Olesia's is a Ukrainian restaurant that is out of the way for me but I have to say the drive is worth it. I stopped in for an early Happy Hour (I think it's 2:30-6pm) and sat at the bar. It was pretty quiet inside and I wasn't noticed at first, but I ended up with pleasant service. I started off with the soup flight $6 which I highly recommend. I am a fan of tastings so it was perfect to be able to try three of their homemade soups: red borscht, chicken paprikash, and lobster bisque. I had never had borscht before but it was pretty good! A unique soup that had this beet and tomato taste to it that just works. The other soups were thick and tasty with maybe a little more salt that I like but I don't put salt in anything so it always stands out to me. I also want to note that you get bread as soon as you sit down. Crusty outside and soft inside with garlic butter.
Next up I tried the beet salad which is a great steal on the happy hour menu for only $5! I'd say it's a pretty decent sized salad, in fact I must have been full from the soup because I could only take a couple bites of the salad before I asked for a to-go box. Not a fan of the chunk of creamy goat cheese that I had to break up myself, but would still order this again.
I also got The Platter $16 to-go. It consists of a large cabbage roll with either red or mushroom sauce, three cheese and potato pierogies with onions and sour cream, and sauerkraut with your choice of sausage or kielbasa. I was told the meat is made by a local Ukrainian woman. As with everything here it's all homemade. That cabbage roll was one of the best I have every had, one bite and I could not stop eating it! The pierogies you could tell had cheese in them and the shell reminded me almost of the consistency that gnocchi has, just a little firmer if that makes sense. I've never been a big kielbasa/kraut fan so if I could I would trade that in for veggies.
All in all a good experience. I was disappointed that they were out of several things, but it seems like this place is a local favorite and they don't have enough staff to keep up with demand. Olesia has been here six years now and I hope she continues to keep making her homemade dishes. Hopefully next time they have cheburek and that napoleon dessert!