Balance Pan-Asian Grille — Restaurant in Ohio

Great locations! Yes, there is more than one Balance restaurant! Awesome to see a forward thinking organic dining experience in the Toledo/Sylvania area. Definitely a much needed change in restaurants in the city! The fast causal style flows really well and the intricate and extraordinary layout is obviously well thought through and made to enhance the visit. Kudos to the upper management for embracing their individual styles and making the art, music, and aura their own and doing it well. The employees do this well too, love the Propaganda Pirate (yes, his business card says that), Justin who is often there and making my time even better each time!

The menu is simple if you take a minute to read the nicely designed, quality paper ones and there are also several digital menus for appetizers/sides, drinks, and entrees. Not to mention the employees are decently well versed in the menus and take time to help you out if you don't quite get it. I've been there several times now and have tried a variety of their products. The possibilities are endless with the entrees especially, you can make so many tasty combinations!!! They are very nice about answering questions and sometimes go way above and beyond to find out specifics. The philosophy behind the place seems spot on!

I don't even know where to start with the tea bar! I am so excited that Balance brought bubble tea to the area market and done it in such a manner that everyone can find a flavor combo they love. The hot teas are also nice, there is a good selection and it doesn't take too long. I notice some people during my visits and otherwise have made comments about crowding and slow service... it is a fast casual restaurant and a popular one at that. When there a ton of people around you, it is going to take a little longer to get your food and there might not be a place for you to sit. That's the way it goes, the absolute simplest ideals of SUPPLE AND DEMAND people! The fact that they expanded more than once to accommodate the growing demand and interest is respectable. This is not easy to do!! I can't wait for them to expand into more locations to even further accommodate the needs of our area and doing it with a smile and good intentions to supply healthy dining experiences to a city that quite frankly is in the top 10-15% for obesity and cardiovascular disease in the WORLD (feel free to look it up if you don't believe me).

This is a stellar movement and I support it. Stop in and try it out, I have no doubt if you go in with an open mind and a decent appetite (and enough time if you're going during expected lunch and dinner rushes), you WILL NOT leave...

It is with a heavy heart that I give a 1 star because I used to love this place. I was a frequent customer eating here about once every other week but recently things have changed. I'm not sure if it's a management issue but things have gone downhill here.

It started a couple months ago when I got my normal order of tacos. After about an hour or so of eating I became violently ill. I won't go in to details but it was some of the worst food poisoning I've ever had. After a couple days I recovered and decided I couldn't eat here anymore.

Today I realized I missed eating at Balance and thought I'd give it a second chance. I ordered online and we picked up our order of tacos but when we got home, the sauce was missing. This sucked because the tacos are pretty bland with no sauce. We called and they said if we drove back they would remake our order, include sauce and have it ready when we arrived. We drove back to pick it up and it was not ready. We waited around for 15 minutes which was crazy because the dinner rush had passed already. In the time we were waiting, we overheard the sauce girl and the food prep guy mocking us and saying, "they came back because there wasn't sauce. We'll be sure to give them plenty of sauce, don't worry." And they were laughing at us. This was the last straw, we left immediately without the food and will never eat here again.

They have lost a regular customer...

The food was decent overall. I ordered the taco trio, which was about $10. The SoHo taco stood out with its great flavors—I really enjoyed it. However, the Korean BBQ taco was overwhelmingly salty to the point where I had to stop eating it. That said, the kimchi cucumbers were a nice touch. The Bahn Mi taco was disappointing and lacked the flavor that the SoHo taco had. If I were to return, I’d stick to just the SoHo taco.

I also tried a traditional milk tea, but it was overly sweet and didn’t feel very “traditional.” Even without the caramel drizzle, the sweetness was overwhelming, and there wasn’t an option to customize the sweetness level like other bubble tea spots. The drink size was decent, though.

On the positive side, the restrooms and dining area were very clean. However, I didn’t like that ordering was only available through a kiosk. The food descriptions were minimal, which made it harder to make informed choices. I would’ve appreciated the option to order at the counter.

Overall, the food was fine—a step up from other fast-food options in the area—but it felt like a “Midwest take on trendy Asian food” rather than something authentic. For more traditional Asian cuisine nearby, I’d recommend Kay’s Kitchen for Vietnamese food or AMA’s Kitchen for Indian. Not mad about the experience, but I likely...