restaurant . for the surname see veselka surname . veselka veselka restaurant new york city 2007 restaurant information established 1954 current owner s tom birchard food type ukrainian eastern european american comfort dress code casual city new york city state new york postal code zip 10003 country united states other locations little veselka veselka bowery other information family owned and operated website http www.veselka.com veselka is a ukrainian 24 hour restaurant in new york city s east village . 1 it was established in 1954 by post world war ii ukrainian refugees wolodymyr and olha darmochawal 2 and is one of the last of the many slavic restaurants that once proliferated the neighborhood . 3 a cookbook published in october 2009 by st. martin s press highlights more than 120 of the restaurant s eastern european recipes . 4 a sister restaurant veselka bowery on east 1st street and bowery opened in november 2011 . contents 1 history 2 reviews and awards 3 other locations 3.1 little veselka 3.2 veselka bowery 4 see also 5 notes 6 references 7 external links history edit in 1954 the darmochwals purchased a candy shop and newsstand at second avenue and east 9th street in new york city in an effort to help the ukrainian youth organization purchase the building that housed its headquarters . wolodymyr darmochwal gave this venture the moniker veselka the ukrainian word for rainbow . in 1960 mr. darmochwal combined the candy store and newsstand with an adjacent luncheonette . in the following years as the east village became known as the haight ashbury of the east coast 5 veselka became a social center for a cross section of the community that included old world tradition and new world counterculture . by the time that new york city s economic crisis hit in the 1970s veselka was a fixture in the neighborhood . it was able to expand during the economic recovery of the 1980s at which time the row of phone booths at the rear of the restaurant came to be used as informal office space for east village performance artists . 6 the 1980s veselka began receiving reviews and awards that spread its reputation beyond its immediate neighborhood . that reputation was further cemented when the restaurant was used as a location for the films trust the man 2006 and nick and norah s infinite playlist 2008 7 8 and memorialized in the songs veselka diner by doctor rokit 9 and veselka by greta gertler which was national public radio s song of the day on january 24 2008 . 10 veselka is also featured in city of fallen angels the fourth book in cassandra clare s the mortal instruments series . veselka produces 3 000 pierogis by hand every day 11 and uses 500 pounds of beets 12 to make 5 000 gallons of borscht every week . 13 the restaurant has attracted notable patrons including musician ryan adams 14 artist sally davies director bart freundlich 15 performance artist penny arcade 16 comedian jon stewart and actors julianne moore chris noth parker posey justin long and debra messing who considers veselka her late night mainstay and her absolute favorite place . 14 15 17 18 19 20 veselka remains a family run business it is currently owned by mr. darmochwal s son in law tom birchard who began working at veselka in 1967 and run by the founder s grandson jason birchard . the founder s son mykola darmochwal maintains a role as consultant . veselka continues to support the needs of neighborhood residents and eastern european immigrants in 1994 its kitchen staff included four doctors three from ukraine and one from poland who had recently arrived in the united states . 21 reviews and awards edit reviews of veselka in traditional press highlight its comfort food menu and describe the restaurant as a destination for late night diners . 22 23 24 after a renovation in 1995 the new york times reassured regulars that the restaurant had not changed its menu . 25 representative awards include best comfort food from aol city guide in 2005 . best late night dining award from time out magazine in 1996 and 2003 . best salad under 10 from new york press 2001 best east village diner from new york press 1998 and 2000 best ukrainian diner from new york press 1999 best borscht in the city from new york magazine 1997 best mushroom barley soup from new york press 1990 other locations edit little veselka edit little veselka located in new york city s first park was a concession of the new york city department of parks and recreation . it was operated by veselka and offered a limited menu primarily sandwiches named for famous ukrainians including andy warhol the andy warhola leon trotsky rinat akhmetov milla jovovich and leonid stadnik . 26 it closed in 2011 . veselka bowery edit a sister restaurant veselka bowery located on east 1st street and bowery opened in november 2011 . veselka bowery offered a more upscale version of the ukrainian comfort food that remains a staple of the menu of the original veselka . 27 it also offered an expansive drink menu and a selection of dozens of eastern european vodkas . 27 28 veselka bowery ran from november 2011 to april 2013 . see also edit east village manhattan kiev restaurant notes edit veselka manhattan restaurant menus and reviews . zagat . retrieved january 28 2013 . cheap ass food.com . cheap ass food.com . january 22 2011 . retrieved may 5 2011 . serious eats . seriouseats.com . retrieved may 5 2011 . chapters indigo . chapters.indigo.ca . october 27 2009 . retrieved may 5 2011 . university press university of minnesota . upress.umn.edu . retrieved may 5 2011 . danford birchard 2009 p. 82 . maurer daniel . new york magazine . nymag.com . retrieved may 5 2011 . baker lucy october 6 2008 . serious eats new york . newyork.seriouseats.com . retrieved may 5 2011 . discogs . discogs . retrieved may 5 2011 . a small slice of life and perhaps pie npr . danford birchard 2009 p. 47 . danford birchard 2009 p. 10 . danford birchard 2009 p. 12 . a b gawker stalker . a b the blizzard of odd more stars . moskin julia . the restaurant veselka is a beacon for ukrainian immigrants nytimes.com . the new york times . retrieved january 6 2009 . gail saltz m.d. ivillage . ivillage.com . retrieved may 5 2011 . fashion week makes carmen electra camera shy . daily news . new york . september 13 2007 . american way magazine . americanwaymag.com . retrieved may 5 2011 . new york daily news my favorite things . may 10 2001 . dead link kannapell andrea january 26 1997 . pizza job sustained a dream nytimes.com . the new york times . veselka east village new york magazine restaurant guide . new york city food guy veselka e. village details and reader reviews the new york times . retrieved may 27 2010 . new yorkers & co. nytimes.com . the new york times . october 27 1996 . retrieved may 27 2010 . danford birchard 2009 p. 184 . a b daniel maurer august 17 2011 . prepare for borscht martinis veselka s bowery location may open next month . the new york times . retrieved may 15 2012 . garth johnston november 4 2011 . veselka brings the borscht back to the bowery tonight . gothamist . retrieved may 15 2012 . references edit danford natalie ; tom birchard 2009 . the veselka cookbook recipes and stories from the landmark restaurant in new york s east village . new york thomas dunne books . isbn 0 312 38568 4 . external links edit main website new york magazine this mural can be yours new york times a ukrainian beacon in the east village wor radio new york interview with tom birchard coordinates 40 43 44.32 n 73 59 13.55 w 40.7289778 n 73.9870972 w 40.7289778 ; 73.9870972 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title veselka & oldid 736756431 categories restaurants in manhattandrinking establishments in manhattanhistory of immigration to the united statesrestaurants established in 1954restaurants established in 2011ukrainian american culture in new york cityukrainian restaurantseast village manhattanhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from february 2012use mdy dates from january 2013pages using infobox restaurant with unsupported parameterscoordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 29 august 2016 at 16 59 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view