Zigo

Wow. This place is pleasantly surprising. I walked by it last night and was intrigued. I found myself returning to the Police Station this morning and thought, «Lemme check this place out.» So I did.
I walked in and it smelled delicious. The place was very clean and neat. The girl running the register was very nice, quick and efficient. I had trouble choosing what to buy for lunch and finally settled on a tuna melt. … this melt was THE BOMB. The bread was buttery but not greasy. And moist but not soggy and definitely not stale or dry. The tuna melt had pepperchinis and little tomatoes. It was so delicious. It turned it into a heavenly medley in my mouth. (Yes, I said that.)
I honestly think this is the place Au Bön Pain wishes they could be.

Having been living in Zigo’s proximity, only a couple of blocks away, for the past four and a half years, I’ve been there about 3 or 4 times since I’ve moved here… Needless to say that every single one of my attempts to like Zigo have all failed miserably.
Sure it’s all nice and snug inside, with their nice, fancy packaging and their pretty decent selection of foods but here is what I got today for $ 11:
— a simple cold cut sandwich
— bottle juice
That’s right people, $ 11! For something that’s not even made fresh to order. For a cheaper amount of money I could have just as easily gone to Clover a block away from there and get myself a made-​to-​order sandwich and freshly squeezed juice.
The sandwich wasn’t very tasty and the juice was. well it’s bottled juice. Everything in the store is overpriced and although the staff is a bit friendly, they gave me 8 napkins for my sandwich which is puzzling and also insulting. Or maybe I paid so much because they charge for napkins? Who knows, either way I’m done with this place, honestly. Just too damn expensive!
Oh and one more thing, I was talking to the people over at Guru the Caterer and they used to provide Zigo with their Indian food. Zigo never gave them a single ounce of credit for their food and instead repackaged it and charged nearly double for it. Not cool…

Ok, I’ve discovered my go-​to items here: egg salad sandwiches (awesome!) and tiramisu (dare I say it, even better than the tiramisu at Mike’s Pastry in the North End). On Monday, I noticed that the oatmeal raisin cookies are baked fresh in the store, too. The cashiers are always friendly and there are a couple of seats inside the store. I’m now a fan.

i’ve always wanted to see what zigo was about, with the yellow storefront.
so, i went in today!
it feels very european — perhaps because they sell lots of cadburys and other british foods. kind of reminded me of tesco, but without the supermarket feel.
anyway, coffee is pretty good! good selection of snackies and sandwiches. it’s pretty chill, and being a designer, i like their branding.
also, the berry scones are not to be missed.

Is this place Massachusetts’ answer to Pret A Manger? If so they really need to step it up.
The selection and variety are good but for the size of the location it seems like they can get more in here. I was impressed by their vegan and macro choices. They actually looked pretty tasty but I was wooed by the 50% off sandwiches (after 4PM!). I bought two. The tomato basil sub was surprisingly good. I would certainly come back for this. They also have a selection of soups and some really interesting looking salads and sides. I liked that the veg*n options were clearly marked and that they seemed to have quite a few choices. Well played there.
I think this place has amazing potential but the prices are seriously whacked. $ 6 for a sandwich? If I can get it made the way I want, sure… even more, but for what is basically schmancy gas-​station food nu-​uh. $ 2 for a single macaroon? You’ve got to be kidding me. What, is it dipped in unicorn tears before the chocolate? Something tells me no.
To be fair what I had was surprisingly good. I just don’t think that the cost is justified. Not for cellophane wrapped take-​away.
I will try them again and maybe they’ll win me over. I’ve longed for a Pret and this could come close. They just have a little work to do.

Okay. Today I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the yellow store front of Zigo at 4:45 PM to find that all of their cold sandwiches were 50% off! Whoa! That means their big tomato basil mozz sub went only for $ 3. And just so you know, that’s 50% off sands after 4 PM. But I didn’t buy it. I was also stunned to see that the $ 2.95 portion of the ginger sesame noodle was actually a bit larger at this store than the other. Whoa again! Lastly, they sell big containers of vegan noodle and dumpling dishes that looked … tasty!
Unfortunately, they still only open at 8 AM, they don’t have breakfast sandwiches, and bleh.

Zigo has opened up a new location under the Kendall Crossing Apartments on 6^th and Binney. It’s in a good location if you’re heading over from East Cambridge to Kendall Square and want to pick up something.
If you have the money to spare, I suppose you could do worse than Zigo’s food. But, for the average cost-​conscious person, Zigo is all about expensive food that was clearly prepared off-​site at 6am; it’s not terrible, but you might feel a little less ripped-​off if you went to ABP.