Support Balong's Next Step! From Pop-up to Panaderia!

Founded in late 2022 by chef Justin Dauz, Balong is a Filipino-American concept specializing in Filipino-American bread & cuisine.

Balong is a word of endearment meaning,”little boy,” in Ilocano, one of the many languages of the Philippines, and it is something my nanay (what my family called our grandma) used to call me growing up. Uttered to call the kids to the dinner table or when the sun would start to set, you could hear the care and affection as nanay would wrangle us home saying,” Eat Now Balong!”

With your support, the Balong that started as a pop-up will soon be a fully realized brick and mortar!

This project started as a love letter to my upbringing & a reminder of what food has always meant to me: it connects me to my roots & affirms in me how fun and healing cooking for others can be. Balong’s food is inspired by my Fil-Am background growing up eating home cooking by my nanay along with American fast food growing up in California. In the past two years, Balong has become especially known for fresh homemade pan de sal (a classic Filipino bread roll) and breakfast sandwiches with well-considered Fil-Am flavors. Balong has hosted community gatherings in local cafes, bars, and event spaces across Portland, garnering an incredible loyal and local fan base while also collaborating with local peers such as Baon Kainan, Kalesa, Makulit, Magna Kusina, & Cadejo.

While the pop-up model has been awesome & created a beautiful community of friends and supporters the last two years, it has been a struggle keeping up with demand without a dedicated space and equipment of my own.

In 2023, Balong qualified for a MESO grant designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs. The grant helped me to build a business plan for Balong and provided financial resources to start my popup, connecting me with a commissary kitchen with plenty of space. Unfortunately, in November of 2023, the commissary kitchen suddenly increased its rates and seemed to have some operational and management issues that tenants were unaware of. While I was able to popup throughout 2023 and 2024, that commissary story has been a common one across commissary kitchens I’ve worked out of, and if not that, many simply didn't have enough space/time for the volume I wanted to produce for Balong.

At the end of 2024, I stumbled on a turnkey space that was previously clearly built out to be a bakery, the type of bakery that definitely could’ve been a Red Ribbon, and I just couldn’t pass it up. I decided to take the leap of faith and signed a lease on a space that was unbelievably perfect for me: a kitchen+cafe space with used bakery equipment in good condition and shockingly reasonable rent.

Now, with a space where I can produce tenfold more than the amount of food Balong has pushed out since the MESO grant, I plan on taking on the biggest challenge yet: a brick and mortar. With a space like this, there's an opportunity to expand Balong’s bread & pastry program, along with even more breakfast & lunch options and continue creating fun dishes inspired by my past. We plan to do more New Manila events with our friends Kalesa, Baon Kainan, Makulit, & other Fil-Am businesses in town & some special dinner menus down the line. And I truly hope to see you there.

With an Early Spring March/April opening target date, Balong humbly asks for help from its community. While the bones of the space have so much potential, it still needs a lot of love and a makeover before Balong can truly serve its community.

GoFundMe contributions will be used towards the following expenses:

In total, Balong is looking for $50,000 which will cover the above startup expenses and any unforeseen snags. Any contribution of yours would be greatly appreciated, whether it’s monetary or simply sharing Balong’s GoFundMe page with your friends and family.

As a token of gratitude for those who are able to donate, Balong has cooked up some thank you gifts (one per donation):

Balong Hat + Dozen Pan De Sal

Balong Tote Bag + Dozen Pan De Sal