New York, NY — Three New York City restaurants spread across Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island received clearance to reopen on March 31, 2026, after each had been shuttered by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) following prior inspection failures. All three passed their reinspections with notably low scores, averaging 1.3 points combined — a strong performance by any measure under the city's grading system.
The Inspections
The Manhattan location in the group, Angelina Bakery Grand at 450 Lexington Avenue, earned a score of 2 on its reinspection. The violation noted was related to non-food contact surfaces or equipment made of unacceptable material, not kept clean, or not properly sealed, raised, or spaced. Under NYC Health Code Article 81, equipment surfaces that are not food-contact areas must still meet cleanliness and material standards to prevent the indirect contamination of food preparation areas. With a score of 2, Angelina Bakery Grand cleared the reinspection comfortably and is now eligible to post a grade pending the standard DOHMH administrative process.
In Queens, 1313 Cafe & Juice Bar at 111-18 101st Avenue in the Richmond Hill neighborhood also returned a score of 2 at reinspection. The documentation cited the same category of violation: non-food contact surface or equipment issues. Like Angelina Bakery Grand, this Indian cuisine cafe addressed the conditions that had prompted its closure and demonstrated compliance sufficient to resume service. The cafe's reinspection score of 2 places it well within the range for a potential A grade under the city's formal grading cycle.
Across the harbor in Staten Island, Gutierrez Bakery at 157 Port Richmond Avenue turned in the strongest reinspection result of the three, earning a perfect score of 0 with no violations documented. The Latin American bakery's clean reinspection record indicates that all previously identified conditions were fully corrected before inspectors returned. A score of zero is relatively uncommon and reflects a thorough response to whatever prompted the original closure order.
Common Patterns
All three establishments share a few notable characteristics. Two of the three — Angelina Bakery Grand and 1313 Cafe & Juice Bar — are food service operations with a bakery or beverage focus, categories where equipment cleanliness and surface material compliance are frequently cited under the FDA Food Code's guidance on non-food contact surfaces. The single violation category shared by both Manhattan and Queens locations suggests inspectors identified similar maintenance or material issues at each site.
The third location, Gutierrez Bakery, also operates in the bakery and prepared foods space, though its reinspection yielded no violations at all. Geographically, the three reopenings span three of the city's five boroughs — a reminder that DOHMH closure and reinspection activity is distributed across the entire city, not concentrated in any single area.
None of the violations documented involved food temperature abuse, pest activity, or employee hygiene failures — categories that typically carry higher point values under the city's scoring system and that receive more public attention. The issues here fell into lower-tier equipment and surface maintenance categories.
What This Means for Diners
A restaurant closure by the DOHMH does not mean a business is permanently shut. The city's inspection process allows operators to address cited violations and request a reinspection, at which point a new score is assigned. If a reinspection score is low enough, the restaurant may resume operations and work toward a posted letter grade.
All three of these establishments cleared reinspection with scores of 2, 2, and 0 respectively. These scores are well within — or below — the threshold for an A grade. However, it is worth noting that all three currently carry a Grade Z designation in the city's records. A "Z" grade indicates that a grade card is not yet posted, typically because the establishment is in the administrative review window that follows an inspection. Diners can check the current posted grade at the door of any NYC restaurant, or look up inspection history directly through the DOHMH's online database.
The reinspection process is a normal and expected part of the city's food safety oversight system. Operators who receive closure orders are required to correct all conditions before a reinspection can be passed, and the results here suggest all three businesses took the necessary corrective steps.
Understanding NYC Restaurant Grades
New York City uses a point-based system to evaluate restaurant compliance with the Health Code. During an inspection, violations are assigned point values based on their severity. At the end of the inspection, points are totaled to produce a score:
- Score of 0–13: Grade A
- Score of 14–27: Grade B
- Score of 28 or higher: Grade C
Lower scores indicate better compliance. A score of zero means no violations were cited. Restaurants that receive a score in the B or C range during an initial inspection may choose to have the grade posted immediately or request a reinspection before a grade is assigned — a right known as the "grade pending" option. Reinspection scores are generally what determine the posted letter grade.
Grades must be displayed in a window visible from the street. Consumers can also review full inspection histories, including specific violations cited and scores from each visit, through the NYC Open Data portal and the DOHMH restaurant inspection lookup tool at nyc.gov.
For any of the three restaurants covered here, full inspection records — including the violations that led to the original closures and the reinspection results from March 31, 2026 — are available through those public resources and through the individual facility pages linked above.