California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI)

Item 1A.    Risk Factors

Our growth strategy requires us to open new restaurants at a measured pace. We may not be able to achieve our planned expansion.

We are pursuing a disciplined growth strategy that to be successful, depends on our ability and the ability of our franchisees and licensees to open new restaurants and to operate these new restaurants on a profitable basis. The success of our planned expansion will be dependent upon numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including: the hiring, training and retention of qualified operating personnel, especially managers; competition for restaurant sites; negotiation of favorable lease terms; timely development of new restaurants, including the availability of construction materials and labor; management of construction and development costs of new restaurants; securing required governmental approvals and permits; competition in our markets; and general economic conditions.

Our success depends on our ability to locate a sufficient number of suitable new restaurant sites.

One of our biggest challenges in meeting our growth objectives will be to secure an adequate supply of suitable new restaurant sites. We have experienced delays in opening some of our restaurants and may experience delays in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find sufficient suitable locations for our planned expansion in any future period. Delays or failures in opening new restaurants could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows.

We could face labor shortages, which could slow our growth.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees, including restaurant managers, kitchen staff and servers, necessary to keep pace with our expansion schedule. Qualified individuals of the requisite caliber and number needed to fill these positions are in short supply in some areas. Although we have not experienced any significant problems in recruiting or retaining employees, any future inability to recruit and retain sufficient individuals may delay the planned openings of new restaurants. Any such delays or any material increases in employee turnover rates in existing restaurants could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages and/or grant awards of equity, to the extent available, to attract a sufficient number of employees, which could result in higher labor costs. Failure to pay higher wages and/or grant awards of equity may prevent us from retaining and attracting qualified employees.

Our expansion into new markets may present increased risks due to our unfamiliarity with the area.

As a part of our expansion strategy, we will be opening restaurants in markets in which we have no prior operating experience. These new markets may have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our restaurants in our existing markets. In addition, our new restaurants will typically take several months to reach budgeted operating levels due to problems associated with new restaurants,

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including lack of market awareness, inability to hire sufficient staff and other factors. Although we have attempted to mitigate these factors by paying careful attention to training and staffing needs, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in operating new restaurants on a profitable basis.

Our expansion may strain our infrastructure, which could slow our restaurant development.

We also face the risk that our existing systems and procedures, restaurant management systems, financial controls, and information systems will be inadequate to support our planned expansion. We cannot predict whether we will be able to respond on a timely basis to all of the changing demands that our planned expansion will impose on management and these systems and controls. If we fail to continue to improve our information systems and financial controls or to manage other factors necessary for us to achieve our expansion objectives, our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

Our restaurant expansion strategy focuses primarily on further penetrating existing markets. This strategy can cause sales in some of our existing restaurants to decline.

In accordance with our expansion strategy, we intend to open new restaurants primarily in our existing markets. Since we typically draw customers from a relatively small radius around each of our restaurants, the sales performance and customer counts for restaurants near the area in which a new restaurant opens may decline due to cannibalization of the existing restaurant’s customer base.

Our operations are susceptible to changes in food and supply costs, which could adversely affect our margins.

Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. Our centralized purchasing staff negotiates prices for all of our ingredients and supplies through either contracts (terms of one month up to one year) or commodity pricing formulas. Our national master distributor delivers goods twice a week at a set, flat fee per case to all of our restaurants. Our contract with our national master distributor is up for renewal in July 2008. Furthermore, various factors beyond our control, including adverse weather conditions and governmental regulations, could also cause our food and supply costs to increase. We cannot predict whether we will be able to anticipate and react to changing food and supply costs by adjusting our purchasing practices. A failure to do so could adversely affect our operating results or cash flows.

Changes in consumer preferences or discretionary consumer spending or negative publicity could adversely impact our results.

Our restaurants feature pizzas, pastas, salads and appetizers in an upscale, family-friendly, casual environment. Our continued success depends, in part, upon the popularity of these foods and this style of informal dining. Shifts in consumer preferences away from this cuisine or dining style could materially adversely affect our future profitability. Also, our success depends to a significant extent on numerous factors affecting discretionary consumer spending, including economic conditions, disposable consumer income and consumer confidence. Adverse changes in these factors could reduce customer traffic or impose practical limits on pricing, either of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Like other restaurant chains, we can also be materially adversely affected by negative publicity concerning food quality, illness, injury, publication of government or industry findings concerning food products served by us, or other health concerns or operating issues stemming from one restaurant or a limited number of restaurants.

Approximately forty percent of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California. As a result, we are highly sensitive to negative occurrences in that state.

Together with our franchisees, we currently operate a total of 84 restaurants in California (77 are company-owned and 7 are owned by franchisees). As a result, we are particularly susceptible to adverse trends and economic conditions in California. In addition, given our geographic concentration, negative publicity regarding

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any of our restaurants in California could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, as could other regional occurrences such as local strikes, earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Increases in the minimum wage may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

A number of our employees are subject to various minimum wage requirements. The federal minimum wage is currently $5.85 and will be increased in the future. However, approximately 40% of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California where employees receive compensation equal to the California minimum wage, which rose from $6.75 in 2006 to $7.50 per hour effective January 1, 2007 and $8.00 per hour effective January 1, 2008. During 2007, there were 24 other states that had state minimum wage increases in addition to California. Similar increases may be implemented in other jurisdictions in which we operate or seek to operate. These minimum wage increases may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Rising insurance costs could negatively impact profitability.

The rising cost of insurance (workers’ compensation insurance, general liability insurance, health insurance and directors and officers’ liability insurance) could have a negative impact on our profitability if we are not able to negate the effect of such increases by continuing to improve our operating efficiencies.

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expense.

Keeping abreast of, and in compliance with, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, new SEC regulations and Nasdaq Stock Market rules, has required an increased amount of management attention and external resources. We remain committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest all reasonably necessary resources to comply with evolving standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

The restaurant industry is affected by litigation and publicity concerning food quality, health and other issues, which can cause customers to avoid our restaurants and result in liabilities.

We are sometimes the subject of complaints or litigation from customers or employees alleging illness, injury or other food quality, health or operational concerns. Adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may materially adversely affect our restaurants, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether California Pizza Kitchen is liable. In fact, we are subject to the same risks of adverse publicity resulting from these sorts of allegations even if the claim involves one of our franchisees or licensees. Further, employee claims against us based on, among other things, wage discrimination, harassment or wrongful termination may divert financial and management resources that would otherwise be used to benefit the future performance of our operations. We have been subject to these employee claims before, and a significant increase in the number of these claims or any increase in the number of successful claims could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. We also are subject to some states’ “dram shop” statutes. These statutes generally provide a person injured by an intoxicated person with the right to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person.

Future changes in financial accounting standards may affect our reported results and/or reported results of operations.

A change in accounting standards can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions before the change is effective. New pronouncements and varying interpretations of pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing accounting rules or the questioning of current accounting practices may adversely affect our reported financial results.

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Item 1A.    Risk Factors

Our growth strategy requires us to open new restaurants at
a measured pace. We may not be able to achieve our planned expansion.

We are pursuing a disciplined growth strategy that to be
successful, depends on our ability and the ability of our franchisees and licensees to open new restaurants and to operate these new restaurants on a profitable basis. The success of our planned expansion will be dependent upon numerous factors,
many of which are beyond our control, including: the hiring, training and retention of qualified operating personnel, especially managers; competition for restaurant sites; negotiation of favorable lease terms; timely development of new restaurants,
including the availability of construction materials and labor; management of construction and development costs of new restaurants; securing required governmental approvals and permits; competition in our markets; and general economic conditions.

Our success depends on our ability to locate a sufficient number of suitable new restaurant sites.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

A description of the risk factors associated with the Company is contained in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” of our 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 14, 2007 and incorporated herein by reference. There were no material changes in the second quarter of 2007 for the risk factors described in the 10-K. The cautionary statements are to be used as a reference in connection with any forward-looking statements. The factors, risks and uncertainties identified in these cautionary statements are in addition to those contained in any other cautionary statements, written or oral, which may be made or otherwise addressed in connection with a forward-looking statement or contained in any of our subsequent filings with the SEC.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

A description of the risk factors associated with the Company is contained in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” of our 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 14, 2007 and incorporated herein by reference. There were no material changes in the first quarter of 2007 for the risk factors described in the 10-K. The cautionary statements are to be used as a reference in connection with any forward-looking statements. The factors, risks and uncertainties identified in these cautionary statements are in addition to those contained in any other cautionary statements, written or oral, which may be made or otherwise addressed in connection with a forward-looking statement or contained in any of our subsequent filings with the SEC.

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Item 1A.    Risk Factors

Our growth strategy requires us to open new restaurants at a measured pace. We may not be able to achieve our planned expansion.

We are pursuing a disciplined growth strategy that to be successful, depends on our ability and the ability of our franchisees and licensees to open new restaurants and to operate these new restaurants on a profitable basis.

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The success of our planned expansion will be dependent upon numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including: the hiring, training and retention of qualified operating personnel, especially managers; competition for restaurant sites; negotiation of favorable lease terms; timely development of new restaurants, including the availability of construction materials and labor; management of construction and development costs of new restaurants; securing required governmental approvals and permits; competition in our markets; and general economic conditions.

Our success depends on our ability to locate a sufficient number of suitable new restaurant sites.

One of our biggest challenges in meeting our growth objectives will be to secure an adequate supply of suitable new restaurant sites. We have experienced delays in opening some of our restaurants and may experience delays in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find sufficient suitable locations for our planned expansion in any future period. Delays or failures in opening new restaurants could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows.

We could face labor shortages, which could slow our growth.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees, including restaurant managers, kitchen staff and servers, necessary to keep pace with our expansion schedule. Qualified individuals of the requisite caliber and number needed to fill these positions are in short supply in some areas. Although we have not experienced any significant problems in recruiting or retaining employees, any future inability to recruit and retain sufficient individuals may delay the planned openings of new restaurants. Any such delays or any material increases in employee turnover rates in existing restaurants could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of employees, which could result in higher labor costs.

Our expansion into new markets may present increased risks due to our unfamiliarity with the area.

As a part of our expansion strategy, we will be opening restaurants in markets in which we have no prior operating experience. These new markets may have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our restaurants in our existing markets. In addition, our new restaurants will typically take several months to reach budgeted operating levels due to problems associated with new restaurants, including lack of market awareness, inability to hire sufficient staff and other factors. Although we have attempted to mitigate these factors by paying careful attention to training and staffing needs, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in operating new restaurants on a profitable basis.

Our expansion may strain our infrastructure, which could slow our restaurant development.

We also face the risk that our existing systems and procedures, restaurant management systems, financial controls, and information systems will be inadequate to support our planned expansion. We cannot predict whether we will be able to respond on a timely basis to all of the changing demands that our planned expansion will impose on management and these systems and controls. If we fail to continue to improve our information systems and financial controls or to manage other factors necessary for us to achieve our expansion objectives, our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

Our restaurant expansion strategy focuses primarily on further penetrating existing markets. This strategy can cause sales in some of our existing restaurants to decline.

In accordance with our expansion strategy, we intend to open new restaurants primarily in our existing markets. Since we typically draw customers from a relatively small radius around each of our restaurants, the sales performance and customer counts for restaurants near the area in which a new restaurant opens may decline due to cannibalization of the existing restaurant’s customer base.

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Our operations are susceptible to changes in food and supply costs, which could adversely affect our margins.

Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. Our centralized purchasing staff negotiates prices for all of our ingredients and supplies through either contracts (terms of one month up to one year) or commodity pricing formulas. Our national master distributor delivers goods twice a week at a set, flat fee per case to all of our restaurants. Our contract with our national master distributor is up for renewal in July 2007. Furthermore, various factors beyond our control, including adverse weather conditions and governmental regulations, could also cause our food and supply costs to increase. We cannot predict whether we will be able to anticipate and react to changing food and supply costs by adjusting our purchasing practices. A failure to do so could adversely affect our operating results or cash flows.

Changes in consumer preferences or discretionary consumer spending or negative publicity could adversely impact our results.

Our restaurants feature pizzas, pastas, salads and appetizers in an upscale, family-friendly, casual environment. Our continued success depends, in part, upon the popularity of these foods and this style of informal dining. Shifts in consumer preferences away from this cuisine or dining style could materially adversely affect our future profitability. Also, our success depends to a significant extent on numerous factors affecting discretionary consumer spending, including economic conditions, disposable consumer income and consumer confidence. Adverse changes in these factors could reduce customer traffic or impose practical limits on pricing, either of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Like other restaurant chains, we can also be materially adversely affected by negative publicity concerning food quality, illness, injury, publication of government or industry findings concerning food products served by us, or other health concerns or operating issues stemming from one restaurant or a limited number of restaurants.

Forty-one percent of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California. As a result, we are highly sensitive to negative occurrences in that state.

Together with our franchisees, we currently operate a total of 80 restaurants in California (75 are company-owned and five are owned by franchisees). As a result, we are particularly susceptible to adverse trends and economic conditions in California. In addition, given our geographic concentration, negative publicity regarding any of our restaurants in California could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, as could other regional occurrences such as local strikes, earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Increases in the minimum wage may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

A number of our employees are subject to various minimum wage requirements. The federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 per hour since September 1, 1997 and the possibility exists that the federal minimum wage will be increased in the near future. However, 41.0% of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California where employees receive compensation equal to the California minimum wage, which rose from $6.75 per hour effective January 1, 2002 to $7.50 per hour effective January 1, 2007. During 2006, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Washington DC, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey increased their minimum wage. Similar increases may be implemented in other jurisdictions in which we operate or seek to operate. These minimum wage increases may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Rising insurance costs could negatively impact profitability.

The rising cost of insurance (workers’ compensation insurance, general liability insurance, health insurance and directors and officers’ liability insurance) could have a negative impact on our profitability if we are not able to negate the effect of such increases by continuing to improve our operating efficiencies.

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Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expense.

Keeping abreast of, and in compliance with, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, new SEC regulations and Nasdaq Stock Market rules, has required an increased amount of management attention and external resources. We remain committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest all reasonably necessary resources to comply with evolving standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

The restaurant industry is affected by litigation and publicity concerning food quality, health and other issues, which can cause customers to avoid our restaurants and result in liabilities.

We are sometimes the subject of complaints or litigation from customers or employees alleging illness, injury or other food quality, health or operational concerns. Adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may materially adversely affect our restaurants, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether California Pizza Kitchen is liable. In fact, we are subject to the same risks of adverse publicity resulting from these sorts of allegations even if the claim involves one of our franchisees or licensees. Further, employee claims against us based on, among other things, wage discrimination, harassment or wrongful termination may divert financial and management resources that would otherwise be used to benefit the future performance of our operations. We have been subject to these employee claims before, and a significant increase in the number of these claims or any increase in the number of successful claims could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. We also are subject to some states’ “dram shop” statutes. These statutes generally provide a person injured by an intoxicated person the right to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person.

Future changes in financial accounting standards may affect our reported results and/or reported results of operations.

A change in accounting standards can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions before the change is effective. New pronouncements and varying interpretations of pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing accounting rules or the questioning of current accounting practices may adversely affect our reported financial results.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

A description of the risk factors associated with the Company is contained in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” of our 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 17, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference. There were no material changes in the third quarter of 2006 for the risk factors described in the 10-K. The cautionary statements are to be used as a reference in connection with any forward-looking statements. The factors, risks and uncertainties identified in these cautionary statements are in addition to those contained in any other cautionary statements, written or oral, which may be made or otherwise addressed in connection with a forward-looking statement or contained in any of our subsequent filings with the SEC.

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Item 1A.    Risk Factors

Our growth strategy requires us to open new restaurants at a measured pace. We may not be able to achieve our planned expansion.

We are pursuing a disciplined growth strategy which to be successful, depends on our ability and the ability of our franchisees and licensees to open new restaurants and to operate these new restaurants on a profitable basis. The success of our planned expansion will be dependent upon numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control; including the hiring, training and retention of qualified operating personnel, especially managers; identification and availability of suitable restaurant sites; competition for restaurant sites; negotiation of favorable lease terms; timely development of new restaurants, including the availability of construction materials and labor; management of construction and development costs of new restaurants; securing required governmental approvals and permits; competition in our markets; and general economic conditions.

Our success depends on our ability to locate a sufficient number of suitable new restaurant sites.

One of our biggest challenges in meeting our growth objectives will be to secure an adequate supply of suitable new restaurant sites. We have experienced delays in opening some of our restaurants and may experience delays in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find sufficient suitable locations for our planned expansion in any future period. Delays or failures in opening new restaurants could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows.

We could face labor shortages, which could slow our growth.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees, including restaurant managers, kitchen staff and servers, necessary to keep pace with our expansion schedule. Qualified individuals of the requisite caliber and number needed to fill these positions are in short supply in some areas. Although we have not experienced any significant problems in recruiting or retaining employees, any future inability to recruit and retain sufficient individuals may delay the planned openings of new restaurants. Any such delays or any material increases in employee turnover rates in existing restaurants could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of employees, which could result in higher labor costs.

Our expansion into new markets may present increased risks due to our unfamiliarity with the area.

As a part of our expansion strategy, we will be opening restaurants in markets in which we have no prior operating experience. These new markets may have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our restaurants in our existing markets. In addition, our new restaurants will typically take several months to reach budgeted operating levels due to problems associated with new restaurants, including lack of market awareness, inability to hire sufficient staff and other factors. Although we have attempted to mitigate these factors by paying careful attention to training and staffing needs, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in operating new restaurants on a profitable basis.

Our expansion may strain our infrastructure, which could slow our restaurant development.

We also face the risk that our existing systems and procedures, restaurant management systems, financial controls, and information systems will be inadequate to support our planned expansion. We cannot predict whether we will be able to respond on a timely basis to all of the changing demands that our planned expansion will impose on management and these systems and controls. If we fail to continue to improve our information systems and financial controls or to manage other factors necessary for us to achieve our expansion objectives, our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

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Our restaurant expansion strategy focuses primarily on further penetrating existing markets. This strategy can cause sales in some of our existing restaurants to decline.

In accordance with our expansion strategy, we intend to open new restaurants primarily in our existing markets. Since we typically draw customers from a relatively small radius around each of our restaurants, the sales performance and customer counts for restaurants near the area in which a new restaurant opens may decline due to cannibalization of the existing restaurant’s customer base.

Our operations are susceptible to changes in food and supply costs, which could adversely affect our margins.

Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. Our centralized purchasing staff negotiates prices for all of our ingredients and supplies through either contracts (terms of one month up to one year) or commodity pricing formulas. Our national master distributor delivers goods twice a week at a set, flat fee per case to all of our restaurants. Our contract with our national master distributor, Meadowbrook Meat Company, Inc., is up for renewal in July 2007. Furthermore, various factors beyond our control, including adverse weather conditions and governmental regulations, could also cause our food and supply costs to increase. We cannot predict whether we will be able to anticipate and react to changing food and supply costs by adjusting our purchasing practices. A failure to do so could adversely affect our operating results or cash flows.

Changes in consumer preferences or discretionary consumer spending or negative publicity could adversely impact our results.

Our restaurants feature pizzas, pastas, salads and appetizers in an upscale, family-friendly, casual environment. Our continued success depends, in part, upon the popularity of these foods and this style of informal dining. Shifts in consumer preferences away from this cuisine or dining style could materially adversely affect our future profitability. Also, our success depends to a significant extent on numerous factors affecting discretionary consumer spending, including economic conditions, disposable consumer income and consumer confidence. Adverse changes in these factors could reduce customer traffic or impose practical limits on pricing, either of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Like other restaurant chains, we can also be materially adversely affected by negative publicity concerning food quality, illness, injury, publication of government or industry findings concerning food products served by us, or other health concerns or operating issues stemming from one restaurant or a limited number of restaurants.

Forty percent of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California. As a result, we are highly sensitive to negative occurrences in that state.

Together with our franchisees, we currently operate a total of 72 restaurants in California (67 are company-owned and five are owned by franchisees). As a result, we are particularly susceptible to adverse trends and economic conditions in California. In addition, given our geographic concentration, negative publicity regarding any of our restaurants in California could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, as could other regional occurrences such as local strikes, earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Increases in the minimum wage may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

A number of our employees are subject to various minimum wage requirements. The federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 per hour since September 1, 1997. However, 40.0% of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California where employees receive compensation equal to the California minimum wage, which rose from $6.25 per hour effective January 1, 2001 to $6.75 per hour effective January 1, 2002. During 2005, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and Minnesota increased their minimum wage to $6.15, $6.15, $6.50 and $6.15, respectively. There may be similar increases implemented in other jurisdictions in which we operate or seek to operate. The possibility exists that the federal or California state minimum wage will be increased in the near future. These minimum wage increases may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

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Rising insurance costs could negatively impact profitability.

The rising cost of insurance (workers’ compensation insurance, general liability insurance, health insurance and directors and officers’ liability insurance) could have a negative impact on our profitability if we are not able to negate the effect of such increases by continuing to improve our operating efficiencies.

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expense.

Keeping abreast of, and in compliance with, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, new SEC regulations and Nasdaq Stock Market rules, has required an increased amount of management attention and external resources. We remain committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest all reasonably necessary resources to comply with evolving standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

The restaurant industry is affected by litigation and publicity concerning food quality, health and other issues, which can cause customers to avoid our restaurants and result in liabilities.

We are sometimes the subject of complaints or litigation from customers or employees alleging illness, injury or other food quality, health or operational concerns. Adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may materially adversely affect our restaurants, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether California Pizza Kitchen is liable. In fact, we are subject to the same risks of adverse publicity resulting from these sorts of allegations even if the claim involves one of our franchisees or licensees. Further, employee claims against us based on, among other things, wage discrimination, harassment or wrongful termination may divert financial and management resources that would otherwise be used to benefit the future performance of our operations. We have been subject to these employee claims before, and a significant increase in the number of these claims or any increase in the number of successful claims could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. We also are subject to some states’ “dram shop” statutes. These statutes generally provide a person injured by an intoxicated person the right to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person.

Future changes in financial accounting standards may cause adverse unexpected operating results and affect our reported results of operations.

A change in accounting standards can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions before the change is effective. New pronouncements and varying interpretations of pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing accounting rules or the questioning of current accounting practices may adversely affect our reported financial results.

Risk Factors

Our growth strategy requires us to open new restaurants at a measured pace. We may not be able to achieve our planned expansion.

We are pursuing a disciplined growth strategy, which to be successful depends on our ability, and the ability of our franchisees and licensees, to open new restaurants and to operate these new restaurants on a profitable basis. The success of our planned expansion will be dependent upon numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control; including the hiring, training and retention of qualified operating personnel, especially managers; identification and availability of suitable restaurant sites; competition for restaurant sites; negotiation of favorable lease terms; timely development of new restaurants, including the availability of construction materials and labor; management of construction and development costs of new restaurants; securing required governmental approvals and permits; competition in our markets; and general economic conditions.

Our success depends on our ability to locate a sufficient number of suitable new restaurant sites.

One of our biggest challenges in meeting our growth objectives will be to secure an adequate supply of suitable new restaurant sites. We have experienced delays in opening some of our restaurants and may experience delays in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find sufficient suitable locations for our planned expansion in any future period. Delays or failures in opening new restaurants could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows.

We could face labor shortages, which could slow our growth.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees, including restaurant managers, kitchen staff and servers, necessary to keep pace with our expansion schedule. Qualified individuals of the requisite caliber and number needed to fill these positions are in short supply in some areas. Although we have not experienced any significant problems in recruiting or retaining employees, any future inability to recruit and retain sufficient individuals may delay the planned openings of new restaurants. Any such delays or any material increases in employee turnover rates in existing restaurants could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of employees, which could result in higher labor costs.

Our expansion into new markets may present increased risks due to our unfamiliarity with the area.

As a part of our expansion strategy, we will be opening restaurants in markets in which we have no prior operating experience. These new markets may have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our restaurants in our existing markets. In addition, our new restaurants will typically take several months to reach budgeted operating levels due to problems associated with new restaurants, including lack of market awareness, inability to hire sufficient staff and other factors. Although we have attempted to mitigate these factors by paying careful attention to training and staffing needs, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in operating new restaurants on a profitable basis.

Our expansion may strain our infrastructure, which could slow our restaurant development.

We also face the risk that our existing systems and procedures, restaurant management systems, financial controls, and information systems will be inadequate to support our planned expansion. We cannot predict

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whether we will be able to respond on a timely basis to all of the changing demands that our planned expansion will impose on management and these systems and controls. If we fail to continue to improve our information systems and financial controls or to manage other factors necessary for us to achieve our expansion objectives, our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

Our restaurant expansion strategy focuses primarily on further penetrating existing markets. This strategy can cause sales in some of our existing restaurants to decline.

In accordance with our expansion strategy, we intend to open new restaurants primarily in our existing markets. Since we typically draw customers from a relatively small radius around each of our restaurants, the sales performance and customer counts for restaurants near the area in which a new restaurant opens may decline due to cannibalization of the existing restaurant’s customer base.

Our operations are susceptible to changes in food and supply costs, which could adversely affect our margins.

Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. Our centralized purchasing staff negotiates prices for all of our ingredients and supplies through either contracts (terms of one month up to one year) or commodity pricing formulas. Our national master distributor delivers goods twice a week at a set, flat fee per case to all of our restaurants. Our contract with our national master distributor, Meadowbrook Meat Company, Inc. (“MBM”), is up for renewal in July 2007. Furthermore, various factors beyond our control, including adverse weather conditions and governmental regulations, could also cause our food and supply costs to increase. We cannot predict whether we will be able to anticipate and react to changing food and supply costs by adjusting our purchasing practices. A failure to do so could adversely affect our operating results or cash flows.

Changes in consumer preferences or discretionary consumer spending or negative publicity could adversely impact our results.

Our restaurants feature pizzas, pastas, salads and appetizers in an upscale, family-friendly, casual environment. Our continued success depends, in part, upon the popularity of these foods and this style of informal dining. Shifts in consumer preferences away from this cuisine or dining style could materially adversely affect our future profitability. Also, our success depends to a significant extent on numerous factors affecting discretionary consumer spending, including economic conditions, disposable consumer income and consumer confidence. Adverse changes in these factors could reduce customer traffic or impose practical limits on pricing, either of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. Like other restaurant chains, we can also be materially adversely affected by negative publicity concerning food quality, illness, injury, publication of government or industry findings concerning food products served by us, or other health concerns or operating issues stemming from one restaurant or a limited number of restaurants.

Thirty-eight percent of our U.S. based restaurants are located in California. As a result, we are highly sensitive to negative occurrences in that state.

Together with our franchisees, we currently operate a total of 63 restaurants in California (58 are company-owned and five are owned by franchisees). As a result, we are particularly susceptible to adverse trends and economic conditions in California. In addition, given our geographic concentration, negative publicity regarding any of our restaurants in California could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations, as could other regional occurrences such as local strikes, earthquakes or other natural disasters.

Increases in the minimum wage may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

A number of our employees are subject to various minimum wage requirements. The federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 per hour since September 1, 1997. However, 38.0% of our U.S. based restaurants are

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located in California where employees receive compensation equal to the California minimum wage, which rose from $6.25 per hour effective January 1, 2001 to $6.75 per hour effective January 1, 2002. There may be similar increases implemented in other jurisdictions in which we operate or seek to operate. The possibility exists that the federal minimum wage will be increased in the near future. These minimum wage increases may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Rising insurance costs could negatively impact profitability.

The rising cost of insurance (workers’ compensation insurance, general liability insurance, health insurance and directors and officers’ liability insurance) could have a negative impact on our profitability if we are not able to negate the effect of such increases by continuing to improve our operating efficiencies.

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expense.

Keeping abreast of, and in compliance with, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, new SEC regulations and Nasdaq Stock Market rules, has required an increased amount of management attention and external resources. We remain committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest all reasonably necessary resources to comply with evolving standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

The restaurant industry is affected by litigation and publicity concerning food quality, health and other issues, which can cause customers to avoid our restaurants and result in liabilities.

We are sometimes the subject of complaints or litigation from customers or employees alleging illness, injury or other food quality, health or operational concerns. Adverse publicity resulting from these allegations may materially adversely affect our restaurants, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether California Pizza Kitchen is liable. In fact, we are subject to the same risks of adverse publicity resulting from these sorts of allegations even if the claim involves one of our franchisees or licensees. Further, employee claims against us based on, among other things, wage discrimination, harassment or wrongful termination may divert financial and management resources that would otherwise be used to benefit the future performance of our operations. We have been subject to these employee claims before, and a significant increase in the number of these claims or any increase in the number of successful claims could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flows. We also are subject to some states’ “dram shop” statutes. These statutes generally provide a person injured by an intoxicated person the right to recover damages from an establishment that wrongfully served alcoholic beverages to the intoxicated person.

Future changes in financial accounting standards may cause adverse unexpected operating results and affect our reported results of operations.

A change in accounting standards can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions before the change is effective. New pronouncements and varying interpretations of pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing accounting rules or the questioning of current accounting practices may adversely affect our reported financial results.

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