Balloons Steakhouse in Auburn still soaring after 90 years

Christopher Malone Town, village and business reporter

AUBURN — For the Simmons family, keeping the legacy of Balloons Steakhouse alive is a passion.

The D'Angelo family started the Washington Street restaurant in 1934. After generations of that family operated it, and then the Orofinos, Bernie and Terry Simmons took over in November 1991.

Bernie Simmons reflected on the last 33 years Tuesday at the restaurant's bar in a conversation with The Citizen. Those three decades have seen the neighborhood bar and restaurant evolve into a beloved steakhouse and catering company, all while adapting to nationwide shifts in the food service industry.

Balloons has been able to do that, Simmons said, by working hard, promising a welcoming experience, serving consistent meals and listening to a community that has supported it for 90 years.

"Here we are today," Simmons said.

"We're still a flourishing and prospering endeavor that people enjoy as Auburn's landscape of restaurants is changing."

Balloons takes flight According to a 1986 Herald Journal on the wall of the bar, the restaurant's original owners, John and Carmella D'Angelo, came to America from Italy in the early 1900s.

Former owner Dominick D'Angelo told the newspaper his parents started the restaurant during the Great Depression for him and his three brothers, investing in a gift of job security for them.

He recalled how his father sold balloons at local carnivals and parades, acquiring the nickname "John Balloon." When he opened the restaurant with Carmella, it carried over.

The framed story is one piece of Balloons' historical atmosphere. Prominent dark pine walls wrap around the dining area. The tops of them are lined with baseball pennants in plastic cases and beverage brand trays. When the kitchen isn't producing any aromas, a hint of mustiness instead circulates the restaurant.

"It's very masculine, I guess," Simmons said, looking around.

When he bought the restaurant, Simmons said, he was told by longtime staffers not to change anything, from the menu to the aesthetic. Aside from a new roof and furnace, and a refurbished bar from Auburn Furniture Service, he's kept his word. In that same comfortable atmosphere, the restaurant continues to serve the food its regulars have come to enjoy through the years.

Aged to perfection Some change is inevitable, though. Gone are the days when hungry Balloons patrons could order a dish of spaghetti and meatballs for 25 cents, or a fish dinner for 35.

The menu is filled with pasta, seafood and popular appetizers like sweet chili calamari and Utica greens. There are also several Balloons originals, indicated on the menu with a "B," like the appetizer shrimp casino and the rattlesnake pasta, which gets its name from the Cajun seasoning it uses. The dish features red peppers and grilled chicken with alfredo sauce and smoked gouda over linguine.

"We tried to come up with things that would be proprietary to Balloons," Simmons said.

A lot of pride goes into Balloons' signature wet-aged, Midwestern grain-fed steaks, Simmons said. Some of it comes more than 20 days aged, but he'll put it in the cooler to age for another 30 to 40.

Highlights include the drunken ribeye, another original, which is dredged in brown sugar. When grilled it adds a flavorful char to the meat, which is then finished with Kentucky bourbon butter.

But there's something for those who don't eat steak at Balloons as well. Some appetizers and pasta dishes are vegetarian, and all of the latter include the option of substituting gluten-free pasta.

Catering for the future Simmons said he can laugh now about taking over Balloons. He had regrets about nine months into his and Terry's ownership, and at one point he even apologized to her.

While finding his footing at the restaurant, he worked as many as 75 to 90 hours a week there. But he knew what he'd gotten himself into.

"I got involved with (the restaurant business) when I was a kid. It was fast-paced. I started out as a bartender and waiter and then matriculated to different places in the kitchen," he said.

"It was a godsend because when you own a restaurant, you have to be able to do everyone else's job."

Experience has also prepared Simmons to deal with issues like staff retention, inflation and changes in the way people eat. While Mother's Day and Thanksgiving remain big holidays, the restaurant has cut back on others, as well as catering events like weddings. They've decreased from about 30 annually to fewer than 10.

Simmons hates having to pass on rising costs, particularly for market-priced meats, to his customers. They've "helped feed my family for years," he said.

But with grocery stores venturing more and more into prepared meals, the competition is stiff.

"I just read an saying (restauranteurs) need to redefine who our competition is," he said. "It's sad when you're competing with a (multi-million-dollar) grocery chain."

Despite those trends, which have led some longtime restaurants to close, Simmons is optimistic about Balloons and its future. His oldest grandson has been helping at the restaurant for more than a year, just as his children did, keeping a family tradition alive. The 12-year-old has been making salads, something the proud grandfather of seven said he excels at.

Time will tell whether that excellence becomes the same passion that has kept Balloons in the Simmons family for 33 years — and keeps it there for many years to come.

"We — other restaurant owners and chefs — chose this profession because we love it," Simmons said. "When I don't love it, that will be when I'm ready to retire."

Staff writer Christopher Malone can be reached at (315) 282-2232 or .

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