DOH Fines 804 Restaurants For Hiding Their Grades

St. James Gate between 81st and 82nd Streets disguises its C (Oren Novotny).

We knew that there were a fair number of restaurants around town who were hiding their letter grades, but the sheer number of them is still surprising. The Department of Health is currently going on a six-month-long unannounced inspection blitz to stop scofflaw spots from hiding (or, worse, not posting) their grades, and in the process they've caught 804 restaurants in the act. And nearly two dozen of them had A's!

Restaurants who didn't post their grades (all 704 of them) or tried to obscure them with things like plants (an additional 100) are being issued violations that can cost as much as $1,000 for the first offense. And 23 of the restaurant's caught didn't even have anything to be ashamed of—maybe they thought the A stood for Adulteress?

By law, letter grade cards must be on a front window, door or outside wall of a restaurant "where it is easily seen by people passing by, and within 5 feet of the entrance and from 4 to 6 feet off the ground or floor." So far more than three-quarters of the city's 24,000 restaurants and bars have been inspected under the new system and been awarded a grade.

If you notice that a restaurant has not posted a grade that it received or posted the wrong grade (you can look them up here) the Department of Health urges you to snitch to 311.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in Food on June 15, 2011 2:50 PM

Comments [rss]

Brian French

Nearly every resturaunt is cleaner than my kitchen...I wonder what the average apartment dweller who obsesses over this stuff would get if the dept of health inspected their house?

Adam Moreira

There is a Dunkin Donuts by me that has an "A", but you have to go inside to find out. Why a restaurant would hide an "A" grade is beyond me.

HJaySimpson

Most household kitchens wouldn't pass the DOH stringent grading system.

Still, I like the grading system. Gives me a sense of comfort knowing my food is being prepared in a kitchen that can keep up with the DOHs standard of cleanliness.

When I see a restaurant grade of "A", I imagine my food being prepared similar to a computer hard drive being built. Everyone is wearing white suits with breathing apparatuses, in white rooms, with not a piece of lit, dirt, insect, or mammal leavings to be found anywhere.

When I see a "C", I imagine my food being prepared on the backs of multiple dirty, but obedient dogs, cooked on a range that hasn't been cleaned since the collapse of the Berlin wall. I also imagine my food being an amalgamation of edible and disgusting things, like rat tails, and dirty socks.

I let my creativity FLY.

jacqueline66

LOL love it. Wish I felt safer when I saw an A. When I see an A all I imagine illegals and old school mafia quickly moving the kitchen floor mat aside, scooping up all the dead rats old food with the accounting books and some other unmentionables; then throwing them down the hatch and closing it. Then I imagine grimy chubby handing money over to the inspector. A hand shake and a cheer!

caroline_is_awkward

The NY Times ran an interesting article last September about subjecting a home kitchen to a health inspector. Actually, virtually zero kitchens would pass the test - anyone who has pets, doesn't keep a thermometer in their fridge, has lighting over food prep areas, etc would fail

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09...

kevd

Yeah well, there are lots of things we all do for a living for paying clients that hobbyists at home wouldn't pass a test on either.
And most of the things we do professionally won't get people sick if we fuck it up.

Guest

You have to admit - the way they hid the C rating in the photo is really clever.

Peanut_Butter

The law is unconstitutionally vague, "where it is easily seen".

Dirk

Seriously I've seen some nasty-ass, hole-in-the-wall dives get "A" ratings. So a "C" grade can't be good...

Unkle_Bob

A restaurant can have a dirt floor and still get an A. It's not about how clean the floor and walls are, but how the food is prepared, stored, whether or not the staff wash their hands properly, etc.

Trustafarian

maybe. or it just shows how the grade just isn't a useful way of judging a restaurant's cleanliness.

Daniel

Exactly, the public just goes on preconceived notions of a school grade. There's no explanation for the general public of what each grade means and how it's given.
I understand the public's right to know, but shouldn't it be something along the lines of optional to display but must shown upon request. Otherwise aren't we slapping businesses with the scarlet letter and creating stigmatized businesses?

jacqueline66

That's exactly how this feels to me. I can't imagine being a biz owner and having to post that letter. What if you just happened to get a jerk for an inspector and didn't get along? I agree, it should be available upon request. It feels creepy to me and sad to walk by these grades as if they were school children, it reminds me exactly of the scarlet letter.

On another not why not put them on doctors and dentists offices, tattoo parlors, even nail salons any place you are at risk of infection? Why not food products on the shelves?