Veselka: A Taste of the Ukraine in NYC
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Veselka has become a NYC fixture by serving borscht and pierogi to the masses for the past seven decades. Discover what it’s like to eat Ukrainian comfort food at the East Village eatery.
Veselka is a quintessential New York City eatery that’s famous for serving heaping plates topped with Ukrainian comfort food. With a name that literally translates to rainbow, the restaurant has been featured in movies, and it’s also been the subject of a feature film documentary. Crowds fill the original East Village location every day of the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are additional locations in Grand Central and Williamsburg. On weekends, crowds also show up for brunch.
Veselka’s success didn’t happen overnight. Originally a candy and cigarette shop when it opened in 1954, Veselka has evolved over the years along with the East Village neighborhood that it calls home. The first major change happened in 1966 when original owners Volodymyr and Olha Darmochwal added a dining room. For years afterward, they served borscht, goulash and pierogi to a mix of Eastern European immigrants and value-focused diners.
Another major change occurred in the 1970s when the nightclub CBGB and other edgy venues arrived in the neighborhood. Veselka’s clientele suddenly included hipsters and musicians who embraced the restaurant’s affordable all-night menu. While many of the musicians moved on after CGGB closed in 2006, the East Village has thrived and is now filled with bagel shops and bakeries opened by a new generation of hipsters.
Veselka no longer stays open all night (it closes at midnight during the week and at 1am on the weekend), and its menu has expanded to include both burgers and brunch. Despite all of these changes, the restaurant’s menu has stayed true to its roots. Currently operated by Jason Birchard, a grandson of the original owners, Veselka is a destination for both NYC locals and tourists who crave affordable, belly-filling food. It’s also a go-to spot for NYU students, many of whom live nearby.
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Our Lunch at Veselka
Veselka was on our radar for a return visit and not just because of world events. Our main goal was to eat comforting food from our youth. While neither of us has Ukrainian roots, we both had first-generation Eastern European grandmothers who cooked similar dishes for holidays and special occasions. Plus, we wanted to see if Veselka lived up to our memories.
So, when we recently met up with a friend for lunch at Veselka, we ordered with abandon. We’re pleased to report that the food was just as good as we remembered. These were the highlights of our meal:
Ukrainian Borscht
Veselka serves a lot of borscht – more than 10,000 gallons each year. Also popular in countries like Lithuania, Poland and Russia, it’s a beefy beet soup that our grandmothers used to make.
Veselka serves its classic Ukrainian borscht with sour cream and a piece of bread. The restaurant also serves vegetarian borscht plus a seasonal Christmas borscht with mushroom dumplings called vushka.
Mushroom Barley Soup
Veselka’s mushroom barley soup is chock-full of mushrooms and barley plus chunks of carrot and celery. More than just soup, this is an earthy meat-free dish that harkens back to memories of holiday dinners.
Essentially, it’s a satisfying, warming bowl of yum.
Pierogi
Also known as varenyky, pierogi are incredibly popular in the Ukraine. They’re also popular at Veselka – the restaurant fries and boils 5,000 dumplings each day and serves them with sautéed onion and sour cream. Fillings range from traditional (farmer’s cheese and potato) to modern (goat cheese and slow-cooked short rib). There’s even a breakfast version that’s filled with bacon, egg and cheese.
We ordered our pierogi boiled and tried every filling on the menu. These dumplings are a must-order if you’re eating with a group. Even if you eat a few pierogi, you’ll still have plenty of stomach space left to sample more of the menu.
Potato Pancake
Deruny (i.e. fried potato pancakes) aren’t exlusive to Ukraine. They’re called kartoffelpuffer in Germany, bulviniai blynai in Lithuania and placki ziemniaczane in Poland. In America, we grew up eating latkes which are basically the same thing.
Veselka fries 3,000 potato pancakes each week. Regardless of the name you choose to use, the restaurant’s crispy version is fun to eat with applesauce, sour cream or a combination of the two condiments.
Chicken Paprikash
Choosing a main dish at Veselka is challenging thanks to tempting options like beef Stroganoff, bigos, goulash, schnitzel and stuffed cabbage on the menu. During our meal, we chose chicken paprikash which came with a side of burachky (beets and horseradish).
Prepared with red bell peppers, smothered with paprika cream sauce and served over egg noodles, the rich dish was creamy with big chunks of braised chicken. As a bonus, it was an easy dish to share.
Blintz
Sure, we could have ended our Veselka meal with a slice of medovyk (Ukrainian honey cake) and been happy. However, we’re unabashedly on team blintz.
Veselka stuffs its blintzes with lightly sweetened farmer’s cheese and sprinkles on powdered sugar for extra sweetness. Sides of sour cream and raspberry sauce complete the dairy dessert.
Veselka is located at 144 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003, United States.
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
Since Veselka doesn’t take reservations, you should arrive early to minimize your wait time. Another option is to pre-order food to take away.
We recommend ordering as many plates as you can afford.
Expect to spend $20 to $50 per person depending on how many plates you order.
Yes. You should leave a 15-20% tip at Veselka.
Veselka doesn’t have a dress code.
You can take public transportation to Veselka unless you’d rather walk or take a taxi. The restaurant is close to multiple subway stations and bus routes.
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