Manhattan, NY — Ra Broadway Famous Pizza, located at 4250 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood, received a score of 40 during a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) inspection conducted on February 17, 2026. The score places the establishment in Grade C territory, indicating significant food safety concerns identified during the evaluation.
The inspection data was released by DOHMH on February 20, 2026.
What Inspectors Found
During the inspection, DOHMH inspectors cited one critical violation at the pizza restaurant:
- Code 05H: The establishment did not have an approved written standard operating procedure for avoiding contamination by refillable returnable containers.
This violation relates to the handling and reuse of containers that come into contact with food or beverages. Without a documented procedure in place, there is no verifiable system to ensure that refillable containers are properly sanitized and managed to prevent cross-contamination. Health inspectors consider this a critical violation because the absence of written protocols increases the risk that contaminated containers could introduce harmful bacteria or other contaminants into food products served to customers.
Despite only one critical violation and no non-critical violations being recorded, the restaurant received a score of 40 points. Under the DOHMH scoring system, higher scores indicate more serious findings, and a score of 40 places the establishment well above the 28-point threshold for a Grade C designation.
Food Safety Context
NYC Health Code Article 81 requires food service establishments to maintain written procedures and documentation that demonstrate compliance with food safety standards. The FDA Food Code similarly emphasizes the importance of standard operating procedures as a foundational element of any food safety management system.
Written standard operating procedures serve as both a training tool for staff and a verifiable record that a restaurant has implemented systematic approaches to preventing contamination. These procedures are particularly important for operations involving refillable or returnable containers, where the risk of cross-contamination increases if containers are not properly cleaned, inspected, and handled between uses.
The requirement for documented procedures is not merely administrative. Health authorities consider written SOPs essential because they establish consistent practices that do not depend on individual employee knowledge or memory. When inspectors find that no such procedures exist, it indicates a gap in the establishment's food safety management system.
Inspection History
No prior inspection history is available for Ra Broadway Famous Pizza in the DOHMH public database. This may indicate that the February 17, 2026 inspection was the establishment's first recorded inspection, or that previous records are not currently accessible in the dataset.
Without historical data, it is not possible to identify trends in the restaurant's compliance record or to compare the current score against prior performance.
Understanding NYC Restaurant Grades
New York City assigns letter grades to restaurants based on the total violation points accumulated during an inspection. The grading scale is as follows:
- Grade A: 0-13 points — The establishment demonstrates strong compliance with food safety regulations
- Grade B: 14-27 points — Moderate violations were identified that require correction
- Grade C: 28 or more points — Significant violations were found, indicating substantial food safety concerns
Ra Broadway Famous Pizza's score of 40 places it in the Grade C range, 12 points above the minimum threshold. Restaurants that receive a Grade B or C have the option to request a re-inspection or an adjudicatory hearing through the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
Restaurants are required to post their current grade card in a location visible to the public, typically near the entrance. Consumers can also verify any restaurant's inspection results through the DOHMH online database or by visiting NYCRestaurantInspections.com.
All inspection data referenced in this article is sourced from publicly available DOHMH records. Inspection scores represent conditions observed at a specific point in time and may not reflect the current state of the establishment.
More About This Restaurant
View the full inspection history for Ra Broadway Famous Pizza including all past inspections, violations, and grade changes.