Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina — Restaurant in Ann Arbor

The atmosphere is nice, I like the decor quite a bit. The food is just fair in my opinion. The service is mediocre and a little impolite. I think the price is too high for the experience.

It looks like it would be a really great place just from its appearance. The tables and chairs, the decorations on the walls and the overall layout are quite pleasing to me. It is a little loud, but not so bad that it would keep me away. The outside seating area is a really nice setting too, for both days of the Michigan summer. (kidding! I know Michigan gets at least a week of summer most years.)

They specialize in pizza, but I think they need to do a better job. They offer only individual dinner-plate sized pizzas. They cook them in a very hot oven and always produce some black spots on the crust, which I like in moderation. The toppings however always leave me unimpressed. I find the combinations weird and the ingredients themselves lack flavor. I think they are attempting to recreate a type of cuisine that works well with spectacularly fresh, ultra high-quality ingredients, but they are doing it in Michigan, in the winter. It's just blah and certainly not worth the $15 they are asking for a single serving pizza. The appetizers seem like they would be good, but they are small and pretty plain in the end. I always want this place to be great, but it never is. I finally had something on my last visit that I liked quite well; chicken parmesan with rigatoni. It's such a generic thing and yet I thought it was better than any of the fancier pizzas I've had there.

The service is just odd. They are not overly on top of you which I like, and they seem to get orders right. The staff is able to answer questions and seems generally on the ball. But there is a slightly snotty attitude that I consistently get from the staff and it sometimes borders on hostility. I sat with one other person at the bar the other day and one of the two bartenders seemed genuinely angry and impatient with us (no we were not drunk). The staff is almost never warm and inviting. They are generally polite, but just barely. I always get the idea that they are on the fence about whether they want me there. I'm going to help them out by staying away.

The price is not outrageous. I'd call it a 3 out of 4 dollar signs place. Its a little on the expensive side but not out of line with other places. However I think the value is bad. For what you get at this place, the service and the food, I think it's very overpriced. I think their pizzas are worth about 1/2 of what they charge.

This place isn't bad in my opinion, just overpriced. I have never had something here that I didn't like, I just never had anything that I would order again (until my most recent non-pizza entree). This place really looks like it is going to be great from the atmosphere and the menu, but the flavors don't meet the challenge in my opinion.

Update April, 2019: In spite of my less-than-glowing review, I live close and have lots of opportunities to go here. I've been back and on my last visit the service has made a 180° turn in the right direction. The staff was very friendly, efficient, professional, prompt, attentive and accurate. The food, while still a bit pricey in my opinion, was really very good and therefore no longer overpriced in my opinion. It was the first time I felt this way about Bigalora, but if they keep it up I'll change my review and the number of stars I give it. I'll have to apologize to the people who agreed with my original review because it will...

Nice outdoor covered and patio style dining. The outdoor "covered area" also is totally enclosed/heated in the winter time.

My only cons:

1. lots of burnt black crust on the pizza. Not a fan of that, at all!

2. Terrible physical table that we were seated at, outside. It should be removed from service until the concretes decline can be completely repaired!! There was at least one other open table next to it when we were first seated, so not sure why we were seated at the crappy table, when the next party of two, was seated at the non-decline table next to our party of three, a couple of minutes later.

The entire slab/concrete floor was at a decline, hence the entire table literally leaned a few INCHES downwards towards the railing, where we were seated up against it. There was a large, like 2-3" metal strip LITERALLY sticking up out of the floor/ground, that I tripped on, directly behind the pushed in chair, when I first pulled it out and sat down.

The hostess didn't warn us. But the server immediately did, as soon as she walked up to the table. I'd already caught my foot on the strip and moved to the "uphill" chair by the time she arrived 1-2 minutes later.

Because I have back issues, it wasn't comfortable, leaning several inches downward, with my 4 chair legs not hitting the floor (only two at a time). It's potentially a huge safety/trip & fall hazard.

Frankly, I'm shocked that they would seat anyone at that table, or at least on my side. The other two people in my group didn't have that same metal strip sticking up behind the chairs on their side of the table. But the table leaning issue alone, is...

If you have not yet experienced Biga's outdoor igloo dining you are truly missing out! My family and I had a wonderful experience Friday night enjoying super yummy food/drinks in this unique setting. Each igloo seats 6 so as a family of 4 we had tons of room to spread out. There is a small space heater and the sun was still out (5pm) so the igloo was warm enough to take off our coats! The server took our order and passed food and drinks in thru a small window so it stayed warm and was super contained (perfect for my kiddos to enjoy a little freedom without bothering other parties).

As for the food, my kids (age 7 and 3) enjoyed items from the kids menu (white pizza and butter pasta as well as ice cream for dessert). As a parent, I would have appreciated the inclusion of vegetables or fruit with the kids meals but definitely not a deal breaker. My husband and I shared the special pizza (spicy agrodolce) and the special pasta (stuffed shells) which were both amazing. I would especially recommend the pizza - it was the perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and salty on a soft doughy crust!!! There were no leftovers :)

Note: Reservations are required for the igloos and they fill up fast (two weeks in advance for weekends). In addition, you will only have 90 minutes and there is a $75...