling ahead to place an order.

No matter how many times I visit this place, the California Chicken Salad is always my go to salad (–pasta). This $ 11 Mega salad (huge portions) is not only fulfilling, but it’s good enough for 2 people. I always highly recommend getting a side of potatoes as it is one of their best side dishes.
TIP** They’re closed on Sundays :(

Although I liked California Chicken Café (CCC), there are numerous restaurants in the area that serve similar fare — chicken and salad. For instance, the eponymous rotisserie chicken is reminiscent of what you might find at Zankou Chicken. And, the salads, though fancier, might make you confused with California Fresh, which ironically is located across the street. That being said, CCC offers fresh, healthy food at relatively cheap prices ($ 8 – 11) that definitely merits a visit.
The restaurant itself is, like its competitors, fairly casual (e.g. cafeteria style). Once you place your order at the cashier, a staff member will deliver your food to your table. (If you order food to go, there is a separate line to pick up your order.) There is a sauce station where you can get various types of salsas to augment your dishes. Most of the tables are bolted to the floor, so it’s not entirely feasible to shift things around to accommodate larger groups.
The restaurant has a range of items to please all the vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores in your party. I particularly liked how CCC offers the option to create a custom salad (the 411 salad) if the set menu items don’t fit your dietary needs. On my most recent visit, I ordered ½ rotisserie chicken with one side. The rotisserie chicken was fairly standard. I found my piece of chicken tender but slightly dry. The crispy skin added a nice crunch, but had a bit too much salt for my taste. I selected the vegan broccoli soup as my side, and was blown away by the deliciousness of the soup! If you love broccoli, then you will most definitely like this creamy, non-​dairy soup. It’s pureed broccoli goodness! In addition to the entrée and side, the order came with two pieces of wheat pita, but I didn’t feel inclined to have more carbs, even if it was wheat.
Although there is a small parking lot, I would recommend parking in the nearby residential neighborhoods, which have free parking. The meters along Westwood Boulevard are free after 8PM.
Since I found CCC better than California Fresh, I’ve rounded up to 4 stars, but in reality, this place is probably more like 3.5.

If you are looking for good healthy chicken options, California Chicken Café is a great option to eat.
Although it does not look like much from the outside, CCC serves consistently good food at a reasonable price. All the ingredients in the food options always taste fresh. Even as you enter you see skewers of chicken rotating on a pit as well as the wide selection of produce they use for their salads.
Here are a few things that I have ordered:
Chinese Chicken Salad: I have had my share of Chinese Chicken Salads and they definitely serve the best at CCC! The key to what makes theirs so great is the burst of sweetness from the Mandarin oranges. The crunch of the Chinese noodles and almonds add that extra texture as well as a great contrast to the sweetness. There is also the plain pasta that has a chewiness that also adds another interesting profile to each bite. You can also order this as a half size!
California Chicken Salad: If I am not looking for something sweet, I go for the California Chicken Salad. Again, the white meat chicken is great. The mix of the bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes are fresh and crunchy along with the creamy avocado slices and flavorful feta cheese. Plus, there are the croutons that are more like pita chips with the perfect amount of saltiness.
There is also the 411 Salad where you are allowed to create your own salad where you get to choose 4 toppings, 1 protein, and 1 side. The 411 salad price is comparable in price to the other two main salads mentioned above so is a pretty good option if you also are craving a side. In terms of sides, there are quite a few options. My personal favorites include broccoli soup and squash. However, if you are getting a full salad because they have been pretty filling.
In terms of parking, they do have a VERY small lot in the back. You are more often better off looking for parking on the street even though you may have to pay a little. The service is always fast and efficient. There are options to order on the phone and pick up which you may consider since the seating here is also limited and if you are in a big group, you are not able to move the tables together.
Overall, I love the fresh chicken options primarily the salads here at CCC!