90%
453 restaurants
Excellent food safety (0–13 inspection points)
Original Research — May 2026NYC Restaurant
NYC Restaurant
Health Grade Report
An analysis of NYC Department of Health inspection grades across 1,300 active restaurants in all 5 boroughs and 33 neighborhoods. Data sourced directly from NYC DOHMH Open Data.
KEY FINDINGS
- Grade A restaurants in NYC
- 453
- Of graded restaurants hold Grade A
- 90%
- Highest Grade A borough
- Staten Island
- Top neighborhood by Grade A rate
- Upper East Side
Grade A restaurants in NYC
35% of all restaurants tracked
Of graded restaurants hold Grade A
Based on 504 graded restaurants
Highest Grade A borough
100% of graded restaurants
Top neighborhood by Grade A rate
100% Grade A — Manhattan
Overall grade distribution
Across all 1,300 active NYC restaurants in our directory, 39% have a verified health inspection grade from the NYC Department of Health.
8%
42 restaurants
Good but with noted violations (14–27 points)
2%
9 restaurants
Significant violations (28+ points)
Note on coverage: 39% of our directory (504 restaurants) have a verified inspection grade. The remaining 61% are either not yet inspected, pending a grade, or were not matched in the DOHMH database. Percentages above are calculated from graded restaurants only.
Grade distribution by borough
Grade A rates vary across NYC's five boroughs. Staten Island leads with 100% of graded restaurants holding Grade A, while Queens sits at 87%.
| Borough | Restaurants | Graded | Grade A % | Grade distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staten Island 0 hidden gems | 37 | 10(27%) | 100% 10 restaurants | A:100%B:0%C:0% |
| Bronx 0 hidden gems | 81 | 22(27%) | 91% 20 restaurants | A:91%B:9%C:0% |
| Manhattan 0 hidden gems | 737 | 290(39%) | 90% 262 restaurants | A:90%B:7%C:2% |
| Brooklyn 0 hidden gems | 192 | 79(41%) | 90% 71 restaurants | A:90%B:9%C:1% |
| Queens 0 hidden gems | 253 | 103(41%) | 87% 90 restaurants | A:87%B:12%C:1% |
Top 15 neighborhoods by Grade A rate
Ranked by Grade A percentage among graded restaurants. Minimum 5 graded restaurants required to qualify. 33 neighborhoods analyzed.
| # | Neighborhood | Grade A | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper East Side Manhattan | 100% 6 restaurants | |
| 2 | Pelham Bay Bronx | 100% 5 restaurants | |
| 3 | Flatiron District Manhattan | 100% 22 restaurants | |
| 4 | Long Island City Queens | 100% 5 restaurants | |
| 5 | St. Albans Queens | 100% 6 restaurants | |
| 6 | Hudson Yards Manhattan | 100% 5 restaurants | |
| 7 | Greenpoint Brooklyn | 100% 6 restaurants | |
| 8 | East New York Brooklyn | 100% 7 restaurants | |
| 9 | Bayside Queens | 100% 7 restaurants | |
| 10 | Tribeca Manhattan | 100% 7 restaurants | |
| 11 | Gramercy Park Manhattan | 100% 9 restaurants | |
| 12 | West Village Manhattan | 100% 7 restaurants | |
| 13 | Fort Greene Brooklyn | 100% 5 restaurants | |
| 14 | Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn | 100% 6 restaurants | |
| 15 | Greenwich Village Manhattan | 100% 19 restaurants |
Neighborhoods with the lowest Grade A rates
These neighborhoods have the lowest proportion of Grade A restaurants among those with verified inspection records. Diners in these areas should check individual restaurant grades before visiting.
| # | Neighborhood | Grade A rate | Grade C count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lower East Side Manhattan · 12 restaurants | 57% | 0 restaurants |
| 2 | Chelsea Manhattan · 28 restaurants | 67% | 1 restaurants |
| 3 | Forest Hills Queens · 10 restaurants | 67% | 0 restaurants |
| 4 | Kips Bay Manhattan · 16 restaurants | 71% | 1 restaurants |
| 5 | Flushing Queens · 29 restaurants | 78% | 1 restaurants |
| 6 | East Village Manhattan · 20 restaurants | 82% | 0 restaurants |
| 7 | Financial District Manhattan · 36 restaurants | 83% | 0 restaurants |
| 8 | Chinatown Manhattan · 33 restaurants | 85% | 2 restaurants |
| 9 | Jackson Heights Queens · 27 restaurants | 85% | 0 restaurants |
| 10 | Hell's Kitchen Manhattan · 46 restaurants | 86% | 2 restaurants |
A lower Grade A rate does not necessarily indicate unsafe dining — it may reflect a higher proportion of ungraded or recently inspected restaurants. Always check individual restaurant grades at eatrealfoodnyc.com/search.
Grade A rates by restaurant type
Some restaurant categories consistently outperform others on health inspections. Minimum 5 graded restaurants required per type.
- 1100%
Fast food restaurant
34 of 34 graded
- 2100%
Hamburger restaurant
12 of 12 graded
- 3100%
Seafood restaurant
15 of 15 graded
- 494%
Restaurant
46 of 49 graded
- 593%
American restaurant
27 of 29 graded
- 690%
French restaurant
9 of 10 graded
- 787%
Italian restaurant
26 of 30 graded
- 886%
Pizza restaurant
12 of 14 graded
- 986%
Mexican restaurant
18 of 21 graded
- 1084%
Diner
26 of 31 graded
- 1182%
Steak house
9 of 11 graded
- 1280%
Thai restaurant
12 of 15 graded
- 1380%
Indian restaurant
12 of 15 graded
- 1479%
Chinese restaurant
11 of 14 graded
Methodology
This report analyzes health inspection data for 1,300 active NYC restaurants in the Eat Real Food NYC directory. Restaurant listings are sourced from Google Maps Platform and filtered to operational businesses only.
Health inspection grades (A, B, C) are sourced directly from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Open Data portal. We match inspection records to restaurant listings using restaurant name and address. Only the most recent inspection grade per restaurant is used. Grade coverage is 39% of our directory — the remainder have not been matched to the DOHMH database or have not yet received a letter grade.
Neighborhood assignments are determined using the official NYC Neighborhood Tabulation Area (NTA) GeoJSON boundaries. Each restaurant is assigned to a neighborhood using a point-in-polygon algorithm. Borough-level data is aggregated from neighborhood data.
Grade A percentages in this report are calculated from graded restaurants only (excluding ungraded). Total Grade A coverage (as a percentage of all restaurants) is shown separately in the borough table.
Browse Grade A restaurants near you
Every restaurant in our directory shows its official NYC health inspection grade. Filter by grade, borough, neighborhood, and dietary need.