And the restaurant has continued to evolve in ways you seldom see from chains like Chili's, trying to stand out as not just a restaurant for pizza. Recently they offered a free 7-inch pizza to any Rewards customers who visited and ordered anything other than pizza, redeemable on a future visit.

I have a friend who loves visiting with her husband and she seldom orders pizza, preferring salads and sandwiches. They have power bowls, they offer cauliflower crusts, and the pastas have creative touches. Though you can still see the man in the kitchen hand tossing the pizza dough in the air, they regularly bring out special menus that offer some exceptional choices.

During a recent visit I found one of those, the West Coast burger ($17.99). The bad news is they used American cheese. Why? Good question. Most astute kitchens make more thoughtful choices. But the rest of this creation was something else. The thick patty was made from chuck, brisket and wagyu-style beef. The bacon was crispy Nueske's, that amazing product from Wisconsin. There was a heap of caramelized onions on it that were so dark brown they were sweet and quite appealing. There was a thick layer of chopped lettuce, a decent, very red tomato slice and pickles.

On the side were something called "crispy potatoes," which was an assortment of griddled new potatoes, fried, crispy strips that I'd hesitate to call french fries, and I noticed most pieces still had skin on them, with a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese over the top. It's the kind of satisfying innovation you see coming out of CPK in recent years. Overall, one of the best burgers I've had in years, and who knew you could get this at CPK?

My companion's entrée, unfortunately, sounded better than it tasted. Also ordering off the special menu, she got the cedar plank salmon ($25.99), which was described as "North Atlantic salmon roasted on a cedar plank in our hearth oven with smoked paprika and lime," with pan-roasted seasonal vegetables.

One big problem: The salmon was not fresh tasting. She, like me, was sold by the description — smoked paprika has more appeal to us than it should, and lime on salmon is quite fetching. But the botched execution meant I was sharing my burger, though the vegetables were quite good — broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, onions, even some potatoes. It had been a long time since we'd had a bad experience like that here.

We didn't save room for dessert, and we do love the hot butter cake with the big scoop of ice cream on top. It's worth noting that they still have those cool stacked stone walls that somehow suggest "The Brady Bunch," but we noticed a 10-photo montage on the wall that features the Beale clock tower and a Bakersfield seal that calls us "California's Country Music Capital."

There were no prices on the drink menu, which is another trend I'm seeing on my excursions, though the beer and wine offerings do have prices listed. And service was exceptionally professional from Bailey, who knows how to do everything with polish. On this weekday night it was not really busy, but on weekend visits we've seen a lot more customers

It's worth noting too that they have separate parking and an order window if you want food to go without ordering it on the app, and happy hour on weekdays offers some discounts.