Queens, NY — Chicken Festival, a Peruvian restaurant at 29-19 Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, received a Grade B following a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene inspection conducted on March 27, 2026. The restaurant received a score of 27 — the highest score still within the Grade B range and one point below the Grade C threshold.
The inspection data was released by DOHMH on March 30, 2026.
What Inspectors Found
Inspectors documented one critical violation during the visit, with no non-critical violations recorded.
The critical violation — Code 06C — cited food, supplies, or equipment not adequately protected from potential sources of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display, or service. Specifically, inspectors noted that condiments were not provided in single-service containers or dispensed directly by the vendor, a practice that can expose food products to cross-contamination from multiple points of customer contact.
Food Safety Context
Under NYC Health Code Article 81 and aligned with FDA Food Code standards, food establishments are required to protect all food items and food-contact surfaces from contamination at every stage of handling. Condiment service practices fall within these requirements because shared or unprotected condiments can serve as vectors for pathogen transfer between customers and food.
Critical violations, as defined by DOHMH, are those most directly linked to conditions that can lead to foodborne illness. A single critical violation of this nature is sufficient to significantly affect a restaurant's overall inspection score.
A score of 27 is technically within the passing Grade B range, but it represents the upper boundary of that band. Had inspectors documented one additional point in violations, the restaurant would have received a Grade C.
Inspection History
Chicken Festival's recent inspection record shows variability in compliance scores:
- January 28, 2025: Score 11 (Grade A)
- May 29, 2024: Score 21
- January 12, 2023: Score 19 (Grade B)
- February 7, 2022: Score 26
The restaurant earned a strong Grade A as recently as January 2025. The March 2026 score of 27 represents a notable increase from that prior result and returns the restaurant to the higher end of the B range, where it has appeared in prior years.
Understanding NYC Restaurant Grades
New York City's restaurant grading system translates inspection scores into letter grades posted publicly at each establishment:
- Grade A: Score of 0–13 points (fewest violations)
- Grade B: Score of 14–27 points
- Grade C: Score of 28 or more points
Lower scores indicate fewer or less severe violations. Restaurants that score in the B or C range during an initial inspection may request a re-inspection, at which point a grade card is issued based on the follow-up result.
Inspection records for all New York City restaurants are publicly available through the DOHMH restaurant inspection database at nyc.gov.
More About This Restaurant
View the full inspection history for Chicken Festival including all past inspections, violations, and grade changes.