Earlier this week, we mourned the apparent loss of Ukrainian eatery Odessa Restaurant, after employees told us — and other local outlets — that the East Village spot was shutting its doors for good on Sunday. Thankfully, it now seems those eulogies were premature.
According to longtime co-owner Steve Helios, the restaurant is only shutting down for temporary renovations. "We'll be back," he promised.
The renovations, which were also confirmed by the building's super, will still begin on Sunday. But Helios, whose co-owner Mike Skulikidis also owns the building, said he is planning to reopen in early 2021.
One of the neighborhood's last remaining 24-hour diners, Odessa Restaurant opened in 1994 on Avenue A across from Tompkins Square Park, as an off-shoot of the adjacent Odessa Bar.
The bar closed in 2013, after 48 years, due to rent increases. "Say goodbye to your youth," we weeped at the time. "The East Village is dead. RIP old New York. The rent is too damn high. ETC."
But the restaurant has managed to reopen and hold on in the years since, serving up a mix of reliable diner fare and Eastern European staples like pierogis and Kielbasa to new generations of late-night party people.
It's unclear whether the owners had planned to close at one point, or if this was all a big misunderstanding. In any case, it appears the reports of Odessa Restaurant's death — if not the demise of your youth, necessarily — have been greatly exaggerated.
