Thrillist – Best Italian Restaurants in San Diego, CA – January 2018

“Farm-to-table fanatics will delight in the options at Downtown’s Biga, where owner, chef, and Culinary Institute of America graduate Tae Dickey makes his own mozzarella, sausages, and other charcuterie. He’s also obsessive about sourcing fresh and local ingredients and works directly with farms and farmers markets to stock his menu. Dickey is particularly famous for his pizzas, which he cooks in two custom-built, 900-degree ovens, but the menu spans pastas and other mains, too, along with regular specials and pop-up dinners. Break with tradition and try a pasta — the cauliflower rigatoni with roasted and shaved cauliflower, hazelnuts, bottarga, cauliflower cream, and bee pollen is unlike any other pasta dish in the city.” THRILLIST

San Diego’s Best Restaurants – January 2018

“BIGA

Pizza and farm-to-table Italian food is the word at downtown restaurant Biga. Tae Dickey is the chef at the helm, and word on the street is you can catch him roaming local farmers’ markets every day of the week searching for the latest and greatest in local produce. 950 6th Ave., Suite C, San Diego, 619.794.0444, bigasandiego.com J.B.
RANCH & COAST

The Best of San Diego 2017 – August 2017

Rated the best Gourmet Sandwich in San Diego by San Diego Magazine

BIGA “Named after the age-old fermentation process used to make Italian breads, Biga has a hip and modern feel without losing that authentic Italiano tradition. Countertops are Carrara marble, wood-fire ovens reach 900 degrees, and sandwiches are no ordinary deli situation. The caprese is a favorite, with its hand-pulled mozzarella and pesto aioli so good you could drink it.” – San Diego Magazine

Chef Tae Dickey, Bridging Continents Through BIGA – April 2017

“Tae is setting new boundaries at Biga, proving that the wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented, rather reintroduced in a new location. He may be leading the charge to rediscovering that the secret to truly great food doesn’t lie in its manipulation, but in its thoughtful application. The entire story of Biga has yet to be written, and, ultimately, it may be a tale that ends at the beginning, being about the pizza. But there’s so much road to cover in between. Enjoy, and Cheers, my friends!” – The Foodie Whisperer

Best Of SanDiegoVille – Our 20 Favorite Sandwiches In San Diego – April 2017

“There’s a certain art to constructing sandwiches that seems to elude many makers in San Diego, resulting in a mostly-misinformed customer base that may not fully understand the potential a sandwich can have. I know that this sounds like East Coast snobbery, but it’s all about that meat & filling-to-bread ratio, and many spots seem to lack on the filling. I have been recommended many sandwich-centric spots around town and, more often than not, best I can say is, “it’s pretty good…for San Diego.” With that said, there are at least two dozen San Diego sandwiches that I’ve come to know and truly love. Here is our list of our 20 favorite spots to grab a sandwich around America’s Finest City.”– SANDIEGOVILLE

Thrillist – Best New Restaurants of 2016

“BIGA’s appearance in the historic Samuel Fox Lofts signalled the dawn of an optimistic new era in the downtown dining scene. For years, ground-level retail spaces sat vacant and the Spanish revival building was just another dead zone on Broadway. That changed when the lights went on at BIGA. From day one, the culinary team, lead by owner and Executive Chef Tae Dickey, has turned out an ambitious menu of high-quality provisions like Neapolitan-style pizzas, sandwiches on fresh-baked bread, fresh pasta, and coffee made from Bird Rock Coffee Roasters beans, all at fair prices. That alone would land BIGA on this year’s best-of list, but Dickey recently went a leap further by hiring an accomplished pastry chef to oversee the expanded dessert offerings and a new baker to head up an ambitious bread program. We can’t wait to see what this over-achieving enterprise gets up to in 2017.” – Thrillist

EATER – Industry Experts Name Top Restaurant Newcomers of 2016

“BIGA. Quality casual places like this are paving the way for a new era in the San Diego food scene and the affordable prices mean everyone can be a part of it. I’m amazed by the creativity of the culinary team and how the restaurant continues to evolve. – Erin Jackson, Thrillist” EATER

SanDiegoVille.com – BIGA to Launch Woodfired Bakery, November 5, 2016

“Chef Craig Schum is a baker, pastry chef, and certified sommelier, originally from New York. He has experience in the kitchens at Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, Jean-Georges, Momofuku Ko, Levain Bakery, ScratchBread, and Iris Cafe. After moving to San Diego, he was the head bread baker at Sugar & Scribe Bakery in La Jolla, and when he’s not in the kitchen Craig is a surfer, jazz musician, and freelance journalist/editor. Chef Aisha Baker is a pastry chef who graduated from Georgetown University in 2013 and studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, obtaining her Diplôme de Pâtisserie. After returning to the states, Aisha relocated to San Diego where she worked as a pastry chef at the Addison in Del Mar. Both Chefs Craig & Aisha are now churning alongside Chef Tae in BIGA’s kitchen.” – SANDIEGOVILLE

EATER – The Hottest Restaurants in San Diego Right Now – February 2016

“Downtown’s newest dining destination is a casual all-day eatery aimed at offering artisan food at affordable prices. The wood-fired Neapoitan-style pizzas start at just $7 and come topped with housemade mozzarella and sausage, while local produce is featured in thoughtfully-prepared sides and salads.” – EATER