Bigoi Venezia — Restaurant in New York

Last night my girlfriend and I had a craving for fresh, handmade, authentic italian pasta. With a quick google search, we discovered Bigoi Venezia.

Though their menu was limited, to us this spoke to a craftsman that focused on a minimal amount of dishes, to guarantee they were all executed perfectly.

Their reviews on multiple sites were phenomenal and their customer photos beautiful.

We ordered the Al Pomodoro and Grana E Pepe. Both with extra sauce. The food arrived quickly and the containers were still hot to the touch.

We were very excited about our dinner, until the moment we opened the containers.

I put a spoon into my Grana E Pepe to stir the extra sauce around and instead of sauce coming up a massive cluster of long black hair appeared.

It was like nothing I had ever seen.

The thought of it nauseates me to this very moment.

I contacted the resturant and told the hostess of my issue. She told me the manager wouldn’t be in until the next day but would contact me then.

I received a call a few moments later from the owner himself Sebastian. I told him what happened and shared my photos of the food. He was seemingly as much in shock about the experience as we were.

He mentioned how something like this had only happened once before but was suspicious of if that time was a scam. He mentioned the potential scam multiple times, which threw me off as I couldn’t tell if he was accusing us of lying and putting the hair into the food ourselves.

He apologized profusely but the experience had already ruined our night and dinner. We had to throw all the food out, as we were no longer confident in the hygiene of any of the products that came from Bigoi Venezia.

Upon doing some further research, I found that Bigoi Venezia had an A rating from the health department but in their 2nd to last review back in January of 2020 had almost 50 demerits for unsanitary conditions, including “Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.” and “Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.”

Based on the past reviews, this seems to have been an isolated incident but I felt it important to share my experience, so that if this is a recurring issue, others are able to share their stories and protect future diners from experiencing...

After we went to the Met, we decided to give Bigoi Venezia a try. While we were looking at the menu on the glass window outside, one of the staff members came out with a big smile and handed us the menu on a postcard. We were going to pick up, but the staff was extremely friendly and we decided to eat in. They told us all the bigoi (pasta) was freshly made every morning.

When orders came, they were cooked perfectly. Al Dente! We tried four different sauced dishes (Piselli e Prosciutto, Bolognese Classica, Ai Funghi, In Salsa Antica), and they were all delicious. If you have not been to Venice, then you must come and try the Bigoi here.

The owner (Sebastian ) came out to greet us and gave us a history about his life. He also explained every part of the gondola bow decoration on the wall which was very interesting. He was such a gentleman and had some fascinating stories. Bigoi Venezia is a passion of his. If you ever visit, try to have a conversation with Sebastian.

We strongly recommend this place and plan on going back to try...

Where can one get exceptional Italian pasta in the setting of casual dining (or take away)? Bigoi Venezia, that’s where.

Description: I’ve only had the bolognese (I love it so much). Bucatini (long, thick spaghetti-like noodles), cooked perfectly al dente every.single.time. Generous amount of flavorful bolognese meat sauce. Add a little of the parmagiano they offer and 🤌

Portion size: one bowl is likely more than enough for one but def not enough for two. (Admittedly I eat the entire thing in one sitting- it’s too dang good not to)

Service: Excellent. If you order there- prepare to wait ~7 mins or so whilst they make it fresh! You can order ahead on their website to limit in store waiting. Delivery is also a popular option.

Vibe: Light interior. Warm temperature (from the kitchen). Small interior for sitting- bar top with maybe 4-6 stools (potentially originally designed for waiting rather than eating). They do offer eat-in with proper bowls and cutlery. Perfect for solo eating. Or up to 2 people in a group. Not ok for groups...