Biga Bite — Restaurant in New York

Ok so let's start by saying Biga Bite marketing campaign is really smart. My wife and I frequent many different restaurants often and were targeted by both Facebook Ads and Google Ads with advertisement from this restaurant. So we decided to plan a family visit with 6 of us. Here's everything that was wrong with our experience...

It is extremely small inside the restaurant, Far smaller than the Ads on the internet make it appear to be. So if you are claustrophobic, (which my wife happens to be) this is definitely not the restaurant for you. I'm talking about roughly a 200 to 250 Square foot area packed with rectangular wooden tables and hard wooden chairs. You can't just order what you want they sale based off group size. So although we arrived believing we'd spend around $25 dollars each, that was quickly erased when the waiter told us for a group of 6 we had to order from the lower half of the menu and suggested the 6ft pizza which come in 3 sections and here's the catch... The upper portion of the menu serves up to 4 people and you have the freedom to build your own or pick from the pre-made options for fairly reasonable pricing (Under 30 dollars each) those portions were about 12 inches each. 5 or more people can only choose from the bottom portion of the menu which ranged from pricing starting at $150 dollars for a 6ft pizza and up and is sold as section that only comes with tomato sauce and cheese at the base price. Each additional topping added to the allowed section is an additional charge. Like so... we ordered the recommended 6ft pizza. It came as three sections that you can put separate toppings on. My mother inlaw wanted meat lovers topping but settled with pepperoni, sausage, and ham (section 2) Which was $68 dollars as seen on the receipt. My wife and the kids wanted plan (section 1) which was $50 as seen on the receipt. My brother inlaw wanted pesto, Olives and mushrooms (section 3) $64 dollars as seen on the receipt. I didn't pick any topping because there wasn't another section unfortunately so I ate off the three sections. As you can see the price adds up very quickly. An 8 oz cocktail starts at 12 dollar, and sodas are 3.50 a can and obviously not refillable. Total rip-off!!!! We ended spending 29.50 for 5 cans of cokes and 1 mimosa. In our head based off the two dollars sign ($$) price review and menu on Google we planned to spend... $35 for my wife and I to share with the drinks. $40 for my mother and brother inlaw with drinks $20 with drinks for my son and daughter. That would have totalled a very reasonable $95 dollars plus tax. We ended up spending a ridiculous $230 dollars after taxes. The waiter came back with a gratuity device which started at 18% but had a custom option. The fella than proceeded to stand over us as my wife and I was baffled as to why this was being added after our receipt was already printed. This was clearly a ploy to get more money out of us as if the $230 dollars wasn't enough. My wife and I reluctantly added 15% instead, which we immediately regretted as the waiter than gave us attitude and proceeded to rush us out with boxes and cleaning the the area around us before we even finished our canned drinks. I have posted a picture of the receipt and us posing when the pizza was brought out. Honestly the experience wasn't terrible until the end when you get hit with all the ridiculous fees and you realize it was totally not worth the visit at all. The tight and uncomfortable seating arrangement, the forced menu pricing, the underwhelming and overpriced drink menu, the over priced gratuity device after you've already paid. We collectively agreed we will never visit as a group again. We probably won't go back individually either. Giovanni, you seem to always respond in such a condescending tone to customer's who are spending their hard earned money keeping you employed. Often you mention the quality of your pizza like its the best in ny and its not. I left an extremely detailed review stating everything that is wrong with your restaurant...

If you've never had 24h proven pizza dough - have you really lived? The answer is no, and the second answer is easier cause now you can make up for it any time you want. Make your way to this new little gem at the corner of E Houston and Clinton Street and let your senses be inebriated. You'll smell the bready dough right away, followed by hearing the amazing sound of the crispy dough. And did I mention they cut all their cold cuts fresh? And you can tell, 100%.

Do not skip out on their appetizers: their tartare (knife cut right before you order) is perfectly seasoned and oh so delicious - you'll want more.

The affettati misti (charcuterie Board) has a selection of some of the most loved cold cuts in Italy: prosciutto crudo di San Daniele (my favorite as it's not as sweet as Prosciutto di Parma and not as salty as a Prosciutto toscano), Mortadella, Prosciutto cotto (italian ham), and spicy salami.

Both are accompanied with delicious - and clearly homemade, focaccia, and served with extra virgin olive oil (both spicy and non spicy) on the side.

We also ordered a pizza veneta: hand crushed tomatoes, fior di latte, spicy salami, italian ham, and mushrooms. It was so amazing - the dough was chewy and flavorful, and it was so full of toppings!!!

We also ordered a pizza alla pala - Aka a longer pizza that you can choose to have with two different toppings: one half was the Sempre Bona: hand crushed tomatoes, fior di latte, burrata, prosciutto di San Daniele, sun dried tomatoes. Absolutely amazing as well - with a dough that was a dream.

The other half was a spin on one of the pizza as it was served as focaccia instead as straight up pizza: Mortazza, Aka delicious fior di latte, mortadella, fresh burrata, roasted crushed pistachios, black sesame seeds, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. I would seriously just go back for this one. It's also very nostalgic for me cause a very classic afternoon snack is a "panino con la mortazza" which usually meant fresh focaccia with a fresh slice of mortadella aka "mortazza".

Make sure to leave a little room for dessert - as they're all homemade!

We tried the tiramisu, which was really delicious and perfectly balanced (in some places they add too much coffee or soak the savoiardi way too long), the crostata - the crust was buttery and crumbly, the jam a bit on the sweet side but would have perfectly paired with a nice espresso (which tbh is a perfect breakfast).

They also had homemade torta caprese, which is simply a chocolate cake made with almond (or hazelnut sometimes) flour. So so good - and so light!

I would definitely recommend you to go and trust me you'll go back for more!!! I know I'll be back...

The cheese pizza I ordered on Seamless looked better than it tasted, the Neapolitan style crust was fairly on point but, a holistic sufficiency was left to be desired. No hard feelings! 💛There are different silos of pizza profiles to suit different preferences. My conclusion is that Biga is not for me because, although technically satisfying, the pizza construction seemed to focus unequivocally toward the crust vehicle rather than on the cohesion of the entire pizza itself, which was 4 small slices… and it was cold by the time it was delivered to me from several blocks away on a weeknight. The toppings (cheese and tomato sauce) were underwhelming in flavor upon reheating and thus made the execution of the pizza feel as though it was made without passion or an excitement or cause for Pizza. And Pizza is my favorite food; my intention and desire when eating pizza (especially from NY) is to transcend. Pizza is a religion, a passion, a culture, as well as a pick-me-up, which is why I created an entire pizza bracket for Manhattan and Brooklyn and it only includes pizza shops that have met that desire and are worthy of proverbial clout… I’m sure Biga Bite was established with that ideology in mind however, this was not the case in my experience. Biga also was just not worth the price to me (delivery fees and tip excluded).

Re: Biga Bite - see my added reasons above as inquired 😇 Other Google reviews for Biga Bite have seemed to importunately favor the pizza and the brand, suggesting allure. I’d like to stop by the actual shop for a dine-in session to reevaluate and solidify my opinion on my Biga Bite experience as well as the exclusion from my bracket - if reevaluation is necessary, I will do so in this...