A handwritten sign hangs over a door at the Balaton Restaurant that describes how this boutique Hungarian eatery landed at the end of a plaza in Bainbridge Township.
A handwritten sign hangs over a door at the Balaton Restaurant that describes how this boutique Hungarian eatery landed at the end of a plaza in Bainbridge Township.
“There was Chaos and Darkness” the sign reads — a reminder to owners George and Krisztina Ponti that they survived the COVID-19 crisis and the closing of their Shaker Square landmark restaurant.
George sat down at one of about a dozen tables in Balaton early May 25 to recount the last three years while Krisztina held a phone to her ear behind the dessert counter writing up take-out orders, taking reservations and preparing for the dinner crowd.
Balaton had been a destination restaurant at Shaker Square for decades when COVID-19 struck in 2020 and shut everything down, forcing much of the shopping center into foreclosure, George said.
“Everything was in turmoil,” he recalled, adding vendors tried to work a deal to keep the square and 100-year-old Cleveland Civic Center off the ropes, but they were unsuccessful.
The Pontis had invested in making their restaurant safe in the midst of COVID. When Shaker Square went into receivership, the couple was in despair.
“We were so deep underwater, we had to close,” George said.
They started 2021 with little hope, no money and a lot of disappointed diners.
Cleveland is the epicenter of the Hungarian culture in the U.S., George said, estimating there are 300,000 residents of Hungarian descent in the region — and they like to eat.
In the midst of this gloom, George’s brother, Peter, suggested they start a GoFundMe page online.
George said his immediate response was “No.” It struck him as begging for money.
But when Peter asked, “Why? Is there anything else to lose?” George and Krizstina had to admit there was not.
“Then, at least you can let people know,” his brother said.
Their loyal customers came to their rescue and donations poured in.
“We were saved by our constituents. Within a week, we were out of bankruptcy,” George said. “Those east-siders saved us. We got donations from all over the country – even from many, many people who are not even part of the Hungarian community.”
Krizstina was offered a position as executive chef in an Italian restaurant and George, who had been an electrician, was contemplating retirement.
Neither future really appealed to them and they felt compelled by their loyal followers to rebuild Balaton.
“People wanted to see us survive,” he said.
The couple wanted to be within easy driving distance of diners who love Hungarian cuisine but needed to keep their investment costs down. In the fall of 2022, they signed the papers on a small unit on East Washington Street just east of Chillicothe Road in downtown Bainbridge.
By November, they were cleaning and painting the space and hoped to open for Thanksgiving, but delays were inevitable.
“Because of the international shipping misery, we lost more than a month,” he said. They had stored the tables and chairs from their old location so when the kitchen equipment finally arrived, they were ready for their soft opening by Feb. 1, 2023.
Business has been on the boil ever since.
“It never stopped – people were so ready for it,” George said.
The new Balaton covers about one-third of the space of the old, so reservations are necessary and their answering machine recommends calling at least two weeks in advance to be seated.
“Reservations are controlled by space and how much the kitchen can produce,” he said, noting Krisztina cooks the traditional way — pots simmer on the stove for hours and everything is handmade by her, their two daughters and another 10 employees.
She studied at The Gundel in Budapest, won competitions in hospitality and did her internship at Budapest Astoria and The Carpathian. When she came to Cleveland, she hired on at Balaton, named after the Hungarian lake and resort area, and learned the business at the owner’s side.
“If you mention Balaton in Europe, everybody knows about it,” George said.
The owner retired and passed the restaurant onto Krisztina in 1997. The Pontis moved Balaton, which was on Buckeye Road, to Shaker Square soon thereafter, George said.
The couple met in the U.S. in 1993 and when they married, George was working for TRW Inc. as an electronic technician. When the company closed, he started lending a hand at the restaurant and it soon became a full-time job.
“Kris needed a right-hand man,” he said, crediting her with the success of Balaton. “She is the heart and the soul and the spirit of this place. I’ve never seen anyone working with such devotion.”
George said he is happy to be working behind the scenes, making sure the myriad details of a busy kitchen are taken care of, such as ordering wines from California, New Zealand and Australia, and keeping European pilsner and lager in stock.
“Don’t look for Miller Lite or Bud Lite here – never had it, never will,” he joked.
Krisztina turns out many favorite Central European dishes, with chicken paprikash seeming to overtake Weiner schnitzel in popularity, he said.
She seasons her food in the traditional Hungarian way and her technique continues to please the crowds.
“After all these years, we can’t doubt it,” George said.
