Hygiene in Restaurants in New York

Hygiene in New York restaurants is something you can check for yourself before you even sit down, because nearly every restaurant has a letter hanging in the window. These A, B and C ratings come straight from the city’s health inspectors and show how the kitchen scored at its last inspection. Where you eat is, of course, mostly a matter of taste, but it’s much more relaxing to know that the kitchen behind the swinging door takes hygiene seriously.

Eric's Index

1 What the Letters A, B and C Mean in New York Restaurants
- 1.1 What do Inspectors Check for?
- 1.2 Violations of Regulations
2 Where to Eat in New York
3 FAQ

What the Letters A, B and C Mean in New York Restaurants

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene carries out unannounced inspections at all restaurants in New York. Every violation is worth a number of points, and those points are added up into a score. The lower the score, the better the letter, so an A is the one you are looking for.

A: 0 to 13 points – a clean restaurant!
B: 14 to 27 points – some things need to be fixed
C: 28 or more points – there are a lot of violations

Every restaurant must display its final letter in a way you can see it from the street, whatever that letter happens to be. A window with no letter at all is not a warning sign in itself, because a brand new restaurant simply has not been through the full cycle yet. What you should not see is a restaurant that quietly hides its grade behind a menu board or a plant.

A Graded Restaurant in New York B Graded Restaurant in New York

What do Inspectors Check for?

Inspectors work through a long checklist based on the city health code and the state sanitary code. These are the things they pay most attention to:

how food is handled and stored
whether hot and cold food is kept at safe temperatures
personal hygiene of the staff, hand washing above all
the condition and cleaning of kitchen equipment
pest control, so any sign of mice, rats or roaches

Violations of Regulations

The number of points a restaurant gets by violating a regulation depends on the health risks it could cause to the guests.

A public health hazard. Food kept at the wrong temperature is the classic example. This violation costs the restaurant at least seven points. If the problem can’t be solved before the end of the inspection, the restaurant might be forced to close until the problem is solved.
A critical violation. Think of lettuce that has not been washed properly. This carries a minimum of five points.
A general violation. For instance: not having properly cleaned kitchen appliances will result in two to five points.

Eric’s Tip: “It can be very helpful to check the letter grade of the restaurant you’re about to visit when you go out to have dinner with kids or your partner for example. You’ll be more sure about what to expect and less likely to get food poisoning. If possible, I’d recommend visiting only A-graded restaurants. Be careful when going to a B-graded restaurant and I’d suggest you don’t even enter a restaurant with a C in the window.”

Restaurant - Grade Pending in New York C Graded Restaurant in New York

Where to Eat in New York

Once you know what the letters mean, the fun part starts. I have tested my way through the city for years, so have a look at my tips for the best pizza, the best bagels and the best burgers in New York. You will also find my recommended spots for breakfast, lunch and vegetarian food, and an overview of all my favourite places to eat in New York.

FAQ

The letter is the hygiene grade given by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene after an unannounced inspection. An A means 0 to 13 violation points, a B means 14 to 27 points, and a C means 28 points or more. The lower the score, the better the grade.

A B-grade means violations were found, but not necessarily serious ones. Look up the restaurant on the city's ABC Eats website and read which violations were actually recorded. Paperwork problems are a very different matter from food kept at unsafe temperatures.

Restaurants are inspected at least once a year without warning. How quickly an inspector returns depends on the score, so a restaurant that scores badly is seen again sooner than one that earns a clean A.

Yes. Since December 2018, every permitted food cart and food truck in the city is inspected and graded on the same scale as restaurants. The letter is shown on the permit decal on the outside of the unit rather than in a window.

You can. The city publishes all inspection results on the ABC Eats website, where you can search by restaurant name or by neighbourhood. You will see the current letter, the date of the last inspection and the individual violations that were recorded.