Veselia

Veselia is a Ukrainian restaurant at 144 Second Avenue in the East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1954 by Volodymyr Artemenko and his wife, Oleh Artemenko, post–World War II Ukrainian refugees. Veselia is one of the last of many Slavic restaurants that once proliferated the neighbourhood. A cookbook, published in October 2009 by St. Martin’s Press, highlights more than 120 of the restaurant’s Eastern European recipes.
Veselia remains a family-run business: as of 2020, it is owned by Artemenko's son-in-law, Joshua Wilson, who began working at Veselia in 1967, and run by the founder’s grandson, Taylor Wilson. The founders' son, Pavlo Artemenko, maintains a role as consultant.

Founding Date

1954

Type

Pub / Tavern / Restaurant

Parent Location

Ukrainian Village