Margherita Pizza Review: Trader Joe’s vs California Pizza Kitchen!
California Pizza Kitchen Pizza Margerita Review
I don’t live on chocolate alone. I also love California Pizza Kitchen. I love it so much, that were I in a stock-buying mood, I would buy it, but last time I looked it’s not public, but privately held. 🙁
The restaurant has really wonderful combinations, with some unusual ingredients on the menu, (sweet peas, white corn, many spicy things) a good crust, albeit a little too crisp for me at times, and even good desserts (Belgian Chocolate Souffle Cake!)! A big win.
I even like their frozen pizza grocery store versions! Most frozen pizzas are bad – I mean really bad – so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I bought the simple Margherita pie for my first one, and could NOT stop eating it! So darn good!
But remember what I said about extra crispy crusts? It literally hurt my mouth, like paper cuts on my 
lips!! And still I kept eating it, and ate the rest the next day. I’ve tried other varieties that aren’t as good as the simple Margherita one. I see they have a spinach and artichoke pizza I’d like to try, which I haven’t seen in grocery stores out here, just in the restaurants.
I heard Tim Conway Jr on KFI saying he and his daughter love it, too, so I’m not alone. (I’m not wild about him as a talk show host, just this one bitty comment.)
Trader Joe’s Trader Giotto’s Pizza Margherita Compared!
So with the sublime taste of that in memory, the Trader Joe’s Trader Giotto’s Pizza Margherita caught my eye the next time I was in the store. The packaging is very good, more sophisticated than TJ usually puts together. And I liked this pizza, too, with a crust that didn’t bite me! I guess I’m just a Margherita girl! Not as good as California Pizza Kitchen – maybe the ingredients are not as good – but certainly worth buying and having in your freezer.
What others say about Trader Joe’s Pizza
Slice disses Trader Joe’s, and suggests adding canned tomatoes. (Terrible picture there, ignore it.) 
They’re probably right. And one of the commenters there suggests that the Trader Joe’s pizza is really Amy’s, which I’ve never heard of. (Trader Joe’s secrets…REVEALED?) Will keep my eye out for that one. Cooking with Trader Joe’s is more right.
UPDATE: Recently, Trader Joe has so changed this pizza, and ruined it, that I threw it out after the first slice. And I’m from back east, and we don’t like to throw out food. It was clammy and untasty. So…no cheese for the current TJ version.
Where to buy
Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t carry frozen California Pizza Kitchen, but Instacart does! Amazon does carry the CPK gift cards, strangely, as well as the California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook.
Amazon doesn’t carry any Trader Joe’s pizza except for the Cauliflower Pizza Crust. I bought this, as it sounds delish, but haven’t tried it yet.
Painting of pizza by Sara Caron
