California Pizza Kitchen founder says he'd never be able to set up his business there today... and reveals the deep red state he'd choose instead

Published: 00:22, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 00:22, 22 July 2026 The co-founder of California Pizza Kitchen said he would ditch his company's birth state if he were to start his business today and revealed where he'd choose instead. CPK co-founder Rick Rosenfield told Fox News Digital that if his business, which launched in 1985, were launched today, he would choose the Sunshine State. 'If it were me today, I would open in Florida before I would open it in California,' said Rosenfield. 'I think it has a lot going for it. The difference is [it's] very business friendly and California is less business friendly today, and they make it apparent.' However, he explained that decades ago, during the inception of CPK, he would have called California the 'greatest place to do business.' But the co-founder said that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Golden State has not been able to recover from labor shortages, increased regulation and rising costs. Rosenfield described how high taxes placed on restaurants, in addition to increased operating costs, end up costing customers more. 'The mantra is, well, "We're going to tax businesses." "We're going make the businesses pay more." But it isn't just the businesses that pay more, it's the customer that pays more,' he explained. California Pizza Kitchen co-founder Rick Rosenfield told Fox News Digital that if his business were launched today, he would choose Florida instead CPK was launched in 1985 a time that Rosenfield said was much better for businesses in California  'Because what happens, you raise costs, you raise minimum wage, businesses have to respond to that.' Rosenfield himself packed his things and moved to Florida in 2024, according to the outlet. 'Florida is quite friendly. There's less bureaucracy in Florida and there's more bureaucracy [in] California, and that's basically my experience,' said Rosenfield. There are about 185 CPK locations across the US, with roughly 40 percent of them in California. Fox Digital reached out to Governor Gavin Newsom's office regarding Rosenfield's comments, and said they were grateful that the pizza chain has its roots in their state. 'Florida Pizza Kitchen doesn't have the same ring to it. We are proud that they are headquartered here and that nearly half of all their restaurants nationwide are in California,' a spokesperson told Fox. In recent years, multiple corporations have moved their headquarters out of California including Tesla, Oracle and Chevron; all of which are now headquartered in Texas. In June, California was dethroned by Texas as home to the most Fortune 500 companies. This year's Fortune 500 list showed Texas leading with 57 corporate headquarters, compared to California's 56. 'Florida is quite friendly. There's less bureaucracy in Florida and there's more bureaucracy [in] California, and that's basically my experience,' said Rosenfield (Aerial view of Fisher Island in Miami Florida)  There are about 185 CPK locations across the US, with roughly 40 percent of them in California Texas recently added three new Fortune 500 company headquarters to its roster, bringing the total to 57, its highest total since 2010. That includes Uber co-founder and San Francisco native Travis Kalanick, who joined the growing migration to Austin. He cited the prospective California billionaire tax as one reason behind his move. Rosenfield still recognized the strong business climate in California despite heading east. '[California] still has the great weather, still has a great labor base, but for the restaurant business and for other businesses, it's just not as friendly,' he said. 'Of course you could start a business in California, but people are leaving.' Rosenfield hopes that the Golden State can bounce back to the days when his business began and create a climate that encourages entrepreneurship. 'You have a supermajority in California that enacts business-unfriendly laws, and that's uncomfortable,' Rosenfield said. 'I didn't operate in that environment. I was in a much more friendly environment.' 'When you bash businesses, it's not encouraging for entrepreneurs,' he added.