Reliably great steak. Probably the best place for steak in Auburn. Went there in January 2025.. two of us had steak & pork chops. Both delicious. Service is excellent, ambience is hard to describe. Like a steak house from the 1930s maybe. Better hurry though, they're closing soon... :-( read more

My family and I went to balloons a short while ago for dinner. I had octopus appetizer and a steak. My family had burgers and drunken ribeyes. I am local to Auburn but have to be honest. Absolutely disgusting! Steaks overdone and i believe rotten. The vegetables literalky tasted like luke warm garbage. I dont mind dropping $300 for dinner but please, at least, make it edible. The next day, my entire family felt sick to the point where my wife was throwing up. I was beside myself. I contacted the owner Bernie and he literally reprimanded me for not knowing my cuts of steak and how ignorant me and my family were. Come to find out, he is trying to sell that dump. No surprise. At that point, i reported him to the health department and Bernie continued to contact me about my ignorance. My recommendation, if you enjoy diaherria and feeling sick, eat at Balloons! read more

Great service and food. You're not rushed or hurried . Portions are large enough to split.

Excellent food and service with a great ambiance. Have never had a bad meal from here. Recommend the drunken steak.

This restaurant is by far the best. Old world atmosphere and the amazing staff, including John Serber treat you like family. They really go above and beyond for you. The absolute best steak house and Italian restaurant. A shout out to the amazing bartender Tommy. read more

Great place, great food, wonderful service. An old timey italian american steakhouse. I thing i dont like is on street parking.

Balloons Resturant is an Auburn must visit. If you're a steak lover this is your place in town to go. Pictured is the drunken ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. The other dish was a special they offered for the evening. It was a slow roasted prime rib, that was finished on the grill. It was then topped with Cajun shrimp and sauce. Side dishes were green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. Balloons is family owned and ran by the Simmons family. You will often see the family in some sort of capacity still helping out at the business. The waiters John and Jay are top notch, they make you feel welcomed every time, and that you're family to them. Enjoy!! read more

Balloons Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Auburn, New York

Greeted us upon our arrival. We order drinks. Best I have had in a while. They make great drinks. Laura help make a Cosmo. I never had one. Stong but tasty. Laura was also our waitress for the night. They had great service. We never waited for anything. We did not have to wave anyone down. They were right on eveything. Love good sevice. I ordered the rattle snake pasta. Tender pasta,meat, and vegtable. Sauce was delightful. I would highly recommend giving the dish a try. I ordered coconut shrimp. Hot tender shrimp and coating. With a strawberry dipping sauce. It was very good but would of like to of had a hit of heat. Bread was very fresh. I did not care for there dinner sald. I guess I was not in the mood salad. My husband loved it all his drinks. Shrimp cocktail, and very large portion of meat that was cooked just right! Nice small little hideaway. If you were not looking for it, you would not find it with out the GPS! Sits right on the corner of two streets. I would recommend that you make a reservation. Fills up quick and has limited seating. They have booths and tables. We heard someone reserve the bar seating. read more

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Balloons is the real deal. They come to their ambiance and reputation honestly - built over decades. The food is always excellent and well prepared. The service is always friendly and attentive. Great for steak lovers but don't sleep on the rest of the menu including their traditional Italian specialties. If you get stumped by the expansive menu, just order the Rattlesnake Pasta. If it's your first time at Balloons don't let the neighborhood or well-worn rooms dissuade you. Have a seat, order a Manhattan and some Utica Greens and revel in what every restaurant should be - local, legitimate and lovely. read more

My husband and his family have been frequent customers here for years, and I was looking forward to a date night and also knew how great this place could be! Unfortunately, our overall experience was not positive and with the high cost of mediocre menu items, I can't say that we will be back. The staff were all friendly, the blackened scallops and calamari were both delicious and that's where it ends... My husband and I both ordered "specials", the steak and the chicken & shrimp piccata. I freakin love chicken piccata and was so looking forward to it... I was sadly disappointed. The chicken tasted like it was boiled and had no flavor. The few shrimp were okay, but the overall flavor of the dish was severely lacking. There were a few capers in the dish but nothing .. NOTHING.. about this dish resembled any sort of chicken piccata that I know of. Usually it has that lemon/white wine/caper bite to the sauce and this had none of that. It truly tasted like just spaghetti in olive oil, I tried to drown it in cheese and pepper but it didn't help. This dish cost $35.... HOW?! My husband loves steak, and orders it rare. His steak was not rare, and was medium at best. Even though I didn't really enjoy my dish, I typically don't speak up about it because I hate to even risk sounding like a jerk. Since my husband seriously won't eat anything but rare steak, he did speak up... to which the waiter eyeballed his steak and said "it looks rare to me". He wasn't rude about it but it was definitely an uncomfortable conversation. To be fair, the waiter did come by and ask "how is everything?" as they usually do, so my husband was just being honest. Since clearly nothing was going to be done about it, he asked to just box it up... the waiter came back and did take $10 off the steak, we had a free glass of wine/beer, and a free dessert but it was such an awkward encounter. It turns out that steak was $80!....... EIGHTY DOLLARS. Wow. So now to our dessert, wow lava cake.. s'mores flavored?! Sure, let's try it since maybe it will make up for the bad dinner choices. It was awful. It did not taste like s'mores and was more dry than my moms lasagna (sorry Ma). Also, there was no lava part to it...just a dried out depressed brown cake. So, two stars for the appetizers. We should have just ordered those and had a drink and we would have been happy. A date night is so RARE (pun intended) that to not enjoy the place we chose is a bummer! And yes, my husband posted his own review on this scenario right before me. He was rage typing it so I know he is NOT happy. We will not be returning. read more

Great service, delicious food. Waitress Molly was super. Very reasonable priced. This is a favorite place for some friends from out of town.

Just left from eating here. Great service! We waited a very long time for our food. Didn't have the heart to tell our server that 2 out of three dishes were cold and not edible. Flavorless, expensive food. We won't return. We boxed everything up, maybe heating it up at home would help. read more

A fine dining restaurant with fine dining prices, but I guess these day's everything is expensive! The food was most excellent though! We started off with a special appetizer of crab and cheese stuffed mushrooms, so very tasty. Then I had the Joanne jumbo shrimp and sea scallops with capellini in a white flavorful cream sauce that was huge and took half home! Husband had steak and spinach with penne pasta in tangy red sauce which he took a quarter home (extremely unusual for him to take ANYTHING home)! The salads were quite nice; a chef salad with delicious Italian dressing with crumbly blue cheese and homemade bread with choice of dipping sauce or butter! I suppose we could have done both. This was our first time dining here, so KUDOS to Baloons! read more

Always reliably excellent steaks here in a legit old school atmosphere. This place has been an Auburn establishment for decades. Don't be put off by the maximum security prison directly across the street -- that is part of the charm. I highly recommend (1) the Manhattans (2) the Drunken Ribeye, which is amazing. You cannot go wrong with the steaks here, or the pork chops. Can't wait for my next visit! read more

Balloons Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Auburn, New York

Very disappointed in this establishment. I grew up going here and i remember the food always being amazing regardless of what you ordered. Tonight my wife and I drove 45 minutes to go here for our anniversary dinner, and we were extremely upset with everything. My wife and I both ordered the specials on the menu. She ordered a chicken and shrimp piccata over pasta and i had the steak special. My wifes dish came out and it looked like pasta in water. The chicken looked and tasted like it had been boiled in water and tossed in and there were only 4 shrimp in the dish with about a pound of pasta. The dish was extremely bland and had no essence chicken piccata. if i was to close my eyes i would have no idea thats what it was. Now for the real reason I gave this a 1 star. My steak... I am an avid steak eater and a relatively decent chef at home. I love steak but i needs to be rare. The redder the better, any one who eats steak more than rare should just order chicken. So I get my dish and I am overly excited only to cut into it and have a wave of disappointment wash over me. The steak was severely overcooked. with mulitple temperatures throughout. With the very middle being medium to almost medium-well. and the rest of the steak being well done. When the server asked how everything was i showed him the steak and how it was over cooked. He said well with steaj there is always some spots that are a little more cooked. I told him there was not a spot in the steak the was rare and he said looks pretty rare to me. Instead of correcting the mistake and accepting that they messed up they argued with me and told me it was cooked perfectly. After telling him I did not want this he continued to argue and i gave up and said just rap it up then. He came back out aftwr and said the chef said hell take 10 dollars off. Now we get the check... 150 dollars was the total. The steak was 80 dollars!!! If i had known that i would not have ordered it in the first place. This was one of the most unupressive meals and horribly handeled situations I have had anywhere by people in the service industry. the entire attitude preceding the discovery of the over cooked steak made me furious. My wife and I were both disgusted by this situation. I am hoping that owners will see this and correct the actions of the people employed by them. I do not plan on returning to this restaurant and I urge others to stay away as well. read more

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I am in love with Balloon's!! I can't eat there as often as I want, but as often as I can!! I have never EVER had a bad experience at Balloon's! The food is wonderful, the home feel of the building (reminds me of a restaurant in my hometown when I was a child) and the staff is top notch!! Again I don't order as often as I would like, BUT when I am able to get there, they always greet me like they see me all the time!! I could never say enough about Balloon's!! read more

Great staff and service! Old time feeling inside original wood paneling still exist from the old days. Great specials always A++++++

This is a real tradition for Auburn, I have never been disappointed here. Prices are reasonable but not a cheapskate hangout.

Great restaurant and service never leave unsatisfied. Great steaks and chops I love the sweet chili calamari.

Balloons is one of my favorite spots to eat when visiting Auburn. The inside is dated, but has charm. I would definitely call for a reservation, especially on Friday and Saturday. My favorite pasta dish is the rattlesnake pasta. The sauce is a creamy Cajun Alfredo, and the large portion can easily give you three meals. My husbands loves the drunken ribeye, he orders it every time. The ribeye has a glaze on it that caramelizes, very tasty! read more

Balloons Restaurant - Rattlesnake Pasta - Italian Near Me - Auburn, New York

Just at recently and it's been a longggg time since I've been here. The place hasn't changed much inside so don't let the old decor scsre you away the food and portions are top shelf. Bernie amd team do a great job of service and quality of food. read more

The service was great but the food wasn't the greatest. The kids order tenderloin and it was charred on the outside. They were not pleased with that. I ordered the Tenderloin Tips Asiago and it was very bland. My husband had the lasagna. He said it was okay. I have talked to a few different people who have had nothing but great things to say about this place, so we might have to give it one more try. read more

Probably the best food in Auburn, I have been here a couple times and it's been great every time. The place is small and unassuming on the outside but has a very comfortable feel on the inside. Service is amazing, the servers are knowledgeable and make great recommendations. If you are in the area I'd definitely make a reservation and go. read more

The welcome was wonderful and on time, the waitress was extremely friendly and professional, the drinks were plentiful, the owner came to our table and chatted in a very real way, finally the food was top notch. I cannot speak highly enough for Ballon's, this is a place that shouldn't be missed, it is great! read more

Had 7 pm reservations on Saturday night, didn't end up getting seated until around 7:40 pm. This is my first time eating here, I have always heard great things, and was excited to try the place. I have no problem with the waiting part, but the layout is strange, there is no defined hostess area, you walk in to a bar, and there is no real direction on what to do or where to go, we ended up walking all the way around the bar and saw a person there that was seating people, we checked in, the hostess was nice, but not overly informative about the situation. just kind of gave you a nod and an okay that you were there. The building is OLD, and part of the charm of the place, but the decor could use some updates, booth cushions that had tape covering the rips and wear and tear, and not much spring left in them. The dining area is cramp and LOUD, you can hardly hold a conversation with the people at your table The service was good, our waiters name was Tom, he was attentive and friendly. The food is 5 STARS The food was fantastic, We had Shrimp cocktail and Calamari as appetizer. For entrees I had the 24oz Bone in steak( Steak was well seasoned and cooked perfectly) with salad and a baked potato, others in the party had Rigatoni and meatballs, the tenderloin steak, and the Gorgonzola steak. Fro dessert we had creme brulee and banana cream pie. The only negative I had about the food, the salad they give you is a bunch of lettuce with 2 grape tomatoes and a black olive on top. Definitely a great place to eat, they could make it a bit more comfortable read more

Balloons Restaurant - 24 oz Bone in Steak at Balloons in Auburn - Italian Near Me - Auburn, New York

We went here for my dad's 70th birthday & he was happy, so that's all that really matters. The salad with the beets was strange (not what I expected), but good. The lamb chops weren't the best & not rare like I ordered, but the garlic mashed potatoes were amazing! The eggplant parmigiana can feed a family & my pops is still talking about the whiskey peppercorn steak. The waiter knew his stuff & it was quiet & clean. Overall, I'd say ok, but my dad says excellent, so I'll agree. read more

Excellent meal again tonight! My steak was a perfect medium rare and seasoned just right. It was very tender. The Yukon gold mashed potatoes were creamy and buttery...yum! The manhattans are so good on a cold winter night. The entire restaurant staff make you feel welcome and work so hard so you have an enjoyable night. My night ended with a peanut butter chocolate cake that was not only a huge serving but was also very delicious. read more

Outstanding service and by far the best steaks in town. Wait staff is very professional and knowledgeable about the menu. Highly recommended. read more

Can I say this was probably one of the best ribeyes I Have ever eaten!! The special was 32 oz with lobster risotto.. so my hubby and I shared it!! Melted in my mouth!! There was an appetizer of potato corn chipotle chowder... so awesome!! Adam was our server and he did a great job and the restaurant was quite busy!!! Glad I made a reservation as it was Friday night and people were in line waiting .. we found this little gem of a restaurant on Yelp and so glad we checked it out!! Yes I was pretty stuffed but I had to try the banana bread pudding..of course sharing that too! read more

Old world style restaurant and yes across the street from Auburn Prison. Smaller wood paneling room , full bar all nice . Open this Saturday at 4:30 bread baked on premise and served with a zesty tomato oil dipping sauce. We started with a shrimp scampi app , shrimp are a item that when cooked correctly are the best. But can be ruined quickly and yes the chef did a great job Two very nice salads My wife had Tenderloin steak and I had a ribeye tough call between the steak and lamb chops. Steak very good my advice would have been over the top if served with a nice sauce. Service very good , but had a pass on desserts full , maybe the next time. Great spot need to stop more ! Menu great check out the website ! Chef will travel! read more

recommend Balloons, great service and food been going there with family40 years . Very kind waiters and great pleasure to meet friends . know them all !Love there calamari and soda read more

So if the gigantic prison across the street is intimidating to you, know that wall is too dang high to jump over, and some seriously delicious food is awaiting your consumption! You may have a bit of a wait on a busy night since it's a smaller sized place, but grab a beer, put your name on on the list, and get ready for a great meal. The list of specials is always rotating, but whatever you decide will be a great meal. Their steaks are great, their rattlesnake pasta (they may call it something different, the name escapes me) is really amazing, so good that I've seriously ordered it two nights in a row once! The wine list is reliable, and the hometown feel is still preserved (an unfortunately scarce commodity). The service has always been excellent, I'll never understand how they remember everything without writing it down! The dessert list is superb as well! If you're looking to impress your date, consider checking out Balloons, it'll be a meal to remember! read more

Absolutely fantastic food and service! Our server John was personable, informed and helpful. We had the pork belly/sausage appetizer. A little busy but delicious. Horseradish side sauce was amazing.!I had a roasted beef tenderloin special and my husband had the drunken ribeye. We switched halfway through.Our entrees were phenomenal. The timing and service/food were on point. Why four stars instead of five? I asked about wines, no wine list (ok COVID, understandably) server tried to up sell a crap bottle (also no hard feelings, up selling) but was disappointed by the red wine. If you are an upscale Italian steakhouse in a super outdated building have either a great wine list or knowledge. The cannolis were tiny and clearly not fresh. That being the Quality dinner and attention of the staff brought the experience up. read more

Perfection! Auburn is fortunate to have the culinary expertise that is created in the Balloons Restaurant Kitchen by Bernie and staff! Every cut of meat is cooked to perfection and served promptly! Appetizers are creative and delicious! Perfect cocktails and wine pairing as well as after dinner drinks with dessert! Bernie and staff always make you feel right at home in the comfortable nostalgic atmosphere! read more

A staple off the beaten path restaurant. Literally step back in time coming through the door with an old school corner bar vibe. Good wine selection, solid cocktails. Not a massive menu but everything I've ever had here is delicious; and don't get married to anything on the menu as the specials are always tempting. Save room for dessert. Look it's not flashy, it's not modern - it just damn good food and some of the best service I've had anywhere in the country - every time it's consistently great. read more

Their service was friendly, courteous and the servers very knowledgeable. The food was exemplary. I have been to many affairs catered by Balloons and the food is always consistent. Hot is hot and cold is cold. Please try Balloons catering. Thank you. read more

Outstanding food and a great staff. My brother and I meet there whenever we can. Restaurant never disappoints. drunken Rib Eye and blackened scallops are well worth the trip from Syracuse. read more

Best restaurant in auburn. It's said there are not a lot of places to go in auburn anymore. Very friendly staff. It's not the prettiest place but the food is always top notch. read more

Our meals were delicious, the menu variety outstanding, drinks were perfectly mastered and our server was knowledgeable, attentive, helpful and friendly. read more

We make this our go to date night for an excellent dinner. All the right extras, like top quality cocktails, appetizers, salads, and the specials are inspirational. Service is personable and perfectly timed. And the deserts are decadent! read more