Cooked?
Al's South Street Cafe
- resultPass
- critical violations0
- last inspectedJanuary 27, 2026
- address179 Essex St, Boston 02111
Is Al's South Street Cafe clean?
Al's South Street Cafe is currently Pass from Boston Inspectional Services, Health Division, from an inspection on January 27, 2026. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.
What did inspectors find at Al's South Street Cafe?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 27, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- ⚠️Cleaning Ventilation Systems Nuisance and Discharge Prohibition (C) • The hood sticker has expired on 12.24.25.Provide a proper hood cleaning from a licensed company.Post new sticker. (PIC stating appt is on 1.16.26) Appt has been re-scheduled per PIC to 1/21/26Cleaning Ventilation Systems Nuisance and Discharge Prohibition (C) • The hood sticker has expired on 12.24.25.Provide a proper hood cleaning from a licensed company.Post new sticker. (PIC stating appt is on 1.16.26) Appt has been re-scheduled per PIC to 1/21/26
When was Al's South Street Cafe last inspected?
Al's South Street Cafe has 10 inspections on record going back to September 13, 2024.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| January 27, 2026 | Pass | |
| January 20, 2026 | Fail | |
| January 12, 2026 | — | |
| January 5, 2026 | Fail | |
| October 17, 2025 | Pass | |
| October 7, 2025 | Fail | |
| February 4, 2025 | Pass | |
| January 28, 2025 | Fail | |
| October 31, 2024 | — | |
| September 13, 2024 | Pass |
Al's South Street Cafe vs Downtown
Downtown runs 90% clean across 1,016 tracked restaurants — 866 clean, 53 mid, 42 cooked.
Against the 1,016 spots Cooked tracks in Downtown, this one comes out cleaner than 10% of them.
Other spots in Downtown
How Boston grades restaurants
Boston reports inspections as a pass or a fail, with no score and no letter. What separates a bad fail from a trivial one is the violation severity ladder: a single star is a minor issue, two stars is more serious, and three stars marks a critical foodborne-illness risk factor — temperature abuse, bad handwashing, cross-contamination. A restaurant can fail on paperwork alone, which is not the same as failing on food safety. Cooked splits Boston fails accordingly: a fail with a three-star violation reads cooked, a fail on minor items only reads mid.
Source: Boston Inspectional Services, Health Division via Analyze Boston. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated January 27, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.