Bigalora Bringing Pizza and Paninis to Midtown

Chef-driven pizza mini-chain Bigalora is expanding to Detroit, according to the Detroit Free Press. The operation headed by Bacco's Luciano DelSignore will launch a panini pop-up sometime next week inside Midtown's Shinola shop with a Bigalora pizza and grab-and-go inside the Detroit Medical Center to follow in December or January.

Two other projects are also expected to fill the first-floor entrance of the DMC, including Chiqui — a Mexican restaurant by Ann Arbor restaurateur Adam Baru —  and an outlet for Papa Joe's Gourmet Markets. The Bigalora panini pop-up will initially offer a selection of six cold sandwiches. Meanwhile, Bigalora's airport outpost is slated to debut by Thanksgiving. DelSignore's partner Michael Chetcuti says that Detroit is on the shortlist for a brick-and-mortar Biga, describing it as "inevitable."