Pizza Biga is an appendage of Turtle Bread’s Chicago Avenue location dedicated to pizza, salads and wine. It isn’t as separate as the other Turtle Bread-related restaurants Trattoria Tosca and Cafe Levain — Pizza Biga feels more like a side room of the main bakery.
I enjoyed Pizza Biga last April and didn’t write about it immediately as I felt like all the ingredients were good but the pizza didn’t seem to come together right. In a recent visit I came to the same conclusion.
The Margherita I ordered from their wood-fired oven was chewy and had crispy edges. The previous visit my crust was thinner and more crispy all around. In both cases I expected fantastic crust from Turtle Bread’s dough and wasn’t that impressed. Fairly plain, in my opinion.
However, the mozzarella on both visits tasted quite fresh and I was surprised to find what I thought was cheddar in the mix of cheese in my most recent visit (compare photos). I’m not sure if I’ve ever had cheddar in a Margherita. Is this Wisconsin-Neapolitan? Either way, I’m glad they weren’t sticking to the rules and it gave a flavor that was new to me in this style of pizza. The shredded basil, however, was decorative and the sauce would be best described as sweet. Neither bad, just lacking much depth. On average, good ingredients but just lacking the magic and balance of a great pizza.
I can’t actually complain, but I did get frustrated with their cylindrical water glasses. About two-thirds through my glass I ended up spilling water all over myself through the magic of ice cubes sticking together and pushing to the other end as I tilted the glass towards my mouth. Upon scrambling for a napkin I remembered I made the exact same error on my previous visit. I wondered if I’m really a klutz or if a number of other Pizza Biga patrons experience this.
I might recommend Pizza Biga more if the pizzas weren’t as expensive. It was $11.50 for my Margherita and for even the Pepperoni, which contains the same ingredients minus the basil and with pepperoni is $13.00. They feed one hungry person or two people eating rather lightly.
Pizza Biga
4762 Chicago Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407-3515
612-823-7555
Comments 4
Pizza Biga is a(n) appendage of
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 03:25 ¶rg – thanks!
Posted 05 Feb 2010 at 07:25 ¶Hey Aaron,
Looks good. That picture reminds me of Pizza Nea.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 10:25 ¶Andy- I think Pizza Nea looks a lot better, actually.
Posted 08 Feb 2010 at 15:47 ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
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