Veselka will once again be open around the clock on Friday and Saturdays

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

It's official — Veselka is returning to an overnight schedule on weekends at Second Avenue and Ninth Street. 

Starting April 17, the East Village mainstay will be open around the clock again, starting with just Fridays and Saturdays for now.

Owner Jason Birchard (above) shared the news with us yesterday.

Before the pandemic, Veselka served customers 24/7 for nearly 30 years. When indoor dining resumed, the restaurant scaled back hours, with Birchard previously citing staffing challenges for all the shifts. 

Now, overnight service is making a comeback — at least at the Second Avenue location (not Brooklyn) — as staffing continues to come together. 

So what is the power order during those late-night hours?

"Fried pierogies, borscht, potato pancakes — good starters," Birchard said.

Birchard will be on hand for the reopening night, along with VP of Operations Vitalii Desiatnychenko, a featured staff member whose journey we followed in the "Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World" documentary.

Now, late-night pierogies and early-morning borscht are back on the schedule, at least for part of the week.