NYC restaurant inspection grades: what the rules and data show

In Marji's October 7, 2026 analysis of NYC Open Data, 85.8% of the 25,425 establishments with a qualifying grade record had A as their latest recorded status. That does not mean 85.8% of every restaurant in the city currently displays an A. The denominator, inspection dates and posting rules matter. Here is how to read each one.

What A, B, C and Grade Pending mean

The thresholds come from NYC Health's letter-grading guidance. Points reflect the violations found and their severity. Thirteen points does not mean thirteen violations, and an A does not mean the report contains none. Read the cited conditions before deciding what needs attention.

An initial inspection can produce an A. If its score is 14 or higher, that initial inspection is scored but ungraded, and the restaurant receives a reinspection. A B or C result at reinspection comes with both a letter card and a Grade Pending card; the operator can initially display either while awaiting the opportunity for an OATH hearing. DOHMH's scoring explanation describes this distinction.

Closure is a separate action. The city's inspection-cycle overview says DOHMH may order closure for a public health hazard that cannot be corrected immediately or for operation without a valid permit. A letter alone is not a reliable shortcut for reading an establishment's operating status.

What the October 2026 inspection data shows

We analyzed the DOHMH restaurant inspection dataset on October 7, using records extracted by the city on October 6, 2026. The latest inspection date in that snapshot was October 4. The table selects one latest qualifying grade status per establishment, identified by its CAMIS establishment identifier.

Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not sum to 100%. The full snapshot contains 31,469 distinct CAMIS identifiers. Another 6,044 have no qualifying grade record under this method, so they are outside the table. That group includes missing or ineligible records; it cannot all be labeled Not Yet Graded. Our NYC restaurant count analysis explains the broader administrative population.

How we avoided counting the same inspection repeatedly

The dataset contains violation rows. An inspection with several citations appears several times, so counting rows would overweight inspections with more citations. We follow the city's Open Data analysis guide:

1. 1.Keep A, B, C, P and Z values. P and Z are pending codes; this snapshot's latest pending records were all Z.
2. 2.Include Cycle Inspection and Pre-permit (Operational) reinspections and reopening inspections, plus initial inspections scoring 13 or fewer.
3. 3.Select each CAMIS's newest eligible inspection date across all grades. Deduplicate violation rows and check for conflicting grades; we found none.
4. 4.Count each establishment once. A newer eligible B, C or pending record replaces an older A.

Latest recorded does not mean recently inspected: 2,420 of the selected grade records have inspection dates before 2025. We retain them rather than silently imposing a freshness cutoff. This is an analysis of the available administrative records, not a fresh inspection of every business. A B or C record also does not reveal which of the permitted cards the operator chose to display.

Why a recent high score can sit beside an older A

Consider a hypothetical restaurant that earned an A in its previous cycle, then received 22 points on a new initial inspection without being closed. Reading only the newest score would suggest B. But that initial inspection is ungraded: it starts the path to reinspection instead of immediately assigning a new letter. The earlier card stays posted under NYC's inspection rules, §23-07. This differs from ignoring a newer graded B and choosing an older A because it looks better.

Reopening records need care too. The closure and reopening rules in §23-06 distinguish closures at initial inspection from those at reinspection. Keep the issued grade, inspection type and inspection date together rather than converting a reopening score into a replacement letter.

Check your own restaurant's record in this order

1. 1.Start with NYC's official ABCEats lookup. Match the establishment and address carefully, especially when several locations share a name or an address has changed operators.
2. 2.Read the dates and inspection types before comparing scores. Separate the most recent inspection from the most recent inspection that determines a grade.
3. 3.Read the actual violation descriptions. A repeated condition gives the manager a specific problem to investigate; a citywide percentage does not explain what happened in your kitchen.
4. 4.Use your issued documents and the city's current instructions for posting and responding. If the public record appears inconsistent, use DOHMH's official contact route rather than treating a third-party chart as a corrected record.

NYC's grade-card posting instructions require the actual card in a visible location and explain how hearing outcomes affect the card you must display. The current letter-grading page provides the replacement-card process. Use that current page for replacement contact details; older PDFs may retain old office addresses.

Turn the report into work a manager can verify

For each condition in your own report, write down the affected station or equipment, the person responsible, the corrective action and how the next shift will verify it. A repair receipt, a changed work assignment and a training record document different work. Keep them specific enough that another manager can tell what has been completed and what remains open.

Build the food-safety portion around DOHMH's A-grade practices and self-inspection guidance. Its topics include supervision, equipment, contamination prevention, cleaning, pests and plumbing. A short checklist derived from your actual operation is easier to assign than an instruction to everyone to be more careful. Follow the city's requirements for the technical limits and procedures.

Then connect the work to ordinary management records. Record discarded stock in your food-waste log so the ingredient expense remains visible. Reconcile usable stock in the next inventory count. Include time spent on training, cleaning and repairs when planning restaurant labor cost. Those records help explain cost and workload; they do not establish compliance or change an inspection grade.

Frequently asked questions