Balaton, Veal Crepe It wasn’t the end of the story for Balafon when the Hungarian restaurant shuttered at Shaker Square, and we should all be thankful. It’ll soon open in Bainbridge, its third location since the 1960s when it launched on Buckeye Rd. It won’t be soon enough until we can all once again enjoy one of Doug’s favorites — an eggy crepe folded around a mixture of ground veal and mushrooms and bathed in a rich paprikash-like gravy. Credit: Photo by Emanuel Wallace

Balaton restaurant closed its doors to the public in early 2022 but the owners, at that time, said they were pursuing a new location. Late last year they announced that they had indeed found a new home in Bainbridge (8564 E. Washington St.), specifically Market Square at the corner of Rt. 306 and E. Washington.

At long last, Balaton reopens to the public for dine-service today after more than a year.

This is the fourth location for Balaton since Therezia Olah launched the restaurant as a small takeout spot on Buckeye Road in the early 1960s. A few years later she graduated to a larger full-service restaurant farther up Buckeye Road. That restaurant thrived there from the mid-1960s until 1998, when the family relocated to Shaker Square.

“It has been tough the last couple of years because of Covid, but the location is also tough,” owner Krisztina Ponti told Scene. “A lot of our clients, we wish we could be closer to. It’s not easy to get to Shaker Square, parking has been always a problem and the area changed.”

After closing its dining room in early 2022, Balaton had been operating as a ghost kitchen only. Starting today, the restaurant will return to full-service dining in its new home.

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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.