Gardner Museum Cafe

• resultFail
• critical violations1
• last inspectedDecember 11, 2025
• address2 Palace Rd, Boston 02115

Is Gardner Museum Cafe clean?

Gardner Museum Cafe is currently Fail from Boston Inspectional Services, Health Division, from an inspection on December 11, 2025. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads cooked 🪳.

What did inspectors find at Gardner Museum Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on December 11, 2025, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• ⚠️Clean condition-Hands and Arms (P) • Observed limited hand washing and employees multitasking wearing disposable glovescritical
  Clean condition-Hands and Arms (P) • Observed limited hand washing and employees multitasking wearing disposable gloves
• ⚠️Food Storage Containers Identified with Common Name of Food (C) • In use food containers not labeled with common name
  Food Storage Containers Identified with Common Name of Food (C) • In use food containers not labeled with common name
• ⚠️Wiping Cloths Use Limitation (C) • In use wiping cloths not stored in a sanitizing solution
  Wiping Cloths Use Limitation (C) • In use wiping cloths not stored in a sanitizing solution
• ⚠️(A) Equipment Food-Contact Surfaces Nonfood-Contact Surfaces and Utensils (Pf) • In storage food containers a visably soiled Interior of ice machine visably soiled
  (A) Equipment Food-Contact Surfaces Nonfood-Contact Surfaces and Utensils (Pf) • In storage food containers a visably soiled Interior of ice machine visably soiled
• ⚠️Using a Handwashing Sink-Operation and Maintenance (Pf) • 2 hand sinks in upstairs prep show evidence of being used as a dumping sink - Heavily stained/discolored
  Using a Handwashing Sink-Operation and Maintenance (Pf) • 2 hand sinks in upstairs prep show evidence of being used as a dumping sink - Heavily stained/discolored
• ⚠️Floors Walls and Ceilings-Cleanability (C) • Heavy build up of soils on floor walls and ceiling in prep areas
  Floors Walls and Ceilings-Cleanability (C) • Heavy build up of soils on floor walls and ceiling in prep areas
• ⚠️Repairing-Premises Structures Attachments and Fixtures-Methods (C) • Walls and attachment with chipped peeling paint throughout Steps to basement rusted At top of steps cracked tiles on floor Lid to ice machine broken
  Repairing-Premises Structures Attachments and Fixtures-Methods (C) • Walls and attachment with chipped peeling paint throughout Steps to basement rusted At top of steps cracked tiles on floor Lid to ice machine broken

When was Gardner Museum Cafe last inspected?

Gardner Museum Cafe has 42 inspections on record going back to January 5, 2012. The 12 most recent are shown below.

Gardner Museum Cafe vs Longwood

Longwood runs 78% clean across 203 tracked restaurants — 153 clean, 19 mid, 23 cooked.

Against the 203 spots Cooked tracks in Longwood, this one comes out cleaner than 8% of them.

Other spots in Longwood

• ✓ El Pelon Taqueria
  clean · June 12, 2024
• ✓ Emmanuel College Bookstore No. 43
  clean · February 2, 2018
• ✓ Qdoba Mexican Eats No. 2207
  clean · March 17, 2023
• ✕ Sakura Japan
  cooked · May 8, 2026
• ✓ Swish Shabu
  clean · May 11, 2016
• ✓ Rod Dee 2 Thai Cuisine
  clean · November 16, 2018

See every restaurant inspection in Longwood →

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 December 11, 2025. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.