Balaton Restaurant, Bainbridge-Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Hungarian, Central European Cusine

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A.D. 2020-2022

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2021 December

We were Open Full Service, Dining Rooms were Open

after Pandemic, from June-2020 to December-2021

Our motto still and always been "Reservations Prefered"

We pulled apart tables, created Box Seating, and two Private 
Dining rooms with 6 and 10 chairs, and a separate family dining area.
Spacial seating organized in groups 4-6, 6-8. We can remove lightweight partitions for larger groups, and still keep maintaining more than 3 feet of facial spacing between back-to-back seating Guests.

Foremost, we Sincerely Thank our Patrons whom did not let Balaton's 
kitchen-stove go cold since March 16th, 2020. You helped us through with take-out activity as our dining rooms were closed for three months. Then under half occupancy order our dining room were not even 50% full all the time due to cautionary advise. But thankfully to our front-line supporters we are here to keep up Traditions. 

We continue servicing the Carry-Out drive through orders at the back, Kitchen door, and through the front door as well. In order to maintain traffic flow, avoiding congestion, please call your order in at least an hour ahead of desired pickup time. Larger Orders should be timed into our workflow, please call it in days ahead. Deliveries are taken a day ahead to smoothly fit into our schedule.
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Dear Friends of Balaton      December 2021

One year passed from the darkest days of our Sixty years and three generations establishment. A year later we may be arriving to another big step in the Cultural Estate of our Ancestry. Here we are, looking for greener pastures a year after near complete collapse. Thank You for helping to save our Heritage. God Bless Us All. Happy Holidays to You and Yours. See You in 2022, and keep this site updated.

Challange:
The next part sounds more like business because that is our next phase in our Journey on the road of redesigning our future loft. On Shaker Square we are still slightly in the negative numbers. We're contemplating selling our antique Victorian Service or Dresse cabinet by the end of January. We had a challenge ahead of us. We hoped to reach $100'000 by New Years eve, and $110'000 in January.

There is a standing offer for January from a single source. 
Goes like this: if during the month of January the momentum still moves our cause forward, Every donation dollar will be matched above the 100K and up to 10 thousand dollars. That means in January we only need 10'000 in donations and the matching amount will double that bringing us to our ultimate goal to 120'000 to assist in our new beginning. 

Path of Solution:
With that, and the half a dozen places we already looked at, we are good to move forward. You should know how heart-wrenching it is to leave behind that used to be our home-base, and how sad we are to be packing tents and wagons again. Do you ever get used to that feeling? But over the ages it happened many times, so we are used to it. When The Sign was painted on the wall, our elders packed sheets and tied the four corners and put them on wagons. We are so very grateful for what we already have, because we have had the support of this distinguished group already. 

We are thankful to The Embassy of Hungary and The Cleveland / Hungarian Scouts, and various cultural groups, social groups backing up our long standing culinary "institution".

That clearly made us a survivor of The covid-something. (oh well, covid, ... that is a completely different discussion)

You may click this link to land on >>> Back to our GoFund page <<< 
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Before the Holidays it is time for a "Thank You Note" November 2021

We are much obliged to our largest supporting community here in 
Cleveland, and around Shaker, Beechwood, Mayfield, Orange, 
near East-side area. We humbly thank the support of the Community, 
pulling us through a huge try of our times, generally called COVID. 
We see no better time to be grateful for the past friendship, and the 
Care we had received in 2021. Hands down, when the sounding of 
alarm-bell went loud, the help via GoFundMe was pouring in, and it 
did save us from closing right at start of 2021. But now, we are looking
at 2022 with new hope, and desire to continue our culinary traditions.

Our status after 30+ years on Buckeye Road, and 25 years on 
Shaker Square is changing soon. We will close the Dining rooms on 
December 31st 2021, and will keep the kitchen and carry out going
through January 2022. Then close the kitchen there for good. 
Although we are loosing our Shaker Square residence, we felt with 
such a strong follower-ship we have cause and reason to rebuild.
Already now, we are scouting for new location(s) up and down 
Interstate-271 area, mean from Solon to North and from Wilson Mills 
to the South. Our target is to stay close enough to the highway as 
60-70% of our Clientele is near that target area, but the other 30-40% 
come from elsewhere, and 50 states (no kidding).

We are the last of the old guard, cooking and serving the time tried 
recipes. Balaton has been around for 60 years, began cca: 1960-64 
and now we are the third generation, and we are organically set in 
to traditions. But we are "folding tents and pulling wagons" like we 
did before. We intended to stay when we built out the old store,
once belonged to Bunts Brothers' and we intended to stay forever, 
but at least until 2040, Or perhaps another generation... (really) 

After we close last day of coming January, our Leading Lady is 
likely to attend a culinary conference and trade gathering in Hungary. 
She would collect new knowledge of ancient secrets. Meantime 
our team is continuing the search, or begin outfitting the New
Balaton Restaurant and Catering facility, that we are yet to find.
As the coming weeks are slowly falling off the calendar, we are 
to put out notifications as plans become more factual. But at least, 
we will put out notices weekly, even if we have nothing to celebrate 
but we will surely have things happening that is worthy enough to 
tell to Everyone. And to All, words of comfort "we will be close"...
Please, do not think we would evaporate in thin air like steam rising
from a pot of goulash, or paprikash, or a Sunday chicken-soup.
We will be makin those and more right here until the end of January,
then only a few steps down the road. But we must move on.
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For Your Information

Not everyone knows, how backward Every Restaurant's situation
became. First it was a total shut-down, then a partial reopening, 
then limited business hours due cascading logistical hardship. 
We were hoping for the Rebirth of our economy, a Renesaince perhaps?

In the meantime our federal government was trying to hush-up 
decades of neglect of its own people. Did you know? In fourthy 
years most of our daily expenses and our large ticket items 
quadrupled in ways of cost of living. Did you know, the rubber-band 
was stretched to a snapping point? Average wages only doubled 
during those same decades, but also 
American jobs were let out of the country and technology squandered!

Then comes COVID!

Our government had to keep the peace by giving away free money.
Keep people busy, instead of doing even more damages on the streets.
Ultimatly, the renaisance we were waiting for has arrived. We have
medicine, and we have statistics. We are good to go, but our
economy was undermined by hap-hazard thinking. Small business
can not increase pricing from one day to the next. Small business
can not double up its pricing structure to meet the demands of the
new aconomic era. As much as we always belived in fair wages for
fair working efforts, and we were short-changed by decades of
globalized ruin, we tried hard to stay afloat. Yet, our help left for 
other jobs and a little more hourly or monthly income, because
they don't understand that pricing of goods going to catch up
with all of us again. At the end we ruin our infrastructure, and
the "income / cost of living" ratio do not change in the long-run.

So, we hired new employees, training them, loose some of
our new trainees in the mad dash. We pay more, we nudge
the pricing slowly up, hoping to find balance before we
become casulty as 100-s of thousands other small business
have folded only in a blink of 2020-2021.
Meantime hundreds of thousands buy stuff from "amuzonia"
also go to work for "amuzonian" never realizing, once we
ruined Earth and we have to sail to another planet, they
will not be included on the spaceship they helped to build.
Most everyone became a contributor to their own demise.

So, we are hanging in there and believe in slow changes,
that the the human mind and spirit can adjust to. YES,
we support changes for the better, and ask YOU to
support Your Local Economy. Order less stuff on-line.

Truly Yours, the Balaton family
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Our observation on "COVID"
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We are in the understanding that a strain of virus was named
"Something-19" we call it Y2K bug.
Because every International traveler knows that We got sick most 
every time just flying Internationally, and / or after the return 
flight back to USA. Also every traveler knows this has been happening
since the early 2000-s. We were certain about the increasing intensity 
of travel-born illnesess, and much as it delivered the "stink bug" in 
shipping containers and suicases. We, in the US ignored what we had 
seen in the news. While we were breathing just fine after continued 
regulations for Clean Air since the Seventies, some countries only 
began the massive built up of uncontrolled industrial expansion
and out of control population explosion much the same time, and
on the news we had seen people wearing dust-masks in the city.
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We planted three new ideas in our mind since the Seventies.
One is called the "Three Globe Syndrome"
The other is "Sustainable Living"
Lastly "Renewable Energy"
All nations must work on that without exception to be Friends.
Anything else is exploitation of the worst kind against our Grandchildren.
Economic growth is Hokus-Pokus, and an unnecessary ill-logical burden.
Population growth is genecidal, and path to human extinction.
Think about it again!
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This is a slow food restaurant, not a fast food joint!!!!
What a mistake, those make! For real food One has to wait. First greens
have to ripe, and not gassed in a semi-truck while it is being delivered to
Cleveland. Then it has to be cleaned and cooked with respect. After all, 
it is the gift of life. One must understand the rush of the Global chaos 
must stop somewhere. Stop it then at your front door, your kitchen stove,
or stop it passed the line of your mailbox if you can. 
One shall learn to live again, and take a great sigh with joy.
For Everyone else the message is patience, The-Flu is over.
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A hard earned Anniversary

appr~1961-2021

We are thankful to three generations of friendly, supportive Guests.
Actually many families coming to us to dine, are passing that title.
Our lives had merged through Conversation.
We keep continuing the Great Conversation.
Years add travels, stories, and events, that we keep in sharp view.
Our past Fifty+plus years were spent with great People,
with good food, with good wine, and lovely pastries.
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We thank Your Family for over Sixty years of appreciation!
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We are calling our long time patrons to write their story, telling us
 what made our connection last decades over decades? email to:
balatonclv@att.net in the subject line write: 
Hard Earned Anniversary 
One may write us a real letter and send it via regular postal service.
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An evening at Balaton in Continental traditions
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Stop in and experience good food & good company Since 1964

Have a Great Conversation!

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